When Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) and Canpac Marine head down to Clayoquot on Saturday, Oct. 5, they will dive in with a brand new remotely operated vehicle (ROV).
The ROV will go on an eight-day expedition aboard the Canpac Valour, where it will complete maintenance on ONC’s Neptune (North-East Pacific Time-series Undersea Networked Experiments) observatory, an 800-kilometer loop off the west coast of Vancouver Island.
The expedition is the first trial in the deep ocean for Canpac Marine’s new purpose-built for science ROV.
"It's a pretty good feeling to be part of an operation that's working to help advance ocean science work and to provide a vessel and underwater vehicle that can reach the deepest depths of the coast," Ryan Anderson, Canpack Marine president, said.
The ROV goes ultra deep – 6,000 meters deep, which is 600 times the pressure we feel on land.
According to Canpac, it took two and a half years to manufacture the underwater vehicle from design to completion. It was built in North Vancouver in collaboration with a few B.C. companies – from engineering firms and architects, to design engineers and manufacturers that cost the company about $8 million.
Lights, cameras in action
The ROV features 11 cameras; three of them are high definition and the rest are all 4K. Two of these cameras can pan, tilt and follow the robotic manipulators or grabber arms so the operators can easily do their jobs.
There's also a camera in the centre, which functions as the main production level camera that can be controlled independently while the ROV is in motion. It is also equipped with several tooling cameras to help the crew view different sides of the ROV during an expedition.
The lighting system of 300,000 lumens is attached on the ROV's head and tail units, allowing the crew to move lighting around while they're operating subsea. Josh Tetarenko, Canpac’s director of ROV operations, says these lights are extremely powerful and emit a soft red light when filming bio-luminescence. This ability makes filmography and bio research a little better.
The robotic arms
The ROV has two versatile arms controlled from a van, allowing it to perform complex tasks underwater. These arms can reach around the ROV and grab items from the side porches.
They can also be used to dock up to 3,000 kilograms in weight and place them onto the sea floor. This helps clients find exact place for their scientific instruments in the necessary orientation in the deep sea.
"Canpac spent two and a half years designing the launch and recovery system to make sure their work can be done safely in heavy seas," Anderson said.
First deep sea trial
Over the following week, OCN will test their new ROV at three deep-sea sites: Clayoquot, Barkley, and Folger Deep.
"Not only do we get to do one of our regular maintenance works on our Neptune observatory, but we'll also mount one of our conductivity temperature and depth instruments onto the ROV, " Meghan Paulson, executive director of OCN, revealed.
"We'll gather that information as we do the dives as well as the video transects while we go up and down. That's pretty useful information for some of our science users," Paulson added.
On its first deep water sea trials, the ROV will go to depths of 2,500 meters and will be put through its paces during the observatory maintenance, ranging from heavy lifts and instrument swaps to scientific sampling.
Ocean fans are invited to see the action via livestream on the ONC website: www.oceannetworks.ca/expeditions/oncabyss-expedition-fall-2024/.
