Teledyne Marine has launched its new SeaBat T51-S multibeam echosounder, adding to its SeaBat T-series and building on the flagship SeaBat T51-R’s success. The newest iteration in the lineup is designed specifically for subsea applications whilst enabling deployment on ROVs and AUVs for deep-sea exploration and underwater surveys.

Naming of the new launch was careful, as the ‘S’ at the end of “SeaBat T51-S” stands for “Subsea,” alluding to its ability to operate at extreme ocean depths, up to 19,685 feet underwater. It maintains all features of the original SeaBat T51, but now comes in a pressure-rated housing and offers high levels of versatility for underwater deployment.

The new addition to Teledyne Marine’s SeaBat lineup extends its portfolio’s capacity, adding extreme depths to its range whilst meeting the demands of subsea applications.

Pim Kuus, senior hydrographer and product manager at Teledyne Marine, said: “The SeaBat T51-R is recognized as the best-in-class multibeam system, so anticipation for the new T51-S has been high. We’re happy we can now meet user demand with a system that delivers the highest-resolution subsea mapping while maintaining exceptional data quality.”

Improved data quality has been added to the new device, as it delivers exceptionally clean data with minimal false detections, ensuring a high accuracy in survey outputs and reducing the need for time-consuming post-processing and manual correction. 

Adding to this, it has very high resolution, providing sharp and detailed seabed imagery. It has the capacity to detect small objects, including cables, rocks, and boulders as small as 11.8” in size, made possible due to the small receiver beamwidth of 0.25°.

In addition, the swath width has been expanded in the latest model to 170° at 800kHz. This covers a significant area of the seabed in a single pass, reducing the time required to survey. Automation has been installed into the surveyor, with an integrated ‘tracker’ that adjusts sonar settings in real time to simplify operation and is less skill-intensive.