The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) has selected Fugro to survey a 515 km² area over the Cayman Islands in November. 

The project will support updated nautical charting and improved coastal zone management. To accomplish the work, Fugro will deploy their Rapid Airborne Multibeam Mapping System (RAMMS), a solution that meets International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) quality and accuracy standards, while also contributing to UKHO’s goals for carbon neutral operations.

Fugro has successfully used RAMMS on four projects for UKHO since commercialising the system in 2018. Compact and weighing only 30 kg, it is an efficient and cost-effective alternative to traditional airborne lidar bathymetry (ALB) systems. Fugro estimates that using RAMMS on the Cayman Islands project will reduce carbon emissions by 80 % compared to legacy ALB sensors. The company will apply additional carbon mitigation strategies to bring the project’s total environmental impact to ‘net zero’.

“UKHO helped inspire Fugro’s development of RAMMS by challenging industry to improve the efficiency and quality of ALB data, so we are proud to take these gains a step further with delivery of our first carbon neutral survey,” said Edward Saade, President of Fugro in the US. “We look forward to celebrating the results of this collaboration in the months to come and we thank UKHO for their leadership and partnership in moving the hydrographic community forward toward a more sustainable future.”