Ocean Infinity Enters the Region

The survey team preparing the vessel Pekapeka for a day’s survey activity, Port Tarakohe

Rhys Davies, Andrew Price and David Field, Marine Team Ocean Infinity

Since 2008 the New Zealand and Australian branch of iXblue has been undertaking hydrographic surveys throughout Oceania and beyond and we are excited to announce the next chapter in our history. iXblue Pty Ltd has recently been acquired by Ocean Infinity; a world-leading ocean robotics company. The fit was a natural one for Ocean Infinity, with the team having the experience and knowledge of the use of an uncrewed surface vessel (the DriX) for large-scale nautical charting surveys in our region, having completed projects in the Kingdom of Tonga, Fiordland and Coromandel.

As Ocean Infinity, we will retain our focus of providing hydrographic surveying services on either side of the Tasman; growing the industry and capability and leveraging off the technology in the marine robotics sector that Ocean Infinity is globally renowned for, to provide new and innovative ways to acquire and process hydrographic survey data.

As we grow, we will be able to explore new markets and leverage the collective manpower and experience that exists within the wider Ocean Infinity family to help deliver larger and more complex surveys in a variety of environments.

The NZ team’s first project under the Ocean Infinity banner is the Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) Hydrographic Survey Project in the Nelson to Kahurangi Shoals and western Marlborough Sounds area, which commenced in March 2022. With an estimated total of 13,000 survey line miles of bathymetric, backscatter and water column data to collect, the project has been split into two survey phases – coastal and offshore – with data collection and processing spanning

two consecutive years (2022/23).

While we are now part of a marine robotics company, not every survey will require the use of an autonomous fleet. The team has commenced the coastal phase of the project in Tarakohe using our recently purchased 7.5m Surtees vessel, the Pekapeka. Small and agile, the Pekapeka has given the team the flexibility to both chart the shallow Tarakohe Harbour to the drying line for the Port of Tarakohe and also confidently tackle the exposed, dynamic region around Separation Point.

Remaining in the coastal phase are surveys of Croisilles Harbour (western Marlborough Sounds), Pepin Island (Nelson) and finishing with Port Hardy (Durville Is) by late July. Next year the Pekapeka will be replaced by a larger, possibly autonomous, vessel, for the deeper, more exposed areas, which stretch to the Kahurangi Shoals, with enough capacity to allow for 24-hour operations.

The data will be used by LINZ to primarily update the nautical charts for the area but will also provide valuable scientific data to the marine science community and the port company.

Underpinning these surveys is the tidal infrastructure installed to allow the data to be reduced to chart datum. The additional benefit of the tidal infrastructure deployed in these more remote locations is that the data will feed into the Joining Land and Sea (JLAS) project currently being run by LINZ. These sites will densify the model that will eventually allow for the seamless mapping of the littoral zone, and permit the use of an ellipsoid – chart datum separation model for surveying on the ellipsoid.

In Australia, the team has just completed data acquisition on its fourth project under the Hydrographic Industry Partnership Program (HIPP), an Australian Government Department of Defence project to update its nautical charts. A fifth project, in the stunning Kimberly region of Western Australia, will commence in late September 2022.

Ocean Infinity’s purpose is to use innovative technology to transform operations at sea, enabling people and the planet to thrive. The team in New Zealand and Australia looks forward to embracing this purpose in the region. Further information can be found at www.oceaninfinity.com. •

Bathymetric data in the approaches to Port Tarakohe to enable safe navigation and a greater understanding of the marine habitat.

Marine laser scanning data can be merged with bathymetric data to more robustly understand and manage the coastal environment.