Pacific mapping

KONGSBERG and the Ocean Exploration Trust (OET) dived deeper than ever before in a new expedition to map vast areas of previously unexplored seafloor in the Central Pacific. The Pacific Mapping (NA178) expedition saw OET exploration vessel Nautilus deploying KONGSBERG's EM 304 MKII multibeam echo sounder for the first time. Despite covering more than 70 per cent of the planet, huge swathes of the ocean remain uncharted at high resolution. The challenge is particularly acute in deep ocean environments, where access, cost and technical limitations typically constrain survey efforts.