Passive Acoustic Monitoring (towed hydrophone arrays)

Towed hydrophone arrays provide good spatial coverage, but only a snapshot in time of a species’ occurrence in a particular area, and are required when using Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) for real-time mitigation during industrial activities.

OSC can cater for all your Passive Acoustic Monitoring needs. Please refer to C-POD & T-POD click detectors for further information on static Passive Acoustic Monitoring.

Do I Need Passive Acoustic Monitoring?

Real-time Passive Acoustic Monitoring is required increasingly as a tool to monitor marine mammals for mitigation during activities such as:

Windfarm construction (meteorological mast);
Pile driving (wind turbine installations);
Seismic (geophysical): gravity, Electromagnetic (EM) Vertical Seismic Profiling (VSP), 2/3/4D/undershoot/borehole/OBC/OBS;
Conductor hammering during O&G exploration drilling (e.g. from jack-ups);
Rig tows in Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) or Marine Protected Area (MPAs), especially German waters (e.g. Dogger Bank & Borkum Riffgrund);
Hydrographic (e.g. side-scan and multibeam surveys [including work-class Remote Operated Vehicle, ROV inspections]);
Pipeline & cable laying (e.g. trenching, rock-dumping, side-casting and fall-pipe vessel operations);
Decommissioning & Abandonment (rigs-to-reefs concept);
Dredging (Trailer Suction Hopper Dredgers, TSHDs, split-hopper barges and backhoe jack-ups);
Civil Engineering (e.g. quays, harbours and bridges); and,
Defence (e.g. Low Frequency Active SONAR, LFAS & Mid-frequency Active SONAR, MFAS).

Passive Acoustic Monitoring Operators

All OSC’s Passive Acoustic Monitoring Operators are insured and hold the full complement of offshore training certifications and medicals for work worldwide (listed here). All Passive Acoustic Monitoring Operators have an in-depth knowledge of industry guidelines, and are experienced in implementing them in real-life situations offshore.

OSC Passive Acoustic Monitoring Operators are familiar with a variety of Passive Acoustic Monitoring systems and adept at working alongside vessel crews to determine a method of hydrophone deployment that all personnel are happy with and that minimises the chance of damage to, or loss of equipment.

Should any problems arise, experience and familiarisation with equipment means OSC Passive Acoustic Monitoring Operators are able to deal with all issues quickly and efficiently, reducing operational downtime. They also benefit from 24-hour support from shore-based experts.

CONTRACTOR PORTAL

If you are already a certified MMO/PAM operator and would like to work with OSC, or have worked with us previously, please create an account here to provide us with your contact details and offshore documents. Please ensure you keep your documents and contact details up to date. If you have questions, please get in touch with recruitment@osc.co.uk.

Passive Acoustic Monitoring Systems

OSC’s top of the range Passive Acoustic Monitoring systems, which are in use worldwide, meet all requirements set out in industry guidelines, such as:

Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC);
New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC); and,
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) & Bureau of Safety & Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).

All OSC’s Passive Acoustic Monitoring systems are serviced and tested by in-house Passive Acoustic Monitoring technicians on return from every contract. Stored in our on-site warehouse, our systems are ready for mobilisation instantly, so we can meet last-minute requests from the industry.

Equipment set-up and deployment is straightforward, and detailed instructions are supplied with every system, which ensures a timely deployment by all PAM Operators, regardless of experience.

OSC Passive Acoustic Monitoring systems are robust, durable, and supplied with 100% redundancy. All parts can be switched quickly and easily, which minimises operational downtime.

All OSC systems come equipped with the latest version of the industry-standard software, (PAMGuard). They have a proven track record and have detected marine mammals (whales, dolphins & porpoises) in the field during industrial operations.

Full details and specifications can be supplied on request.

Passive Acoustic Monitoring (towed hydrophone arrays)

Do I Need Passive Acoustic Monitoring?

Passive Acoustic Monitoring Operators

CONTRACTOR PORTAL

Passive Acoustic Monitoring Systems

UK

Greece

New Zealand