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Stephen Thomas, getting a new CDT ready for the SS11/06 voyage. The CDT is lowered into the ocean to collect water samples, and readings, at various depths.

Ship News is dedicated to the people who make the ship work. Research voyages are, essentially, about the science and too often the people who drive the technology that makes the science possible are not fully acknowledged.

This part of our website will be devoted to showing what is going on, 'behind the scenes', to make the Marine National Facility an effective research platform.

The current focus is The Research Voyage SS11/06.

Table of Contents

• SS11/06 The Voyage Manager
• SS11/06 The Deep Water Camera System
• SS11/06 The Swath Mapping
• SS11/06 Data Management
• SS11/06 Computer Manager
• SS11/06 Gear and Operations
• SS11/06 Don McKenzie

SS11/06 The Voyage Manager

Drew, doing some running repairs while the ship is still in Hobart.

The Voyage Manager, on SS11/06, is Drew Mills

The Voyager Manager is the liaison point between the researchers and the ship's crew. He is responsible for the group of technicians, on board the ship, who work to help to gather and store the scientific data.

It's a demanding job. Working at sea is full of surprises and one has to be ready to confront anything that arises, in order to keep the work going. Running a research vessel is a very expensive business. Part of Drew's job is to keep down-time to a minimum and to get the most out of every hour that the ship is at sea.

SS11/06 The Deep Water Camera System

SS11/06 is monitoring the seamounts, off the coast of Tasmania, that have been declared Marine Protected Areas. The slopes of these seamounts contain unique marine life that has developed in these special areas.

In order to see exactly what benefits protection has afforded these areas it is necessary to obtain photographs and video footage, at depths of 1.5 to 2 kilometers. The CSIRO has developed special Deep Water Camera Systems to operate under these conditions.

The Deep Water Camera System being deployed from the aft deck of the Southern Surveyor.	A sample of the kind of photo that can be taken on the sea floor, many kilometers under the ocean.

The Deep Water Camera System, on SS11/06, is in the hands of (l to r), Matt Sherlock, Bruce Barker and Jeff Cordell.

Photos: Bruce Barker, Jeff Cordell, Matt Sherlock

SS11/06 The Swath Mapping

The swath mapper, aboard the Southern Surveyor, is capable of providing wide digital images of the ocean floor. These maps are now providing amazingly detailed 'maps' of the exact configuration of the sea bottom.

Cameron Buchanan, from Geoscience Australia is one of the acoustic technicians on board the SS11/06 Voyage.	Rick Smith, CSIRO, is the second acoustic technican on the voyage.

On SS11/06 the task of data management is the job of the Data Manager, Pamela Brodie.

SS11/06 Data Management

It isn't enough to gather the research data. The data then must be saved in a form in which they are safe, easy to find and in a format that allows them to be widely accessed.

"The ship supports a comprehensive array of sensors and our work involves designing and maintaining the software and electronics systems that control them," Ms Brodie says.

Ms Brodie's expertise is in marine-related software engineering. She enjoys this work at sea. "I've spent about two years of my life aboard research vessels," she says. "A dozen voyages with CSIRO, and a year in the Southern Ocean on voyages of the RV Aurora Australis.

SS11/06 Computer Manager

The computers are an essential ingredient in the research conducted aboard the vessel. Information needs to be collected, analysed and stored. On this research voyage, Bernadette Heaney (left), is the technical expert that keeps everything running in the computer room.

SS11/06 Gear and Operations

Lots of gear has to go aboard and come off again. Some of it, like the benthic sled only require a lot of energy to shift them around. For much of the gear moving it, setting it up and taking it down require experience of the kind that Mark Lewis brings to the job.

Left, Mark Lewis and right the benthic sled, build to be dragged along the bottom.

Don McKenzie, on the Southern Surveyor, getting the vessel ready for the SS11/06 research voyage.

SS11/06 Don McKenzie Operations Manager

The Operations Manager is shore-based, but when ship is getting ready for a research voyage, Don is on deck, making sure that everything is in place and ready for action.

Don works with the scientists, to plan the voyage, and liaises with the P&O crew and the CSIRO support technicians to ensure that everything runs smoothly. He's responsible for everything except the ocean's behaviour and often gets blamed for that.

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Last updated: 17/12/06