Successful sea trials on HEINCKE-expedition

Mar 4, 2022

The autonomous underwater vehicle IMGAM AUV was specifically developed for high-resolution mapping and subsequent sampling of gas seeps. IMGAM stands for "Intelligent monitoring of climate-damaging CO2/CH4 gas seeps in the ocean". Photo: MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen

The RoboLeaks cruise HE590 aimed to conduct intensive testing of newly developed seagoing equipment at gas seep sites in the Baltic Sea. The IMGAM AUV and a customized BlueRobotics miniature ROV, a camera module for a glider, and a new heave-compensated winch were tested successfully.

The IMGAM AUV missions included safe launch and recovery using a custom-built rollable base, trimming, basic surveying at variable speeds and water depths, were carried out in Eckernförde Bight. During the nights between the AUV testing days, multibeam mapping and SIS Innomar sub-bottom profiling aimed at the identification of pockmarks and other seepage localities.

The heave-compensated winch, acquired to serve the MARUM H-ROV Ray6000, was tested in deeper waters close to the island of Bornholm, where a multi-sensor platform (MSP) with a bottom weight was lowered together with the glider module, the BlueROV and IMUs (Inertia Monitoring Systems) to assess winch performance.

Glider modul. Photo: MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen

BlueROV. Photo: MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen