Denmark headquartered MacArtney has supplied a major consignment of high performance oceanographic winches to JAMSTEC, the Japanese Agency of Marine-Earth-Science and Technology.
The total of eight winch systems and related equipment was delivered to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries which, in cooperation with specialist MacArtney launch and recovery technicians, installed them onboard the brand new JAMSTEC research vessel, the R/V Shinsei Maru.
Built at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Shimonoseki Shipyard and Machinery Works, the R/V Shinsei Maru was completed and delivered to JAMSTEC last year, marking the latest addition to the extensive JAMSTEC fleet of modern research vessels. In the hands of the JAMSTEC scientists and empowered by state of the art functions and equipment, R/V Shinsei Maru is bound to offer an invaluable contribution to the recovery of marine ecosystems and fisheries in post earthquake disaster coastal Japan. This will be achieved through comprehensive studies, efficient marine environmental observation, bathymetric survey and ocean-atmosphere research.
In order to effectively carry out these kinds of oceanographic surveying, the R/V Shinsei Maru is equipped with a wide variety of on board observation systems, portable research equipment and a remote controlled unmanned probe. For launching and recovering this multitude of surveying systems and equipment, the R/V Shinsei Maru is outfitted with a total MacArtney winch solution.
Comprising eight winch systems (four stationary and four portable), the MacArtney winch solution includes a general survey winch; small, medium and large wire winches; a CTD winch; a deep towing winch; a water sampling winch; and a morring survey winch.
Adding to the overall system performance, six of the MacArtney winches onboard the R/V Shinsei Maru are empowered by Active Heavy Compensation (AHC), which dramatically reduces unwanted undulation, cable slack, pull and equipment instability by compensating for the motion caused by heavy seas. AHC thus works to dramatically decrease weather related downtime.
