U.S. Navy uses the Echoscope 3D real-time imaging sonar during CSS Georgia Salvage

Coda Octopus reports that the US Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV) is using its Echoscope 3D imaging sonar during CSS Georgia Salvage efforts.

Navy Divers from Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) 2 and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technicians from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 6, in conjunction with archaeologists, conservationists, Naval History and Heritage Command, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), are diving in the Savannah River in support of the salvage of Civil War ironclad CSS Georgia.

A NAVSEA SUPSALV spokesperson said the U.S Navy became involved in this salvage effort at the request of the USACE. Faced with challenging diving conditions due to strong currents, high commercial vessel traffic and low visibility conditions, it was decided to use the Echoscope to provide real-time visualization of the underwater environment. This technology, among other things, enables the dive team to have improved situational perspective of the underwater environment by showing the location of divers, real-time monitoring of salvage operations and identifying potential metal objects of interest.  As a result, risks are greatly reduced and divers can be used more efficiently.

The Echoscope 3D imaging system displays in real time 3D underwater objects as they are scanned, whether they are static structures or moving objects. The image supplied by the Echoscope can be rotated in all three dimensions and measurements can be taken while viewing the data.

SUPSALV is evaluating the Echoscope technology for future use in its operations. 

Blair Cunningham, our President of Technology, said, "[w]e are extremely pleased that the Echoscope is proving invaluable to these types of operations and that the technology is being evaluated for broader applications within the U.S. Navy operations”.