Tenders Are Invited For RFT for the supply of a portable electrically powered cable reel and 200 meters of double armoured coaxial cable with fittings for an Edgetech 412

An Bord Iascaigh Mhara, Ireland’s Seafood Development Agency, wishes to invite tenders for the supply of a portable electrically powered cable reel and 200 meters of double armoured coaxial cable with fittings for an Edgetech 4125 side scan sonar to extend our acoustic survey capability. BIM provides acoustic survey services to the aquaculture and fishing industry around the coast of Ireland. These surveys are carried out using an Edgetech 4125 side scan sonar system acquired in 2016. The main aims of these surveys are to map subtidal shellfish beds, provide seabed imagery for the deployment of moorings and equipment for the finfish industry and provide real time imagery of towed fishing gear to assess their performance. The sonar is deployed from the BIM inshore survey vessel, a 12-meter catamaran equipped with 220V generator, using the original 100 m soft cable (RG-58 Type). The current cable length is limiting side scan sonar deployment to shallow waters (max 35 meters), with keel weight and depressor wing for optimum data collection. Recent projects require an extension of this maximum operating depth to 45- 55 meters. Hence the need for a greater length of cable and a portable electrical winch to deploy, retrieve and store it.