Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility

On July 3rd 2009 the ROPOS ROV and the ROCLS Cable Laying system were mobilized aboard R.V. Atlantis to participate in the installation of the Neptune Canada trawl resistant frames, nodes, instrument platforms and instruments. Working in conjunction with the Alcatel-Lucent cableship Lodbrog, ROPOS carried out pre-deployment survey and monitoring of touchdown as the nodes and trawl resistant frames were lowered to the seabed. After node deployment, ROPOS connected test equipment carried on the ROV to verify that the nodes were functioning correctly.

Between node deployments, ROPOS installed instrument platforms and instruments and commenced the laying of over 60 kilometers of interconnecting cables using the ROCLS system.

Photographs and updates on the installation of the NEPTUNE Canada infrastructure can be found at the NEPTUNE Canada Installation Blog. Videos can be found via the ROPOS YouTube Channel.  A CBC National News story regarding this summers exploits can be found here.

The remotely operated cable laying system (ROCLS) is a recent upgrade to ROPOS. ROCLS latches beneath ROPOS for deployment of extension cables for seafloor observatories. This unique system utilizes the ROPOS ROV with a specially designed cable laying spool and operating system that allows for the deployment of smaller diameter cables that cannot be laid in deep water by a cable ship. The benefits of an ROV capable of laying cables, include the ability to maneuver the cable route around obstacles on the seafloor and connect instruments arrays to the nodes. ROCLS underwent successful sea trials in August 2007 and laid a six kilometer extension cable for the VENUS project in February 2008 that links an array of piezometers in the Fraser River delta. 

In the summer of 2009, ROPOS and ROCLS successfully deployed numerous interconnection cables for the Neptune Canada Ocean Observatory including two 12.5 kilometre bottom pressure recorder cables at depths of 2600 metres . ROPOS also carried out a technically difficult cable lay which began atop a pinnacle rock in only 20 metres of water with heavy shore surge, then followed a convoluted path down the flanks of the peak into deeper water and on to connect to the Neptune Canada Folger Passage node.

For more details on ROCLS please read "Observatory Cable Laying System" written by Keith Shepherd, Keith Tamburri and Reuben Mills.