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USV Maxlimer to carry out caldera survey of underwater volcano

The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), New Zealand's leading environmental science and applied research service provider has announced an exciting project by NIWA and The Nippon Foundation to undertake a mission to discover the undersea impacts of the recent Tongan volcanic eruption at a press conference on 1 April 2022 at 01:00 BST.

USV Maxlimer preparing for despatch to Tonga

As a key part of the project, SEA-KIT International’s Uncrewed Surface Vessel, ‘Maxlimer’, will carry out a full month’s survey over the caldera, mapping its current shape.


During this time the vessel, remotely controlled from SEA-KIT’s base in Essex, will gather a range of data to develop and support understanding of the eruption’s undersea impact using less than 2% of the fuel of a typical survey vessel.


Read the full story on the BBC News website here.


The NIWA-Nippon Foundation Tonga Eruption Seabed Mapping Project (TESMaP) is being funded by The Nippon Foundation – the largest non-profit organisation based in Japan which, amongst other philanthropic activities, has been facilitating projects in the ocean field since 1962. The research is also supported by The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project which aims to map the world’s ocean floor by 2030.


NIWA's full press release can be downloaded below.

NipponTonga_SeafloorMapping_MediaRelease_Final
.pdf
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