Geo Manzi Proved her Capabilities
The Marine Geoscience Unit (MGU) of the Council for Geoscience recently launched its latest survey vessel, the SV Geo Manzi, in Simon's Town near Cape Town, South Africa. Geo Manzi (Zulu for Geology and Water) has an overall length of just under 9m, with a beam of 3.1m and a draught of ~ 0.6m and was built by Cape Town-based Veecraft Marine. She is powered by twin 4-stroke Suzuki outboard motors of 175HP each which allows her to reach transit speeds in excess of 35knots.
The vessel is equipped with an entire suite of marine geophysical equipment which will allow her to carry out nearshore marine surveys on behalf of the Council's survey commitments to the SA government, and commercial clients. The vessel has an operational water depth window ranging from ~ 3m to ~100m.
The onboard geophysical equipment comprises a Reson 7125 multibeam sonar, a L3-Klein 3000 sidescan sonar system as well as a Geopulse subbottom profiler and a SeaSPY marine magnetometer. Vessel navigation and positioning is through an Applanix POS-MV yielding extremely highly accurate survey data. The vessel's electrics, a 220VAC and 12VDC system, are powered by an inboard generator via UPS to a distribution board serving numerous plug points, thereby yielding clean, uninterrupted power at all times.
Successful sea trials have been conducted which have confirmed her seaworthiness and handling capabilities, and suitability as a stable survey platform in the notoriously rough waters around southern Africa. Thankfully the only problems encountered during sea trials to date have been the rapid course changes required due to the presence of many southern right whales in False Bay - where they congregate at this time of the year. However, the sight of such beautiful creatures close up has more than made up for this minor inconvenience in the opinion of all concerned!
