Teledyne Marine advances deepwater surveying with SeaBat T51-S
Teledyne Marine has launched the SeaBat T51-S multibeam echosounder, marking the latest advancement in the SeaBat T series. Building on the success of the flagship SeaBat T51-R, the new T51-S is tailored specifically for subsea applications, enabling deployment on remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) for deep-sea exploration and underwater surveys. Visitors to Ocean Business 2025 were given a preview, with the system demonstrated both at Teledyne Marine’s dockside area (HS02) and during on-water sessions using ASVs.
The ‘S’ in SeaBat T51-S stands for ‘subsea’, underscoring its capability to operate at extreme depths of up to 6,000 metres. Housed in a pressure-rated casing, the SeaBat T51-S retains the core features of the original T51 while introducing new flexibility for operations beyond vessel-based deployments. Like other systems in the SeaBat multibeam portfolio, the T51-S is engineered to meet the challenging demands of subsea surveying with precision and resilience.
Minimal false detections
Among its benefits, the SeaBat T51-S delivers exceptionally clean data with minimal false detections, supporting highly accurate survey results and reducing the time required for post-processing and manual corrections. Its imaging resolution is particularly noteworthy: with a narrow receiver beamwidth of just 0.25°, the system can resolve small objects such as cables, rocks and boulders down to 0.3 metres in size – ideal for detailed seabed mapping and inspection.
Efficiency is further enhanced through its impressive 170° swath width at 800kHz, allowing users to cover a much larger area in a single pass and significantly reduce overall survey time. In addition, the system supports advanced automation through integrated ‘Tracker’ technology. This real-time feature automatically adjusts sonar settings, which simplifies operation, reduces the need for specialized expertise and allows operators to focus on other mission-critical tasks.
Pim Kuus, senior hydrographer and product manager at Teledyne Marine, commented: “The SeaBat T51-R is recognized as the best-in-class multibeam system, so anticipation for the new T51-S has been high. We’re happy we can now meet user demand with a system that delivers the highest-resolution subsea mapping while maintaining exceptional data quality.” With the introduction of the SeaBat T51-S, Teledyne Marine continues to drive innovation in sonar technology. The system empowers scientists, researchers and commercial operators to achieve exceptional mapping results across a broad spectrum of subsea survey and inspection missions.
