Scientific winches

RRS Sir David Attenborough has enhanced science winching capability to reliably deploy and retrieve scientific equipment including marine robotics and oceanographic equipment.

The Southern Ocean is rough and covered in ice; as such its important to have robust winch systems so equipment can be deployed safely. There are nine scientific winches on board the ship, with a combined 61,000m of cable.

Technical details:

  • 5t standard CTD Winch (2 m/s)
  • 5t clean CTD Winch
  • 20t general purpose trawl/towing winch
  • 30t coring winch
  • 20t deep tow conducting winch
  • 1t hydrographic winch
  • 5t biological winch
  • 2t multi-purpose winch
  • 1t portable winch
  • Scientific Winches with 61,000 m of cable.

The Winch Control Room has clear views of the deck where equipment will be deployed from, and has a 12-screen video wall. It can therefore be used as a control and communications hub.

CONSEC

CONSEC is addressing the challenge to understand the links between the biodiversity, structure and function of Southern Ocean ecosystems and the impacts of rapid environmental changes to improve scientific knowledge …