M323-24 River Tamar, Batman Bridge and Spring Bay – Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Deployment
Mariners are advised an untethered autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) will be deployed in the Batman Bridge Autonomous Operations Area on Tuesday, 17 September 2024 between 0900-1700 hours.
The AUV will conduct a series of manoeuvres below the water surface within the deployment area. The AUV will surface briefly (< 10 minutes) every 30 minutes during deployment to acquire a GPS fix. The standby vessel Tapilti will be onsite during the surfacing, displaying the flag ALPHA and making contact over VHF CH14/16 to any approaching surface vessels. The AUV may conduct unplanned surfacing, as such any vessels coming into the current approximate location of the AUV will be contacted via VHF CH16 and requested to change course if there is risk of collision.