M394-24 – River Tamar, Beauty Point – Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Deployment
Mariners are advised an untethered autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) will be deployed in the Beauty Point Autonomous Operations Area area and West Arm Autonomous Operations Area from Tuesday, 19 November 2024 to Friday, 22 November 2024 between the hours of 0900-1700.
The AUV will conduct a series of manoeuvres below the water surface within the deployment area as part of a training exercise. The AUV will surface for brief periods (< 10 minutes) every 30 minutes during deployment to acquire a GPS fix. The standby vessel Tapilti will be on-site during any surfacing and will display flag ALPHA and make contact over VHF CH14/16 to any approaching surface vessels. It is possible the AUV will conduct unplanned surfacing and 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 a risk of collision.
AUV