Hydrographic demonstrations at the docks

Specifications

• displacement : 1,912 tons
• length : 81.4 meters
• width : 13.1 meters
• draft : 4.0 meters
• propulsion : 1,240 kilowatts (diesel-electric propulsion)
• speed : 12 knots
• crew : 23 men (average)

Detailed nautical charts

The ships are equipped with advanced recording systems. Specialized software combines GPS and sonar data, among other sources. With this, the service produces detailed nautical charts.

Shallow waters

To map shallow waters, the Snellius carries a Mobile Hydrographic Package (MHP). This is a shippable package equipped with a more compact sensor model than the survey vessels. The MHP can be mounted on any Defence RHIB motorboat, enabling the service to survey almost anywhere.

In addition to nautical charts for civilian and military use, the service is also deployed during military operations and exercises. For example, it can determine which part of a coastal strip is best suited for an amphibious landing or evacuation.

The hydrographic survey vessels spend the most sailing days in the North Sea. There, they sail specific tracks to take measurements.

Every five years, one of the survey vessels sails to the Caribbean part of the Kingdom to update the hydrographic information there. The last time this was HNLMS Snellius in 2019. At that time, the vessel was also deployed with the amphibious transport ship Zr.Ms. Johan de Witt for emergency relief in the Bahamas. Following the devastation of Hurricane Dorian , Zr.Ms. Snellius mapped the underwater situation around the port of Abaco . This was necessary for salvage operations of containers and other material that had been blown into the water by the hurricane.