Kongsberg Presents Modular Design for Seabed Observatories

Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate (CAGE) scientists have recently retrieved two K-Lander seabed observatories, deployed in collaboration with Kongsberg Maritime offshore Svalbard in 2015.

Since the recovery of the CAGE sensor platforms, an innovative effort has been undertaken to further elaborate the design of the K-Lander.

With a building block concept, consisting of stacking identical support frames to match the needed payload, the K-Lander can be customized and scaled-up to a multitude of long-term subsea monitoring scenarios. The individual modules are then allocated to their specific role in the modular concept.

Another design feature of the K-Lander is aimed to improve deployment and recovery by implementing the self-floating-buoyancy-based recovery system. Instead of employing a rope and buoy, the new K-Lander uses a releasable ballast weight system for recovery. This design maintains the previous specified standard depth rating of up to 2,000 meters.

The K-Lander utilizes a digital processing unit (DPU), which allows for the connection of up to 10 sensors.

Communication between the K-Lander and the surface is based on the Kongsberg Maritime cNODE technology and the proprietary HiPAP Cymbal acoustic protocol for positioning and data link.

The result of the modular K-Lander Mk2 design is the first standardized, adaptable, and reusable seabed lander solution from the Kongsberg Subsea Monitoring business unit. This design will be available from this month.