The Padma river is a high capacity and dynamic river with constantly shifting sand banks and islands. Extreme flow particularly throughout the monsoon season makes it difficult for even larger ships to make headway against the flow. With a shallow draft of 0.5m and Cheetah’s patented Hydropod system containing the transducer head, the new vessel will enable complex surveys to be carried out in the rapid flowing shallow water zones.

The Hydropod system uses a moonpool frame built in 50mm stainless steel tube and an R2 Sonic 2024 transducer head ensuring a highly accurate fixing position; the system does not require recalibration after transit and is easily transported between survey sites.

Propulsion is via twin Yamaha 150hp extra-long shaft engines with fuel contained in 2 below deck 180 litre tanks. A steady 19 knots at 3500 rpm was achieved during sea trials, carried out at Cheetah’s UK-base in Ventnor, IOW. The Fischer Panda 8000i 8kva ( 6.4kw) generator system and dual Durasea roof-top air conditioning systems will enable crew to keep their cool in the hot climate of Bangladesh.

Recognised for their compact, easily transportable hydrographic survey packages, Cheetah vessels can be seen carrying out a wide range of tasks in a variety of sea conditions worldwide. The first of the two Hydrographic Survey Cheetahs built for SinoHydro was shown at Seawork.