96 



3.3.2 Surveys 



Surveys, as conducted in the academic community, are more qualitative and less 

 quantitative than the industrial community. Typically, these surveys involve 

 visual reconnaissance of the bottom, collection of grab samples and photography. 

 The English CONSUB 1 is also capable of obtaining hard rock cores, a capability 

 found only on that vehicle. 



In virtually all survey applications ROVs are used to confirm interpretations 

 drawn from data previously obtained through conventional surface techniques, 

 or to fill in details not attainable by conventional means. An example of this 

 latter application was the study of pack ice thickness and configuration by 

 the Finnish vehicle PHOCAS . 



During the years 1974 through 1976 the Institute of Geological Sciences conducted 

 a series of survey operations with CONSUB 1 at various locations offshore 

 England. Results of these operations was to provide a basis of comparison 

 between the capabilities of remotely operated vehicles and manned submersibles 

 as survey platforms. According to Eden et al (1977) , in most instances the 

 remotely operated vehicle is competent to achieve results equivalent to manned 

 vehicles on the continental shelf, and at significantly lower operating costs. 



3.4 U.S. ROV Utilization 



In late 1978 a survey was conducted of civilian U.S. ROV operators to ascertain 

 the degree of utilization of these vehicles during the Fiscal Year 1978 period 

 (1 October 1977 through 30 September 1978) . At that time there were 11 operators 

 who represented a total of 27 ROVs. Only three of the operators responded 

 to the survey questionnaire (Taylor Diving Co. , Martech International and 

 Rebikoff Underwater Products) , but they operate a total of 15 ROVs which was 

 somewhat greater than half of the vehicles operating. The responses from these 

 three companies are summarized in Table 3.2. The total dive days of all 15 

 vehicles is 2,007. Significantly, all were in support of - ox aimed at the 

 industrial market, and all were funded by the private sector. 



These ROV utilization figures are interesting when compared against the 

 activities of the thirteen civilian operational manned submersibles for the 

 same period. During FY 1978, U.S. manned submersibles operated a total of 

 510 dive days, of these 122 (23%) were funded by the federal government; 

 123 (24%) by a private research foundation and 265 (51%) by private industry. 

 The tasks conducted by manned vehicles are almost equally divided between 

 scientific/research (43%) and industrial (46%) . 



