Media Release
Tuesday, 11 January 2011

Navy to Use Sonar to Assist Police in Jet Skier Search

Specialist sonar equipment utilised by the Royal New Zealand Navy Mine Countermeasures Team and Operational Dive Team has been called upon to assist NZ Police in the search for the missing jet skier near Rotorua.

The Navy will be providing six members from the highly trained Operational Dive Team employing the Diver Underwater Search System (DUSS) and two Mine Countermeasures personnel to operate the REMUS Autonomous Underwater Vehicle AUV.

The sonar equipment utilised by the Navy’s Mine Countermeasures Team and Operational Dive Team are complementary and provide a suite of options and capabilities above and beyond the standard diver search.

Additionally the Navy has taken the Operational Dive Team's six Man Recompression Chamber which enables the divers to remain underwater longer and therefore fully maximise each and every dive.

The Royal New Zealand Navy successfully used sonar equipment in the search for the Tongan Ferry, Princess Ashika, which sank in August 2009. Since then, REMUS has been used during an exercise in New Caledonia to search, locate and identify historic ordnance in the local lagoon.

ENDS

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