Orca Maritime conducts search for WWII aircraft off the coast of Saipan

Orca Maritime personnel conducted a six day AUV survey to look for a B-29 and its crew, lost at takeoff during WWII. This effort was lead by East Carolina University and was supported with an inspection class ROV and operator from the National Marine Mammal Foundation.

The AUV is equipped with an Edgtech 2205 sonar to collect side scan and bathymetry simultaneously while collecting data with a towed Marine Magnetics Explorer magnetometer.

The data was processed and reviewed at the end of each day, with bathymetry side scan and magnetometry datasets mosaiked and inserted into a GIS to track coverage and compare target calls. The ROV was deployed to inspect targets of interest while the AUV was running its next mission in another part of the field on the following day.

Sidescan Mosaic

Bathymetry Mosaic