Fiordland Discovery offers Hi-Def Seamor for Tourists

Rob Swale, owner and skipper of "The Fiordland Jewel" charter boat (http://www.fiordlanddiscovery.co.nz), has recently purchased a 600m depth rated Hi-Def ROV to offer his clients a live view of the underwater life found in the Fiorldands of New Zealand.

Rob wanted to provide Blu-Ray quality live video footage from the ROV directly to 3 large screen, curved 4K ultra high definition screens located around his vessels so all of his clients could see the sea-life underneath them. As the Fiords are quite deep, Rob also needed an ROV that could easily view the midnight depths of the deepest fiords, some 550m deep.

The Fiordlands of New Zealand

The Fiordlands of New Zealand

The solution was a Seamor 600F 2/4 Hi definition ROV with 4 additional LED floodlights, a manipulator, 670m fibre optic tether on an electric reel, video enhancement, and state of the art high definition recorders and components from ATOMOS.

ROV Control Panel with 670m tether on Electric Reel

ROV setup on board the Jewel Charter Vessel

Training for Rob and Jack was completed over 3 days within the Fiordlands Doubtfull sound, where we were lucky enough to view some spectacular scenery above the water, and an abundance of life below the water. Rob is currently building a custom designed live-aboard Catamaran for guests to explore the magnificent scenery of the Fiordlands, with Jack piloting the ROV to show the action beneath the deep, clear water.

The 4 horizontal, 150w thrusters can handle even the most demanding conditions

Below is some footage that we recorded during the training trip to the Fiordlands. It has been reduced in quality for faster streaming, however you can still appreciate the clarity of the Sony 1080p High Definition Camera, and the benefits of the zoom capabilities.

Fiordland's of New Zealand from ROV Innovations on Vimeo.