Fastwave delivers subsea turbidity sensors for Woodside dredging operations

With the recent commencement of dredging operations for Woodside Energy's giant offshore Pluto LNG project, Fastwave was contracted by Woodside to design and construct 12 subsea turbidity monitoring units with satellite telemetry communication capability. These units are required to monitor the impact of dredging operations on the sensitive marine environment adjacent to the onshore gas processing facilities located on the Burrup Peninsula.

Each sensor package consists of a turbidity sensor, data logger, satellite transceiver, controller and re-chargeable battery pack in a watertight housing, located on the sea floor. The package is connected to a surface buoy, from which near real time sensor readings are transmitted via Iridium Short Burst Data satellite telemetry time to monitoring databases for further analysis. Reporting every 30 minutes, the units have an endurance of approximately three months before battery re-charging is required.