Mooring System Ready for Ocean Sentinel

After multiple days of offshore installation, the mooring system for NNMREC’s Ocean Sentinel instrumentation buoy is in place. According to NNMREC Test Berth Manager Sean Moran, conditions at the project site were a little rough during the installation, but manageable. “We had solid swells with some wind chop, but the crew handled it with no problem and the mooring system is good to go.”

The mooring system, which includes three concrete block anchors weighing four tons each, was transported to the project site aboard the Pacific Storm. At the site, Captain Yogi Briggs and his crew deftly deployed the massive anchors, lowering them one at a time off the back of the vessel and setting them into place on the seafloor. Finally, they connected the mooring lines from the anchors to surface buoys to hold them in place. With its mooring system installed and dry tests complete, the Ocean Sentinel is ready for deployment!