Early in 2023 NORBIT opened the doors to it’s subsidiary NORBIT Canada Inc. The Canadian office was established to grow NORBIT’s presence in the region, and increase the focus on Canadian clients and their requirements for ocean technology to support the country’s expansive marine environment, which has an area of ~2.9M km2 and more than 243k km of coastline . The incorporation in Canada has been complimented by a tenancy at COVE, which provides a venue for NORBIT to welcome clients and technology partners for meetings, on the water demonstrations and trainings at the modern waterfront facility and innovation hub in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
In August NORBIT had opportunity to engage with representatives from government agencies, the private sector and academic groups involved in marine mapping and ocean technology in Eastern Canada. On the water demonstrations were held at Bedford Institute of Oceanography , COVE and Port Saint John with University of New Brunswick, Geodesy & Geomatics Engineering. The demos included NORBIT’s latest ultra-compact and high resolution sonar for seabed and subsea infrastructure mapping, the iWBMSh Stabilised, the integrated mobile iLiDAR for detailed above water mapping, and the long range, yet highly portable WINGHEAD i87S for mid water mapping with nominal 100kHz frequency and 70-240kHz frequency agility.
Customized training was delivered to a NORBIT client later in the year in Dartmouth, and again making use of conference space and waterfront access at COVE. Various theory and practical sessions were covered during the 3-day tailored training to review multibeam fundamentals, and setup the client’s WINGHEAD Dual Head i77h and B41 to achieve ultra-wide sector coverage and increased along-track sounding density. Data collection was performed with the participants, and the installation and data was validated with the group using the ‘Plate Check Method’ accuracy assessment to ensure accurate and repeatable results for future surveys.
NORBIT’s presence in Canada continued to expand through 2023 with Victoria, British Columbia based company, Ping DSP becoming part of the NORBIT family. Ping DSP’s 3D side scan and swath bathymetry sonar compliments NORBIT’s series of multibeams with industry leading resolution and compactness, and together the companies will grow the international market for the Canadian technology.
More demonstrations and trainings are being planned for Quarter 1 2024 on the West Coast in British Columbia (details to follow soon) as NORBIT continues to work with the Canadian marine community to ‘Explore More’ from coast to coast to coast.
