First introduced for handling delicate oceanographic equipment, the MERMAC S electrically driven winches are advanced and robust systems suited for numerous general marine applications.
MERMAC S winches are available with several purpose-built features and options which make them ideal for use with side scan sonars, corers, CTD systems, towed vehicles and other instrument and equipment types.
MacArtney has supplied a MERMAC S30C winch, cable and termination to IT International of Halifax, Nova Scotia, for their core sampling business group. Credit: MacArtney
Extreme ease of use
Based on demands made on the SWL and cable capacity of the winch, MacArtney decided to use a customized version of the MERMAC S30 all electric winch. This winch gives the operator feedback to the line tension on the main umbilical, quiet operation and extreme ease of use. Due to the flexible design of the MERMAC S30C, the system can also handle IT International’s future use of tow sledges, subbottom profiling and side scan sonar systems.
The winch has been supplied with a Focal Model 180 slip ring, 1500 m Ø = 17.3 mm armored Coax cable fitted with a MacArtney TrustLink stainless steel stress termination to connect to the corer. The winch system will be used with IT International’s NEPTUNE 3000 CPT corer system.
‘Both IT International and MacArtney are extremely pleased with the outcome of our joint project and expect other exciting jobs in future’, says Lars F. Hansen, President of MacArtney Inc.
Reliability and controllability
MacArtney MERMAC S winches combine reliability with controllability and are supplied with variable speed, tension read-out and control via an integrated load cell. A PLC on the winch controls the electrically driven level wind and transmits encoder and load cell data to a display showing winch speed, paid out cable length and alarms. The PLC can also interface to other control systems. Optional PC software offers fully automated profiling capabilities.
Additional features of the MERMAC S winches represent adaptability to suit various cable diameters and availability with interchangeable drums. Spare drums can be spooled with different cable sizes and swapped as needed for swift change of winch application.
The MERMAC S winches from MacArtney often form part of complete vessel winch and handling solutions.