I n te r n a t io n a l H y d rog ra p h ic R e v ie w , Monaco, LIV (2), Ju ly 1977.

THE ROLE
OF THE CONTRACT HYDROGRAPHIC SURVEYOR

by W .J.M . R oberts
C hief Surveyor, D ecca Survey Group o f Com panies

This paper was read during the Com m ercial Sym posium a t th e X lth In tern a tio n al
H ydrographic Conference, Monte-Carlo, April 1977.

T h e past fifteen years have seen a m arked increase in the num ber
o f h ydrogra p h ic surveyors engaged in p ro v id in g services under contract.
T o a large extent this expansion has been created by the needs o f the
offshore oil industry, and much o f it w as concentrated betw een the years
1970 and 1974. T h e consequent tra in in g load on the responsible o rgan i­
sations p ro vid in g these services has been h eavy indeed; there have ju st
not been enough experienced men to go round. O ver a tw elve m onth
period in our own com pany school alone, 1,500 m an/w eeks of instruction
w ere com pleted w ith a pu p il-to-sta ff ra tio o f less than 7 to 1.

T h e number o f ocean-going vessels reg u la rly em p loyed on contract

survey w o rk around the w o rld is d ifficu lt to q u a n tify ; not least because
surveyors them selves w ou ld disagree on the scope and lim its or the types
o f a ctivity that constitute h ydrograph y. In the context o f contract w ork,
classical h yd rogra p h y often becomes in extricab ly m ixed w ith other aspects
such as field developm ent o f equipm ent, “ p o sitio n in g ” , geophysics, inspec­
tion and m aintenance w ork , or the collection o f data fo r en gin eering
projects.
But, in order to get some idea o f the international scale o f the effort
available, and assum ing that it was all to be concentrated on producing
a “ harvest o f soundings” over the contin ental shelves around the w orld ,
then w e estim ate that the offshore contract su rveying indu stry w ould be
capable o f deploying not less than 20 su rvey ships at any one time, each
ship supported by the necessary shore organ isation and equipm ent, and
w ith m an p ow er o f sufficient experience and tra in in g t o produce data t o a
standard acceptable to international ch artin g authorities.
Th ese notes com m ent on a few aspects o f the organ isa tion o f a large
survey com pany. Also, w ith a few exam ples, they show h ow equ ipm ent
and techniques first developed to solve problem s encountered in contract
w ork are being used to the benefit o f all branches of hydrography.

Q U ALITY CONTROL

T h e control o f qu ality of survey w ork in groups such as the Surveying

Service o f the R oyal N avy poses no organisational difficulties. There,
responsibility fo r both the m anagem ent o f the project and the quality of
the result rests squ arely w ith one man — the Com m anding O fficer o f the
survey ship. This sim ple and logical arrangem ent is rarely practicable in
com m ercial w ork.
In survey companies, there is invariably a preoccupation w ith trying
to m ain tain a reasonably steady flow o f w o rk ; the natural order o f things
appears to impose a “ feast or fa m in e ” tendency. Contracts are generally
aw arded only days before the due date fo r m obilisation, and the m ajority
of single tasks em ploy a ship for less than one month. Consequently, we
must arrange for our capabilities to be available in as m any parts o f the
w orld as our resources w ill allow.
Since it is useless to try to control the quality o f such widespread
w ork from a central headquarters, and since only a portion of our field­
w ork is centred round the operation o f our own ships, on ly two methods
of control are open to us.
F irstly, overseas w ork can be organised on a project-by-project basis
w hereby a senior surveyor (or party ch ief in the parlance o f the oil
in d u stry) w ith his team of specialist assistants and all his equipm ent
are deployed by air to the w ork site. T h e party ch ief is then responsible
fo r all aspects o f the control o f the project until his return to the United
K in gdom , where headquarters staff can assist with the preparation o f the
final report. Th is m ethod has the advantages of low overhead costs and
econom y o f personnel d raftin g from a central pool, but the disadvantages
o f h igh m obilisation costs and slow reaction time to unexpected or em er­
gency requirem ents or to changes in plan.
Secondly, a perm anent overseas base can be established, writh fu ll
responsibility fo r its ow n affairs. T h is entails heavy investm ent in equip­
ment, w orkshops, ships, draughting and com puting facilities and m any
other item s; but above a ll in key personnel who must not only be o f
sufficient calibre but must also have enough expcricncc o f com pany
standards, methods and objectives to operate on the end o f a very loose
corporate rein. Even to m aintain one man and his fa m ily in an overseas
posting in an oil exploration country w ill now cost his em ployer not less
than £ 25,000 per annum ; if this man is to be em ployed as base staff,
this cost w ill have to be borne as an overhead, and the w hole scale of the
operation must therefore be adequately forecast.
A t the tim e that the decision is taken to set up an overseas base
(w h ich w ill be m onths before the operation becomes effective) there m ay
w ell be not one penny o f contracted incom e for the fo llow in g financial
year. T h is is the nature o f the business, but there is not m uch room for
w ro n g decisions in such m atters.
O nce established and operating successfully, the overseas base has
obvious advantages — better com m u nication w ith the client, a m ore
fle x ib le and effic ie n t service and job satisfaction fo r one’s ow n sta ff, etc.

SHIPS A N D THEIR M ANAGEM ENT

Th e contract surveyor looks w ith en vy at the fin e m odern ships

operated b y the governm ent survey agencies.
T im e and again we in com m ercial groups have been through the
exercise o f costing the bu ildin g o f a ship designed to m eet ou r own
requirem ents — w hich differ in m an y im p ortan t respects from those o f a
public service ship. T h e exercise has n ever yet got v e ry fa r b efore the
econom ics have indicated clearly that it w ou ld be pointless to proceed w ith
that line o f thinking.
In our ow n group w e have n ow had tw elve yea rs’ experience o f
op erating ships; there are cu rren tly 15 o f them — most o f them ow ned and
the rem ain der on long term charter. W h ils t a ll ships, w h eth er sp ecifica lly
designed fo r their intended purpose or not, are a com prom ise betw een
co n flictin g needs, our ow n ships m ust in addition be adapted from the
most suitable o f those already available on the open m arket.
T h e m an y factors to be considered in m aking a good choice and an
econom ic conversion fo rm a separate subject in them selves, and the
h yd rograph ic su rveyor w ho is also an experienced seam an certa in ly has a
big contribution to m ake in these m atters. But once the ship is operating,
the h yd rogra p h ic su rveyor w ill not n o rm a lly find h im self appointed as
captain, officer, or crew m em ber o f the survey ship even though he m ay
be fu lly q u a lifie d to act as such under the relevant n ational regu lation s;
nor, if he is in a shore appointm ent, w ill he becom e in volved to any great
extent in the m any affairs o f ship’ s business and m anagem ent.
T h is arrangem ent th erefore requires a shared responsibility. W h ils t
the Captain (a certificated M aster M a rin er) rem ains fu lly in charge o f his
ship, the prop er conduct o f the su rvey is the concern o f the p a rty chief.
Th is p o ten tia lly difficu lt relationship has not caused n early as m any
problem s as those o f us trained in the naval tradition m igh t have expected.
On the fe w occasions when there has been friction , the reasons h ave not
been d ifficu lt to id en tify and the situation has been q u ick ly corrected.

THE NATUR E OF THE W ORK

F ro m w h at has been said so fa r it m igh t appear that n ational survey

organisations possess all the advantages over th eir com m ercial counterparts.
Th is is fa r fro m true. W h ils t national organisations act w ith the fu ll
w eigh t o f governm ent authority behind them , changes in p o licy also incur
the fu ll w eight o f a governm ental decision-m aking process, and this is
usually rela tively slow to take effect. Th e client/contractor relationship
cuts across national boundaries w ith a greater fa cility than provided by
d ip lom atic channels in m any cases — despite difficulties o f customs
regulations, authorisation of radio transmissions, visas, w ork permits, and
other matters.
Survey firm s usually em ploy staff w ith a number of differin g specialist
skills all connected w ith su rvey : electronics engineers, underw ater acoustics
engineers, geologists and geophysicists fo r exam ple, in addition to hydro-
grap h ic surveyors. These w ill w ork in close cooperation and alm ost daily
contact. Some o f these survey firm s have a large investm ent in research
and developm ent o f survey equipm ent.
Th rou gh clients and sub-contractors the surveyor also gains first hand
experience o f dredging, deep seismic ships, deep diving, sea-bed coring,
m arine pipeline construction and m an y other industries.
A ll this places the surveyor in a large and com plex fram ew ork of
a ctivity in w h ich he not on ly exercises his particular skills, but has the
op portu n ity to relate them directly to the needs of the client through his
personal experience.
O ver the past decade m any large and im portant hydrographic surveys
have been com pleted b y com m ercial firm s under contract; these have been
com m issioned m ostly by governm ent agencies or by the oil industry. In
total they have already m ade a sign ifican t contribution to the data available
fo r the com pilation o f published charts. F ollow in g the explosive rate o f
expansion in the years 1970 to 1974, and the further training and
experience gained since then, the potential in the industry fo r fu rth er
contributions in this field is now' greater than ever before.
But the m ain cause o f most o f this expansion has not been h y d ro ­
grap h y as such. Th e w ork has been paid fo r by the engineer rather than
the navigator, or by the oil industry rather than the shipping industry.
Presu m ably this is because the needs o f shipping are already largely catered
fo r by the national survey organisations, and because w here there are m any
users o f one piece o f w ork, as fo r instance a survey o f the approaches to
a large port, it is difficu lt to get those users together to pay fo r the cost
o f the survey on a equitable basis.
As a result, m uch o f the contract w ork is carried out in great detail,
at ve ry large scales, in areas w here there m ay be no danger to shipping.
T h e fu ture sites o f d rillin g rigs, gra vity structures or submarine pipelines
are exam ples. T h is type o f w o rk m ay be o f only lim ited interest to the
chart m aker.
M any quite m a jo r tasks in w h ich the surveyor fu lfils a key function
m a y not produce a single sounding. Exam ples are the guidance o f an oil
rig into its predeterm ined location using H i-F ix or Pulse/8 type systems,
sea-bed acoustic systems or satellite receivers — or an appropriate com ­
bin ation of these; the continuous control o f position of dredgers, seismic
ships, lay barges, bu ry barges, heavy lift ships and diving vessels; the
inspection o f a m ain trunk subm arine pipeline by acoustic sensors such as
sidescan sonar and the high resolution sub-bottom profiler.
 THE CONTRACT

H ydrograp h ic surveyors have done w ell in m aking their services know n

to the oil industry. T h ey have become w id ely accepted as a necessary part
of the team of experts required to “ bring oil into to w n ” fro m under the sea
bed — along w ith the drillers, geologists, geophysicists, engineers and
others. M any m ajor oil companies now em ploy hydrographers in a
supervisory or quality control function. Th is is w elcom ed by the contracting
organisations in that it im proves the channelling o f in form a tion between
the tw o parties and helps to avoid m isunderstandings.
A vital requirem ent fo r providin g an efficient survey service is that the
w ork should be conducted under the general guidance o f a w ell and
appropriately constructed contract. T h e surveyor should have an im p o r­
tant part to play in ensuring that this is the case. In this, he has not yet
achieved ve ry much. Some large and reputable groups o f consulting
engineers persist in issuing contract survey documents w hich purport to
be professional, but succeed only in dem onstrating the author’ s abysm al
ignorance of w hat is required in m atters of m arine survey to serve the
client’s best interests. Specifications and “ Scope o f W o r k ” m ay be danger­
ously inadequate, or m ay impose a ludicrously expensive w a y o f acquiring
quite sim ple data — or both.
P u ttin g matters, right is going to depend m ainly on the surveyor
him self — by continuing a long process of education o f the client and of
the consulting engineer w henever he gets the opportunity to do so. It is
in the com m on interest of surveyors w ork in g in the public and private
sectors, as w ell as o f the general public, to ensure that he succeeds.
A striking exam ple o f this educative process w ithin the experience of
m any contracting surveyors is that as little as ten years ago very fe w of
the E xploration Managers w ho w ere then involved in the N orth Sea oil
boom realised that to specify a precise latitude and longitude alone did not
define a location on the earth’ s surface. N ow all o f them do. A general
awareness that the solutions of problem s o f spheroid and datum shift are
not academic, but can mean the difference between success and failu re in
fin d in g oil, has brought along with it a realisation that this is one of the
reasons w h y the surveyor is there to help.

THE SURVEY REPORT

E very field operation com pleted by a survey com pany should be the
subject o f a survey report, even though the w ork m ay have been undertaken
to collect data fo r the com pany’s own purposes, or where the client m ay
have said, as occasionally happens, that no report was required. T h is fu ll
docum entation is necessary to ensure that any fu tu re disputes arising fro m
the w ork m ay be satisfactorily resolved, in addition to the usual needs for
survey data storage and retrieval.
 T h e report is com piled by the surveyor in charge, but it m ay
incorporate specialist reports such as geophysical interpretation o f records,
analysis o f sea-bed cores and samples, and d ivers’ reports, in addition to a
range o f h ydrograph ic data. Each o f these specialist reports m ay have
resulted in a mass o f detailed in form ation in diagram m atic or tabulated
form , and yet to collect these individu al sections together, bind them in
an outer cover and present them to the client w ill not help him very much.
W e re this to be done the clien t’ s reaction m ight run som ething like
this: “ I have told you that m y organisation is going to have to invest one
m illion dollars per kilom etre run o f pipeline to transport oil along the
seabed from P o in t A to Poin t B. I have asked you to advise me on w hether
any diversion from the great circle route might be necessary. In reply you
have given me 300 pages o f figures, but nowhere can I find the answer to
the question. W h a t is the answer ? Yes or No ? ".
W h ils t the answers in such cases are rarely quite as sim ple as that,
the exam ple does indicate how the reports should be written. Th e senior
surveyor must correlate the data contained in each specialist section, and
consider its com bined im plications fo r answering the question. Th e report
must then begin w ith presenting his conclusions! These must be in as
concise and unambiguous a form as possible and, where appropriate,
should contain recom m endations fo r further action. These w ill be follow ed
by all the detailed data, m ostly in appendices to the main report. In the
exam ple above, fo r instance, these appendices would be used by the
pipeline design and construction engineers to plan the next stage o f the
project.
Problem s o f this sort are frequ ently encountered by contracting
organisations. T h ey raise im portant questions. Should the company only
undertake w ork w here data collection under contract has been clearly
separated fro m data interpretation, and the im plication o f o fferin g pro­
fessional advice based on this data? I f it is to undertake these advisory
responsibilities, w hich are the technical matters in which it is competent
to do so? H ow is a client to be persuaded that a com pany w ith contracting
interests is also goin g to offer good professional advice? As members o f a
professional body o f Chartered Surveyors, w ould the com panies’ surveyors
be acting outside their terms o f reference in offerin g advice in the particular
fie ld being considered?
T h e w ay in w hich each com pany answers these and sim ilar questions
w ill colour the w hole style and scope o f its w ork, and w ill influence
investm ent, recruitm ent and training programmes.

EQUIPMENT DEVELOPMENT

Surveyors in large companies w ill fin d them selves em ployed for some
o f the tim e on aspects o f that a ctivity which led their organisation into
p rovid in g offshore survey services in the first place. In the case o f the
Decca Survey Group this was the m anufacture o f a range o f survey
positioning systems.
 O peration al reports on equ ipm ent p erform an ce fro m our ow n fie ld
en gin eers and surveyors fo rm a valu able link w ith the laboratories and
help to speed up the process o f im p ro v in g existing systems. A t an ea rlier
stage su rveyors have their part to play in the developm en t and fie ld
evalu ation o f p rototy p e equipm ent. A t an ea rlier stage still, su rveyors help
to id e n tify new problem s and can discuss w ith the engineers the lin e o f
developm en t m ost lik e ly to provide a solution.
M a n y o f these d e v e lo p m e n t s firs t receive a t te n tio n in an att e m p t to
solve one sp ec ific b u t u r g e n t p r o b le m , a n d s u b s e q u e n t l y b e c o m e u s e f u l in
a m uch w id er context.
Som e exam ples o f these types o f w ork are given below.

Fixed Error Data

W h e re v e r su rvey positioning chains, such as H i-F ix or T risp on d er,

are tem p o ra rily established around the w orld in places w h ere Decca
N a v ig a to r Chain cover exists, our ships have been fitte d w ith M ain Chain
receivers fo r sim ultaneous recordin g w ith the survey readings, even though
the fo rm er m ay not have been sp ecifica lly required fo r the survey. T h is
data is analysed b y field surveyors and office staff to p rovid e relia b le fix e d
error data o f Decca N a vig a tor Chain coverage out o f sight o f land. T h is
rou tine has added sign ifica n tly to the q u an tity and q u a lity o f such data
published in the “ Data Sheets” used b y thousands o f seamen around the
w orld.
T h e accu m ulation o f such data fo r pu rely survey purposes, by
com parison o f one survey system against another, has been a m a jo r task
in areas such as the N orth Sea. M a n y m onths o f ship tim e, num erous
a irc ra ft sorties, sp ecially-fitted vans d e p lo y e d . at key points along the
contin ental and U nited K in gd om shores o f the N o rth Sea, S at-F ix receivers
around the coasts and on fixed p la tfo rm s offshore, have all been in volved.
T h e resulting m ass o f data has req u ired a great deal o f com puter tim e in
its analysis, and a num ber o f k ey staff in its h a n dlin g and pu blication.
T h e establishm ent o f any new position in g system on a service basis,
such as the new Pulse/8 chains (see fig . 1), fu rth er increases the am ount
o f data handling. T h is w o rk is n ow centralised in a separate departm en t.
S u rveyors have a key role to p la y in all this.
T h is w o rk is expensive and its cost has to be borne out o f com pan y
resources, but w ith ou t it correlation betw een p osition in g system s w ou ld
have been poor, and the problem s o f o ilfie ld exp lora tion and develop m en t
w ou ld have been com pounded.

Aqua-Fix

One o f the m an y new position in g problem s that has fo llo w e d offsh ore
oil developm en t into deep w ater over the last fe w yea rs has been that o f a
requirem ent fo r rela tive and repeatable accuracies as stringent as ± 1
m etre w ith in an area o f perhaps 1 square k ilo m e tre ; and this area m igh t
be 300 kilom etres offshore and in a depth o f 150 m etres.
 J0 1 /T W .V 2K y j y i l t X C C À SU RV EY L T D . * Ü D A /5 X 0/SS 8 £S ë t t f g a K l g

Fi(i. 1. — No r t h Sea Pulse/8 p l a n n i n g chart. ( T h i s d i a g r a m i ndi cat es the best t wo

pat t er ns f r o m those a v a i l a b l e f o r pos i t i o n f i xi ng. In a l l f i x i n g an addi t i o nal posi t i on
l i ne shoul d be obs e r ve d) .

T h e p r o b l e m has ar is e n in such a c t iv i t i e s as (h e d e t a ile d c o r i n g o f a

s m a ll area o f seabed w h e r e il is in t e n d e d that a g r a v i t y s tr u c t u r e s h o u ld
he p la c e d in the f o l l o w i n g y e a r ; o r the s e ttin g out o f a p r e c is e p a t t e r n ot
a n c h o r p ile s f o r a s in g le b u o y m o o r i n g .
The s o lu tio n has been the d e v e l o p m e n t of acoustic, ra n g in g d e v ic e s
w h i c h i n t e r r o g a t e s m a l l s eab e d tr a n s p o n d e r s . D e v e l o p m e n t has been r a p id
t h r o u g h a su ccessio n o f p r o t o t y p e s u n til n o w A q u a - F i x p r o d u c t i o n s y s te m s
are in reliable op eration under ve ry testin g conditions in the N orth Sea.
T h e data is d isplayed to the user on an X Y plot, h a vin g been processed
throu gh an HP-9810 com puter. T h e program m e firs t orientates and
trilaterates the seabed array and then displays sh ip’ s present position on
the plot — plus, if required, the position o f one m ob ile subm erged ob ject
such as a tow ed or a m anned subm ersible.

Such system s w o id d now appear to have th eir place in m ore conven­

tional tasks such as the d rift sw eeping o f w recks or the close exam in ation
of vigias.
A gain , su rveyors have had their part to p lay in the developm en t o f
h ardw are and so ftw a re for these systems. Indeed, th eir in volvem en t in
u nderw ater acoustics goes much fu rth er than this. It is the su rveyor m ore
than anyone, fo r exam ple, w h o is interested in the in terp reta tio n o f high-
resolution sidescan records fo r such en gin eering purposes as p ip elin e
m aintenance. Much has been achieved in this technique alread y and fu rth er
developm en ts are in hand.

Sat-Fix

W h en our Sat-F ix receivers becam e available fo r our ow n use in the

field in 1973, th ey w ere first deployed in various fie ld trials to test relia b il­
ity, rep ea ta b ility and com p arative distance m easurem ent against p rim a ry
coordinated points. Soon a fterw a rd s they w ere in op eration al use. Th e
q u a lity o f results to be expected, given proper ob servin g and processing
routines, fo r eith er single point or — p referably — translocation w o rk , is
now w ell docu m ented in num erous su rvey reports o f m a jo r operations.
Fou r o f these are referenced [1 ], [2 ], [3 ], [4 ],
In the N orth Sea, in consultation w ith governm ent authorities, Sat-F ix
receivers w ere placed at key points in Scotland, N o r w a y and oth er N orth
Sea coastal countries. T h e purpose w as to chek on the strength o f the
connections, m a in ly between N o rw a y and the N o rth o f Scotland, w h ich
w ou ld directly affect the baseline len gth o f our Pulse/8 system . W e had
alread y been affected by the O rdnance Survey o f Great B rita in S cien tific
N etw o rk (1970), w hich had “ m o v e d ” Scotland by 20 m etres or so. T h is
had caused us to recom pute a m ass o f sim ultaneous readings fro m our
Scottish and N o rw e g ia n H i-F ix chains and to change our published fix ed
error data a cco rd in gly — and in c id en ta lly to achieve better consistency in
the process. In the next fe w m onths w e look fo rw a rd to the results o f the
readju stm ent o f B lock V o f the E u ropean N etw o rk , w h ich w ill give us
revised E.D. coordinates fo r our N o rw e g ia n stations.
In the A ra b ia n Sea/Persian Gulf, S a t-F ix operated in the tran slocation
m ode is being used to coordinate T ris p o n d er and S ea-F ix stations on
offshore islands w h ere the geodetic connection w ith the m ain land is know n
to be w eak.
In the h eavy bush o f the N iger D elta, Sat-Fix d erived geod etic con trol
is p rovin g in valu ab le in the p re lim in a ry stages o f in sta llin g the Decca
N avigator chains in that area.
 REM ARKS

In this short paper it has been d ifficu lt to give a fa ir im pression o f the

trem endous v a rie ty o f w o rk now experienced by the offshore su rveyor in
contract w ork , and it seems that n early ev ery day new problem s arise in
new parts o f the w orld . O u r fie ld staff are now p rovid in g services in all
fiv e continents. In evita b ly, there are patches o f tedious, rep etitive and yet
responsible a ctivity, but these are fa r ou tw eighed b y the m ore in terestin g
w ork.
F in a lly , perhaps a w o rd o f w arn in g. T h e rapid rate o f expansion and
consequent recru itm en t over the past fe w years has been referred to above.
I f civilian tra in in g and educational establishm ents project the sam e rate
o f expansion into the fu tu re and plan th eir staffin g and student intake
a ccord in gly, w e feel they w o u ld be w ron g. It w ill be necessary fo r
education and in d u stry to contin ue a good liaison to get things righ t in
this all-im p orta n t forecast.

AC K N O W LE D G M EN T S

T h e author w ishes to thank his colleague Mr. R .T. B a i l e y fo r tim e

spent in discussing and co rre ctin g this paper, and his em p loyers fo r
perm ission to present these personal view s.

REFERENCES

[1] A., R.L. W a d e , F.W. L e e m a n : Doppler satellite application in Mani­

H it t e l ,
toba. Surveys and Mapping Branch for the Province of Manitoba, and
Shell Canada Ltd.
(2 ] Hothem , Larry D. : Evaluation of precision and error sources associated
■with Doppler positioning. National Ocean Survey, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. Proceedings
of X Y I General Assembly, I.U.G.G., Grenoble, August 1975.
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