Ninfe-class research vessel

The Ninfe class of survey vessels consists of two catamaran hulls operated by the Marina Militare Italiana.

Features
They was designed to carry out hydro-oceanographic surveys at high sea and in harbours and shallow waters, in order to guarantee the production and updating of nautical charts.

Main activities: The collected data are then processed by means of dedicated software programs and then used to produce:
 * sounding
 * minimum depth
 * topography of shorelines and port facilities
 * seabed features
 * collection of nautical and geographical data for the updating of nautical documentation
 * detection of sunken vessels or dangerous underwater obstacles
 * paper and electronic nautical charts for the safety of navigation
 * Additional Military Layers
 * nautical, scientific and technical documentation for mariners
 * oceanographic databases for scientific purposes

Characteristics
It is fitted with: The ship is equipped one survey motor-boat for coastal and shallow water surveys fitted with:
 * multi-beam echo sounder Simrad EM300 (30 kHz)
 * single-beam echo sounder Simrad EA500 (12, 120 e 200 kHz)
 * single-beam echo sounder Atlas Deso 25 (33, 100 e 210 kHz)
 * Side Scan Sonar towed Simrad MS992
 * differential and RTK satellite positioning systems
 * Sippican XBT MK21 bathythermograph system
 * CTD profiler with rosette system Ocean Seven 316 used for water sampling at different depths
 * Van Veen buckets
 * Sindel weather station
 * single beam Simrad EA400 (38 e 200 kHz)
 * multi-beam echo sounders Simrad EM3000 (300 kHz)