The yellow Echo.1 sounding drone with antennas and a camera travels in green water along a steel sheet pile wall
Under water

Our drone can also see where things are getting tight

Even – and especially – in hard-to-access or shallow harbour areas, we need to know exactly how much water remains beneath the ships’ keels. The echo.1 sounding drone is now helping us with this.

The yellow sounding drone Echo.1 with antennas and a camera rides on the water in which the sun glistens

It looks like a modern toy and is also a bit of fun. But as the smallest sounding vessel in our fleet, our innovative echo.1 sounding drone has a very serious purpose and is packed with technology. It ensures that the Port of Hamburg has become even safer for ships.</p

Modern sounding vessels are now standard in all major harbours worldwide. With their acoustic measuring systems, they show very precisely how deep the water is and where dredging may be necessary. However, narrow and shallow areas also need to be inspected time and again. Manned ships are sometimes too large or not manoeuvrable enough.

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The yellow Echo.1 sounding drone with antennas and a camera in a harbour basin, with a bridge and the Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg in the background
echo.1 on her maiden voyage in Sandtor harbour.

This is where our new sounding drone, which is powered by an electric jet engine and weighs around 50 kg, is now being used. It can travel for up to 6 hours at 4 knots on a single charge. And with a draught of just 20 cm and a length of 1.65 metres, it can get into the smallest corners. It can actually do everything that a large sounding vessel can do. In addition to classic underwater sounding with the multibeam echo sounder, it also has a special type of camera above water with which a precise 3D laser scan, e.g. of banks and quay walls, can be created.

The small and quiet drone is also ideal for water areas that are not actually used by ships, such as the Alte Süderelbe or the new Shallow water area Kreetsand.

The yellow Echo.1 sounding drone with antennas and a camera on a metal frame at the edge of a body of water where a metal boat with monitor and outboard motor is moored on the shore
echo.1 ready for use on the Alte Süderelbe. The data obtained in this way is also of great importance for nature and water conservation.

However, the small size of echo.1 is not the only advantage. Thanks to the high-precision GPS and remote data transmission, the drone can be easily operated by remote control, but it can also process pre-defined direction finding tasks completely independently and transmit the results in real time. This saves time and journeys for the large sounding vessels and, not least, fuel and emissions.

schematic representation of the yellow sounding drone Echo.1 with antennas and a camera

Safety is always the top priority. Even though the drone has a camera on board that shows what is happening around it, it is always operated within sight of our hydrographers, who can intervene at any time in the event of danger, so that collisions with other vehicles are ruled out not only by the forward-looking short-range radar, but also by constant visual monitoring. So it doesn't work without people after all. There's just too much going on in the harbour for that.

The yellow Echo.1 sounding drone with antennas and a camera is travelling on a body of water, with the METHA, a plant for processing harbour silt, in the background
The sounding drone can also measure reliable data where there are no ships, such as in the METHA reservoir.
The exact fill level can be easily recognised in the 3D image of the METHA storage tank.
The yellow sounding drone Echo.1 with antennas and a camera is travelling in a channel with green banks, on the bank a man with a remote control
Even small trenches can be precisely measured with echo.1.

You can find out more on our YouTube channel!

Water drones in the Port of Hamburg

Sounding drone echo.1 in Hamburg harbour

 

 

FAQ about the echo.1 sounding drone

The most important questions and answers at a glance.

 

The sounding drone supports the HPA in accurately measuring water depths in difficult-to-access or shallow harbour areas. It helps to determine how much water remains under the keel of the ships - a key safety factor for harbour operations.</p

 

 

Modern sounding vessels use acoustic systems to measure water depth. However, in narrow or very shallow areas, manned ships are sometimes too large or not manoeuvrable enough. This is where the echo.1 sounding drone can be used safely and efficiently.

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The sounding drone has an electric jet drive and can be used for up to 6 hours at a speed of around 4 knots. It weighs around 50 kg, has a draught of only 20 cm and is 1.65 metres long. It has a multibeam echo sounder for underwater sounding and a 3D laser camera for precise measurements of shores or quay walls. This equipment makes it the smallest but state-of-the-art sounding vessel in the fleet.

 

 

The echo.1 drone can also take bearings where there are no ships - for example in the Alte Süderelbe, in ditches and canals or in shallow water areas Kreetsand. Its small size and silence make it particularly suitable for ecologically sensitive areas.</p

 

 

It reaches the tightest corners and shallow zones, can autonomously carry out defined sounding tasks and transmit measurement data in real time. It can also be used in inland areas such as canals, trenches and basins. Less operating time for large sounding vessels also means lower fuel consumption and emissions.

 

 

The drone can be operated by remote control or autonomously. It can also travel predetermined routes independently. Thanks to high-precision GPS and stable data transmission, it can perform its tasks very reliably.</p

 

 

The data is important for the safe navigation of ships, decisions on where dredging should take place, as well as nature and water protection, e.g. in shallow water areas or reservoirs.

 

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