ITP 67 Deployment Operations

The opportunity to deploy ITP 67 in the Chukchi Sea was provided by the Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) during the 2013 cruise on the research vessel Araon. The system was deployed over the side of the ship in order to reduce the impact on shiptime and the open water conditions using a combination of the ship’s A-Frame, starboard aft crane, and the ITP mooring winch secured to the deck. After the anchor and profiler were lowered into the water and the mooring wire paid out, an inductive modem test was completed to ensure communications between the surface package and the profiler. After a successful response from the profiler, the electro-mechanical chain was assembled and connected to the surface package. The operation to deploy the ITP proceeded smoothly, took approximately 2.5 hours and left the system stably drifting in open water. Nearby, a BAS Wave Buoy was deployed.