MacArtney supplies winch for deep-sea search
A MERMAC R40 winch from MacArtney is to be used in the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which crashed a couple of years ago.
Two years ago, a Boeing 777-200ER disappeared over the sea between Malaysia and Vietnam. Two hundred thirty-nine passengers and crew vanished from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The plane’s transponder stopped transmitting, and the passenger jet seemingly disappeared without a trace. Following an intensive search involving aeroplanes and ships from 14 countries and a session of careful flight data analysis, it was determined that the plane had diverted south. Since then, resources have been focused on a swathe of the Indian Ocean, about 2000 km west of Australia - the so-called ‘Seventh Arc’.
In 2015, top-ranking government officials from Australia and China met and discussed the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. China offered to help search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 by deploying a search and rescue vessel to search for the missing plane.
A sturdy and advanced vehicle handling system
MacArtney won the tender to supply a MERMAC R40 winch for a Benthos deep tow sonar system. The winch will be installed on board the search and rescue vessel Nan Hai Jiu 102, and an Australian-based search team will reinitiate the search for flight MH370 in June 2016.
The MacArtney MERMAC R electrically driven winch is a robust and advanced vehicle handling system that safely controls the launch, operation and recovery of ROVs and towed vehicle systems.
The MERMAC R series winches represent cutting-edge winch solutions. They feature high power and speed, minimal maintenance requirements, a rugged and compact design, active heave compensation, and a unique remote diagnostics tool. The winches are available in standard and custom configurations.
