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www.sea-technology.com September 2015 / st 23 added that cleans the basket on every rotation, minimizing any suction is- sues. Sub-Dredge in Alaska At the end of March, the Sub- Dredge was sent to Nome, Alaska, to mine for gold under the 5-ft.-thick ice of the gold-rich waters of the Bering Sea. Previous to the Sub-Dredge, miners would cut a hole in the ice and send down divers with hoses to operate for short periods of time, while utilizing low-suction, conventional centrifugal pumps. This method would yield on average approximately 5 cu. yd. of ma- terial an hour, with divers only being able to operate for at most a few hours until they would have to be changed out because of exhaustion and harsh conditions. Within a few days of arriving in Nome, The Sub-Dredge was dropped into the Bering Sea to become the frst remote-operated submersible dredge to gold mine under the ice. The Sub- Dredge easily began traversing the rocky seafoor and began to pump ma- terial immediately. The Sub-Dredge comes equipped with Eddy Pumps of various sizes. The one utilized in Nome was a 4-in. pump that had a fow rate of 700 to 1,000 gpm. Due to the high suction capabil- ity of the Eddy Pump, along with the strong digging capability of the Sub- Dredge, production rates of up to 150 cu. yd. of material an hour were achieved. Compared to the average of 5 cu. yd. achieved by divers, this was a monumental improvement. With ma- terial in the Bering Sea containing up to an ounce or more of gold per cu- bic yard, huge fortunes are possible with the proper equipment and mining knowledge. The ability of the Sub-Dredge to travel up to 200 ft. away from the power unit gave it a lot of maneu- verability under the ice and limited the amount of dredging stoppage that otherwise would have to have oc- curred to reposition all of the equip- ment. This was possible because of the 200 ft. of hydraulic umbilical, which can be extended up to 400 ft. With electric-powered Sub-Dredges, ranges of more than 1,000 ft. are reached. Conclusion After four weeks of operation in Nome, Alaska, the Sub-Dredge can truly be seen as the future in not only dredging, but also underwater gold mining. The Sub-Dredge has the ability to outperform any diver by a produc- tion rate of more than 10. The Discovery Channel has spent countless hours taping the success of the Eddy Pump Sub-Dredge in the feld will be seen by millions this Septem- ber. ST Ben Weinrib is the executive vice president of Eddy Pump and has been working with the company for more than 10 years. He has a vast array of knowl- edge in the pump and dredging industry and has been involved with numerous high-profle pump and dredging projects over the years. The Maritime Broadband Radio implement reliable broadband connectivity between assets in any operations. A diverse array of operational information can be shared in real-time, securing seamless coordination of eforts and operation. Broadband data link between vessels • Sensor sharing • IP-based data networking www.connectingvessels.com THE REVOLUTION IN INTERCONNECTIVITY "The Sub-Dredge became the frst remote-operated submersible dredge to gold mine under the ice."