The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has an important role in increasing foreign trade and supporting sustainable development for Bangladesh. The port of Chittagong, which is the country's main port, handles approximately 92 per cent of international trade. It is therefore essential that CPA be able to efficiently and accurately determine least depths in the port environment to ensure safe navigation and offer facilities to accommodate container ships and other maritime traffic.

The port authority is committed to continuous improvement to ensure its position as a trade hub in the region. In order to enhance their survey operations, the CPA hydrographic team recently implemented a multibeam echo sounder with CARIS HIPS and SIPS. The implementation of the Kongsberg EM 2040C multibeam with HIPS and SIPS for post-processing will allow CPA to obtain operational efficiencies while conducting high resolution mapping and inspection surveys.

The system delivery included approximately one month of on-site training and consultancy by CARIS to provide comprehensive hands-on exposure with the system and to instill best processing practices. CARIS trainers Dan Morash, Marc Thibodeau and Jose Arias were on-site with CPA to cover all aspects of the EM2040C data processing. This included the processing of high resolution bathymetry with CUBE, seabed imagery data with Geocoder, as well as water column imagery to extract additional information on the subsea environment. In addition to the standard training, the CPA staff also worked with the CARIS trainers to process data samples acquired with their survey platform, review operational procedures and create fair sheet products.