Paluma Class Australian Coastal Survey Ship

HMAS Paluma (IV) is the first ship of the Paluma Class (SML) and the fourth to bear the name Paluma. HMAS Paluma is a custom-built survey vessel, designed for surveying in the shallow coastal waters of the Great Barrier Reef and Northern Australia. She was built by Eglo Engineering of Adelaide in November 1987 and Commissioned on 27 February 1989. Her catamaran design provides good stability in rough weather and allows her to sit well out of the water, drawing only 2.2 meters (a favorable design for operating in shoaling and reef waters). She has three sister ships: HMAS Mermaid, Shepparton (II), and Benalla (II), and operates in a pair with her sister ship HMAS Mermaid. This teaming of the two ships provide mutual support allowing them to operate safely in the remote areas they are required to survey. HMAS Paluma (IV) carries the very latest in survey equipment. Position fixing on the survey grounds is carried out by Wide Area GPS and Differential GPS navigation systems. The positional data is integrated with depth information obtained from Paluma's two echo sounders (one in each demi-hull). Each demi-hull also has a side-scanning sonar in order to detect bottom features missed by the echo sounders as she steers down a survey line. All depth information is corrected for heave by heave compensators, (also one in each demi-hull). A Skipper searchlight sonar, located in the starboard demi-hull gives the Officer of the Watch an early warning of dangers lying ahead of the ship.