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Warship takes centre stage at London show
A MINEHUNTER from Portsmouth has been at the heart of a London conference about the study of the oceans.
HMS Cattistock's crew visited the Oceanology International Conference in the Docklands to show visitors how they study life under the waves.
Cattistock was in the Thames for the biennial event, where visitors were allowed into the ship to sea her equipment for minehunting.
It includes the Seafox sonar mine disposal system, and the ship's clearance divers explained how they use it to find explosives.
Navigating Officer Lieutenant James Smith said: 'The conference gives the opportunity for the public to interact with the navy on an informal basis and for industry personnel to get a first hand knowledge of how their equipment works in the real world.'
Seafox is known by the navy as a 'fire and forget' piece of equipment, in which small unmanned underwater drones are used to destroy mines at depths of up to 300 metres.
It is remote controlled and has a camera and fitted charge, which means it can identify bombs and then explode itself and the device.
Conference visitors, including industry experts, Sea Cadets and potential navy recruits, were given the chance to see the drones and learn more about the sonar system. The conference had more than 350 contributors from 22 different countries, and was expanded this year to include displays from 97 companies.
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Weather for Portsmouth
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 7 C
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