Design of a Shipboard Handling System for a Ten Air Gun Array

A 250 foot array of ten 5000 PSI siesmic air guns was designed for deployment to 1500 feet in the ocean. A ladder was constructed using chain for the side members and the air guns spaced every 25 feet as the rungs. A wire rope lowered the array to depth. An umbilical cable containing air hoses and electrical conductors was attached to the lowering wire. It supplied high pressure air to charge the guns, electrical power to trigger the firing and conductors for instrumentation.