Patent ID: 7072244

Claim:
A ship hull imaging system for the use in a shipping channel or bay, the imaging system comprising: a) at least one fixed acoustic transducer array employed below a water level in which the ship hull is present for sending an acoustic signal through the water and receiving a reflected signal, the acoustic and reflected signal providing data for rendering an actual image of the ship hull, each at least one fixed acoustic transducer array comprising a first transducer head oriented to propagate sound waves in a horizontal plane and a second transducer head oriented to propagate sound waves in a vertical plane, both the first and second transducer heads propagating sound waves simultaneously; b) at least one processor suite installed above the water level coupled to the at least one fixed acoustic transducer array; c) a central processing and imaging unit for converting the data provided by the acoustic and reflected signal into information that is interpretable as the actual image of the ship hull; and d) means for communication between the at least one processor suite and the central processing and imaging unit.