he Multipurpose vessel "Arca" owned by the Dutch waterway authorities Department North Sea, has facilities on board to carry out several tasks in the North Sea area. Survey and sweeping of spilled oil are some of the activities.
 
The "Arca" is equipped with various hydraulic driven deck equipment, such as sweeping booms, cranes, deck-winches, survey winches, pumps and a matrix of about 50 hydraulic operated product valves. All equipment is driven by the hydraulic systems as provided by Hycos.
 
For the operation of all this, Hycos produced a PLC controlled operating system. Several operating panels on different locations are installed. The PLC control system also communicates with the ships-management-system (SMS).
 
The hydraulic installation on board is divided in 2 separate parts. One power-pack on fore and one on aft ship, each consisting of two 250cc continuous pressure pumps, driven by 160kW e-motors. The system pressure is electronic controlled by the PLC control system and depends on the required level at that moment.