Royal Navy tests software to rapidly map the seabed March 5, 2021, by Naida Hakirevic The Royal Navy has tested software to map the seabed close to shore in hours – not days or weeks. Survey vessel HMS Magpie (H130) was able to chart the waters around Plymouth purely using regular radar installed on shipping the world over and a specialist computer program which measures wave height. Photo: Royal Navy Using that data and information about currents, the software can produce a detailed profile of the seabed in a matter of hours – without the ship or boat having to physically sail over the area being surveyed, according to the navy.