 Starting in the 1970s, companies such as General Instrument (now SeaBeam Instruments, part of L3 Klein) in the United States, Krupp Atlas (now Atlas Hydrographic) and Elac Nautik (now part of the Wärtsilä Corporation) in Germany, Simrad (now Kongsberg Maritime) in Norway and RESON now Teledyne RESON A/S in Denmark developed systems that could be mounted to the hull of large ships, and then small boats (as technologies improved and operating frequencies increased).The first commercial multibeam is now known as the SeaBeam Classic and was put in service in May 1977 on the Australian survey vessel HMAS Cook.This system produced up to 16 beams across a 45-degree arc.