A Project Called Azorian: Doing the Impossible
eccentricities and speculative investments.Bottom photograph of manganese nodules in the central Pacific taken through a one-foot square wire grid during a seabed survey. Source: Authors photographThe Ship and the Capture VehicleThe surface ship was built by Global Marine and named the Hughes Glomar Explorer. She was designed by John Graham, Global’s chief naval architect, and later recognized as nothing short of an engineering marvel. The engineers did calculations on slide rules, plans were drafted using pencils, erasers, T-squares, triangles, and drafting paper to produce blueprints. Specifications
Hybrid Theory: Multi-Domain Unmanned Systems are Blurring Maritime Boundaries
. The vehicle is designed for one or two-person launch/recovery from ship or shore, and a small logistics footprint allows it to be easily transported and deployed in remote or contested regions.An Ocean Aero Triton unmanned surface vessel (USV), left, operates in the Arabian Gulf with a Saildrone Explorer USV during a bilateral exercise between the U.S. Navy and United Arab Emirates Navy, Feb. 16, 2023. Credit: U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Jay FayloOn the higher displacement end of the spectrum, the Leidos Sea Specter is an autonomous low-profile vessel (ALPV) developed for the U.S. Marine Corps to support
SeaBird Exploration’s Fulmar Explorer to Remain on OBN Duty
Norwegian marine seismic survey services firm SeaBird Exploration, part of SED Energy Holdings, has secured a contract extension for its Fulmar Explorer seismic survey vessel.The three-month contract extension for ocean bottom node (OBN) source work for the 2009-built Fulmar Explorer vessel in the Western Hemisphere.The contract extension brings the firm contract period to mid-March 2026 and the client has additional options to further extend the contract to mid-June 2026.
Marport Launches New Pro NX Sensor Platform
has begun shipping new Pro NX sensors listed below:Catch Pro NX: A cost-effective catch sensor for monitoring fish volume inside the codend. It offers dual-frequency support and SCALA software compatibility, but does not include echogram visualization. It’s a lightweight alternative to the Catch Explorer.Catch Explorer Pro NX: A high-performance sensor that provides real-time data on trawl status, depth, temperature, and net movement (pitch and roll), along with echogram imaging to visually monitor fish inside the net.Catch Navigator Pro NX: Marport’s highest-resolution net sounder designed
Shipwreck Windfall: ROV Expedition Captures Maritime History
The chill, freshwater depths of Lake Ontario may not first come to mind when thinking about shipwrecks, but an expedition by the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute (OECI) at the University of Rhode Island (URI) is challenging that perception. Its star explorer? A compact but mighty Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) named Rhody. What began as a mission to support NOAA’s interest in high-resolution shipwreck documentation within the Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary has evolved into a dynamic academic research experience merging innovation, partnership and the expanding role of robotics in
Saildrone: USVs Have Only Scratched the Surface of Maritime Security
days at sea, from the Arctic and to the Southern Ocean. "We circumnavigated Antarctica and we've served customers from NOAA and NASA to the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, and in similar foreign civil and defense organizations around the world," noted Connon.The company has delivered 100 Explorer-class, 45 Voyager-class, and 6 Surveyor-class vehicles—all manufactured in-house—designed to support a range of missions from research to reconnaissance.Today, nearly 50 Saildrone vehicles are actively deployed, with almost full utilization focused on the high-capability Voyager and
Supersize It: The U.S. Navy Is Seeking an Ultra-Large AUV
Research (ONR) issued a broad agency announcement (BAA) seeking the rapid design, build, and testing of an ultra-large autonomous underwater vehicle (UL-AUV) capable of conducting long-range, high-endurance missions while carrying large modular payloads. The initial demonstrator vehicle, "Ocean Explorer" (OEX), will establish the technical feasibility of such an unprecedented platform, and will also inform development of the associated infrastructure required to support a full squadron of UL-AUVs. ONR is also seeking unspecificed, innovative UL-AUV-related technologies, as well as rapid design
North Pole Marathon Offers Forum for Climate Change Science Aboard Icebreaker
;s ice sheets, the challenges around the region’s preservation and development.The Forum played out as a series of talks by global Arctic experts aboard the French icebreaker cruise ship Le Commandant Charcot that carried the runners both to and from the North Pole Marathon.Veteran Arctic explorer Peter Damisch who leads the ship’s scientific expedition added that the French vessel has been gathering “precious” scientific data like water samples from both at the pole and along the voyage.The Forum’s lineup went beyond scientists with speakers such as Jennifer Spence
Scientists Replicate Prehistoric Seafaring with Primitive Canoe
this with the rudimentary technology of the time - no maps, no metal tools and only primitive vessels. And the Kuroshio current, comparable in strength to the Gulf Stream off Mexico, presented a particular challenge.The research was in the vein of the famous 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition in which Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl carried out a much longer journey by raft from South America across the Pacific to the Polynesian islands. Heyerdahl aimed to show how prehistoric people from the Americas could have colonized Polynesia."His theory is now countered by a series of pieces of evidence, but it was
December 2025
