Haun, Eric
Editor-
Seabed Geosolutions Wins Brazil Survey Work
Fugro said its joint venture with CGG has secured a contract from Petrobras for a 3D ocean bottom node (OBN) survey in the Brazilian Santos Basin. The seven month contract awarded to the survey firms’ joint venture Seabed Geosolutions is valued at around $90 million and is scheduled to commence at the end of the fourth quarter of 2017 or early 2018, Fugro said. According to Seabed Geosolutions CEO…
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New Heavyweight Torpedo Enters Final Development
A new torpedo design being developed under the Artémis program, which aims to equip all French Navy nuclear submarines with new high-performance heavyweight torpedoes, has propelled into its final development phase with the recent completion of a successful round of test firing off the Mediterranean coast. The F21 torpedo is being developed by European naval defense and marine renewable energies technology company DCNS…
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NOAA Hydrographic Survey Spending in Question
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) needs to improve its strategy for analyzing costs and expanding private sector involvement in collecting hydrographic data, says a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). As one of its many duties, NOAA is tasked with collecting hydrographic data. This data, which is used in helping to create critical nautical charts, is either collected using NOAA’s own fleet of four survey vessels…
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Aerial Drone Scans for Pirates off Somalia
A team of antipiracy personnel currently on patrol off Somalia has deployed an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to help scan for potential pirate activity in the region. As part of the counter-piracy military operation EU NAVFOR Somalia, also known as Operation Atalanta, the UAV crew from Spain’s 11th Squadron has been conducting air surveillance and reconnaissance patrols off the Somali coast using its ScanEagle drone from the deck of Spanish Navy ship ESPS Galicia.
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ECA Group Introduces New Inspection-Class ROV
ECA Group’s new remotely operated vehicle (ROV) H300-V launched in February 2017 is dedicated to observation and inspection missions in harsh environments. A new release of the ECA Group H300 ROV series, the H300-V is positioned between the H300 MK2 and H800 vehicles to meet the demands associated with operating in harsh environments, the manufacturer said. According to Philippe Roumegue, ECA Group Sales Director – Robotics Department – ROVs…
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There's a New Manned Submersible on the Market
There’s a new manned submersible on the market with potential to perform a diverse range of tasks – from commercial to research to defense. Having completed sea trials and its first commercial dive, the Stingray 500, first in a series of new models from Canadian manned submersibles manufacturer and operator Aquatica Submarines and Subsea Technology Inc., is now poised to make waves in the defense, research and offshore commercial markets.
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adidas is Making Shoes from ‘Up-cycled’ Ocean Plastic
Each year more and more plastic is finding its way into the world’s oceans, collecting in gigantic circling whirlpools at sea, sinking to the seafloor or washing back up onto our shores. This plastic is often ingested by aquatic life and seabirds who mistake these fragments for food, and is even found in supermarket shellfish. Now footwear and apparel brand adidas has teamed up with environmental group…
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AUV Mission in the Great Lakes
A recent first-of-its-kind mission to the Great Lakes included the deployment of a long-range autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to help scientists better understand one of the world’s largest and most complex freshwater environments. The five Great Lakes (Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario and Superior) were carved out by glaciers thousands of years ago and today stretch across an expansive 246,000 square kilometers, holding an estimated 20 percent of the world’s freshwater.
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Wave Energy Prize's $1.5 Million Winner Announced
Ninety-two teams competed in the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Wave Energy Prize, which began in April 2015 and seeks to spur the development of wave energy converters that will ultimately reduce the cost of wave energy in the U.S. Now, following 18 months of designing, building and testing, a winner has emerged. A duo from Portland, Ore., Alex Hagmuller and Max Ginsburg – together AquaHarmonics – were named the winners of the $1.5 million grand prize for their AquaHarmonicsWEC concept…
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The Next Generation in Subsea Compression Technology
Just one year after the first subsea compression systems went on stream at Statoil’s offshore Åsgard field, industry giants Aker Solutions and MAN Diesel & Turbo now aim to cut the size and weight of such systems by at least 50 percent. Compressors are used to maintain output as reservoir pressure at gas-producing fields drops over time – typically installed on platforms above sea level. The two 11.5…
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DOF Subsea Wins Athena Decommissioning Work
Subsea services provider DOF Subsea said it has been awarded a contract by Ithaca Energy for phase 1 of the decommissioning of the Ithaca operated Athena Field in the U.K. North Sea. Athena is located in U.K. Continental Shelf block 14/18B in the central North Sea (Outer Moray Firth area) at a water depth of 130 meters. DOF’s scope of work includes the removal of the subsea water column infrastructure that has been used on the field…
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New Vessel Aims to Transform the Fishing Industry
Seattle-based company Blue North has christened F/V Blue North, a state-of-the-art vessel designed to transform the fishing industry by improving conditions for workers, reducing environmental impact and harvesting seafood more humanely. Designed with sustainability in mind, the new longliner is geared specifically for the Alaskan cod fishery, built by Dakota Creek Industries, Inc. of Anacortes, Wash. from a design (ST-155L) by Norwegian firm Skipsteknisk AS.
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Blue Robotics Launches New ROV: BlueROV2
Torrance, Calif. The BlueROV2 is a high-performance yet affordable remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that leverages a six-thruster vectored configuration typically only seen in higher-end vehicles, meaning the new ROV is smooth, stable and highly maneuverable, its manufacturer said. Available in a number of configurations, a standard BlueROV2 kit costs approximately $3,000 and provides a platform to attach scientific equipment…
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Subsea 7 Secures EPCI Contract
Subsea 7 S.A. announced it has been awarded an engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract for offshore execution in 2017 and 2018. The company disclosed no further details due to contractual obligations, but said it would announce further details in the near future.
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Seatools to Launch Pile Dredge Tool at OTC
Dutch subsea engineering company Seatools is poised to launch its latest product, Pile Dredge Tool (PDT), at the 2016 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston. Combining Seatools’ strengths in subsea equipment development and dredging expertise, this latest pile cleaning and dredging tool is capable of removing soil plugs and cleaning of pre-piled jackets, such as commonly found in the offshore wind industry.
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Wahlberg Headlines Film on Deepwater Horizon Tragedy
Nearly six years after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Hollywood takes its shot at recounting the tragedy with a film due this fall aiming to tell the story on the fatal blowout and its aftermath. The oil spill, one of the largest environmental disasters in global history, is depicted in the film Deepwater Horizon, named after the Transocean-operated semisubmersible Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit which suffered a catastrophic blowout and explosion on April 20…
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Jacques Cousteau’s Calypso Shipped for Renovation
Jacques Cousteau’s ship Calypso, star of the “Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau”, was loaded on March 14 in Concarneau, France for shipment to Turkey, where the legendary oceanographic vessel will undergo renovations. From 1951, Calypso sailed the world undertaking scientific explorations until January 8, 1996, when she was involved in a mooring accident and sank. Now raised and once renovated, the Calypso will remain at the service of science and education, as Jacques Cousteau wished.
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Wave Energy's Power Play
Wave power is progressing as a viable source of renewable energy, and recently that progress has accelerated. One of the companies leading wave power’s advancement is New Jersey based Ocean Power Technologies (OPT), considered a pioneer in the arena with more than 20 years’ experience in generating electrical energy from waves. With its PowerBuoy system, the company has shifted its focus from larger scale power generation to a more targeted, and importantly, survivable and reliable product.
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Polarcus Grows Vessel Backlog
Seismic vessel owner Polarcus Limited announced it has received multiple awards which together extend the fleet backlog by six vessel months. The projects will be carried out by multiple Polarcus vessels and commence in the first and second quarters of 2016. Commenting on this latest awards, Duncan Eley, COO of the Dubai-based Polarcus, said, “Two of the awards are extensions of current projects.
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MetOcean Appoints Director of Sales
MetOcean Data Systems has appointed Emily MacPherson as Director of Sales, MetOcean Systems. In the new position, MacPherson will be responsible for expanding sales opportunities and managing the day-to-day responsibilities of the company’s sales team. MacPherson brings to the role industry experience and expertise, having spent the last 11 years in the environmental, meteorological and oceanographic field, coupled with over 10 years of brand marketing and sales experience.
