Wreck of MV Noongah Identified
CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, has helped confirm the resting place of motor vessel (MV) Noongah, a 71-metre coastal freighter lost at sea in 1969 in one of the nation’s worst post-war maritime disasters.MV Noongah was travelling between Newcastle and Townsville carrying steel when it encountered a storm and sank in heavy seas on 25 August 1969.The loss of MV Noongah led to one of the largest searches for survivors in Australian maritime history, involving navy and merchant vessels, aircraft, helicopters and shore-based searches of beaches along the coast.Tragically, 21 of the
Kraken Wraps Up High-Res Route Survey Work in Australia
Canadian company Kraken Robotics has completed a contract to supply high-resolution seabed mapping sonar service to Precision Hydrographic Services (PHS), a customer supporting the Australian Department of Defence.The Australian Department of Defence project sought to undertake Hydrographic High Resolution Route Surveys (RS) for a number of Australian ports.The purpose of these surveys was to enable the collection of Maritime Geospatial Information (MGI) to support maritime domain awareness through the acquisition of high-resolution seabed foundation data and associated oceanographic data.Under the
Most Marine Protection Measures are Not Working; A New Approach is Needed
The radio crackles into life on a small boat off an idyllic beach in Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia. Two recreational fishers are trying to catch prized spangled emperors in a sanctuary zone, where all fishing is supposed to be banned, to help protect this fish from overfishing.A recreational fisher further down the coast is using his radio to alert others of the imminent arrival of marine park wardens in a patrol boat. The two fishers calmly stash their rods, power up the large outboard engine, and motor away from the sanctuary zone. By the time the wardens arrive, all appears calm and well.
Preparing for Floating Wind – Leveraging the Oil & Gas Supply Chain
scale floating wind farms.What does deeper water mean when talking about floating wind?The current floating wind hotspots are found in the APAC, European and North American regions.In APAC, we look to China (100 -125 meters), South Korea (130-275 meters) and Taiwan’s pilot arrays (~100 meters). Australia and India hold significant potential, but commissioning of commercial scale floating wind projects is unlikely until around the middle of the next decade.Europe will see floating wind deployment in the Atlantic, Baltic, Mediterranean and North Sea, with the UK (80-150 meters) and Norwegian (200-400
The Potential of Restoring Marine Habitats
, C. S., & Tingley, M. W. (2022). Extinction of biotic interactions due to habitat loss could accelerate the current biodiversity crisis. Ecological Applications, 32(6), e2608.31.Meehan, A. J., & West, R. J. (2002). Experimental transplanting of Posidonia australis seagrass in Port Hacking, Australia, to assess the feasibility of restoration. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 44(1), 25-31.32.Chou, L. M. (2006). Marine habitats in one of the world’s busiest harbours. In The environment in Asia Pacific harbours (pp. 377-391). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.33.Johnston, E., Marzinelli, E., Wood
Can Underwater Sound Signals Solve Aviation’s Greatest Mystery?
of kilometres, making hydrophones a valuable tool for identifying and classifying events in marine environments.For our study, we analysed data from the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization’s (CTBTO) hydroacoustic stations. We focused on data from stations at Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia and Diego Garcia, an island in the Indian Ocean.Both locations were operational around the time MH370 is believed to have crashed. These stations are located within tens of minutes’ signal travel time from the seventh arc. CTBTO stations have previously detected distinctive pressure signals
Helix Energy Solutions on Track to Complete Decom Work for Cooper Energy
Houston-based offshore services firm Helix Energy Solutions is wrapping up the multi-well decommissioning operation for Cooper Energy on the Basker, Manta and Gummy (BMG) fields in the Gippsland Basin, off Australia.According to Cooper Energy, Helix Energy Solutions’ Helix Q7000 vessel light well intervention offshore rig is scheduled to complete the BWG wells decommissioning program this week.A future stage of work will be required to remove seafloor production equipment, which can be conducted with a workboat and is a significantly smaller scope than the wells decommissioning program, Cooper
ThayerMahan and Ocius to Develop Long-Duration USV with Acoustic Sensor Arrays
ThayerMahan, an autonomous maritime surveillance and offshore solutions provider, and Australian autonomous uncrewed vessel developer Ocius Technology have signed an agreement to combine technologies to develop long-duration USV with acoustic sensor arrays to strengthen AUKUS Pillar II objectives.Under the agreement, ThayerMahan will install its outpost passive acoustic maritime surveillance system aboard Ocius's Bluebottle unmanned surface vessel (USV).This collaboration will generate uncrewed acoustic sensing systems that can be deployed to create distributed undersea surveillance networks in
Expro Wraps Up Five-Well Subsea Job in Australia
U.S.-based oilfield services provider Expro has completed a five-well subsea job in Australia, marking also a milestone in using its SeaCure cementing technology.Expro completed the 100th SeaCure as part of a project in Australia consisting of a five-well subsea batch campaign.SeaCure technology, which was originally developed by DeltaTek, played a pivotal role in maintaining the quality primary cementation of the conductors while mitigating risks associated with placement of the cement slurry, according to Expro.By utilizing the SeaCure system and implementing post-cementing circulation via the inner
February 2024
