Cameras

Saab Seaeye Scores Win @ Taiwan Wind Farm

The Saab Seaeye Cougar XT Compact robotic vehicle has been chosen for Taiwan’s huge offshore wind farm development.Taiwan’s Metal Industries Research and Development Centre (MIRDC) will train ROV pilots to assist in the development and maintenance of the turbines’ underwater structures.The training will be undertaken by MIRDC at the Maritime Technology Innovation Centre created by the Bureau of Energy and the Ministry of Economic Affairs for the cultivation of national offshore wind energy talents.Created for challenging environmental conditions inherent in shallow water operations

Shrinking Sea Meadows Store More Carbon Than Forests. Scientists Race to Track What’s Left

everywhere,” she said.Seagrass as climate allyWhile most seagrasses fringe coastlines around the world, the shallowness of Saya de Malha allows sunlight to filter to the seabed, creating an aquatic prairie in the Indian Ocean that provides shelter, nurseries and feeding grounds for thousands of marine species.The bank’s isolation has helped protect it from coastal threats, including pollution and dredging. But even such remote stretches of international waters face increasing incursions from shipping and industrial fishing.In March, scientists from institutions including Britain’s

Divers Find Deepest Known Shipwreck USS Johnston

; at sea,” Vescovo, a native Texan added, “but in this case the defenders—unbelievably—won.”Expedition leader Kelvin Murray (EYOS Expeditions) commented, “This was a real team effort requiring the individual skills of everyone onboard. Our EM-124 sonar, Triton Submarine’s unlimited depth submersible, a highly practiced team and some excellent sonar and navigation support all combined to enable a successful outcome. With this system we could locate, investigate and film wrecks at any depth in any ocean; it is a fantastic tool.”The submersible DSV Limiting

Arctic Rays Launches Imaging Payload for AUVs

Groton, Mass. based Arctic Rays, LLC has released Swordfish, a fully-integrated, geo-referenced, still and video imaging system payload for small autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV).Swordfish comes standard with a 12.3 MP camera, high-output LEDs producing 60,000 lm (strobe) or 6,000 lm dimmable (continuous), on-board CPU and a 512 GB solid-state data drive.  Still images can be captured at 12.3 MP at a rate of 4 Hz.  Video can be captured at 720p HD @ 60fps, 1080p FHD @ 30fps, or 4K UHD @ 10 fps.Arctic Rays said Swordfish is scalable to fit any AUV and customizable per user requests.

Lighthouse SpA to Take Delivery of HUGIN AUV System

Italian survey company Lighthouse SpA will take delivery of a HUGIN autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) system in March 2021 from Kongsberg. The HUGIN to be delivered is rated to 4,500 meters and is equipped with a full geophysical survey payload, including a Kongsberg HISAS 1032 synthetic aperture sonar, EM2040 multibeam echosounder, sub-bottom profiler, camera and laser, together with a range of environmental sensors.The scope of supply extends to all equipment required for day-to-day operations, including a 30-foot AUV container housing the Stinger launch and recovery system, battery chargers

XOCEAN Adopts GUARDIAN Vision by Marine AI

XOCEAN has adopted Marine AI’s ‘GUARDIAN Vision’ Artificial Intelligence software to enhance their Uncrewed Surface Vessels (USVs) situational awareness. The 'GUARDIAN Vision’ package, provides "bandwidth-friendly’ actionable information.‘GUARDIAN Vision’ is designed to enhance the USVs’ land-based teams’ situational awareness by analyzing the on-board camera feeds to detect and classify hazards and provide positional information on these hazards to the on-board control system and the remote pilot. This allows data transfer volumes to

ROVs: Superyacht Security Success for Falcon

Another superyacht security contract win for MarineGuard sees it order another Saab Seaeye Falcon underwater robotic vehicle as part of its security resource package.As superyachts become larger and more technologically sophisticated, MarineGuard see the Falcon, with its intelligent future-flexible control technology, playing an increasing role in the growing world of superyacht security. For underwater surveillance the Falcon can be fully equipped with advanced video and sensor systems that can integrate into MarineGuard’s security network.As an underwater workhorse the Falcon is fitted with a

UCO, Gulfxstream Collaborate to Cut Subsea Inspection Cost

can be mobilized at short notice and, with MV Viking’s cruising speed of 20 knots and able to operate 60 miles from shore, rapidly transit to location, significantly cutting mobilization costs.Stationed at Peterhead in Northeast Scotland, and servicing the O&G, renewables, decommissioning, and marine sectors, the vessel and ROV will be equipped to carry out a full range of specialist support services.Depth rated to 300m, the ROV is fitted with sonar and underwater cameras. Additional sensors such as 3D cameras, laser metrology and survey tools can also be fitted to the ROV. MV Viking is certified

Seiche and Deep Vision to Develop Real-time Marine Mammal Tracking System

Seiche Ltd and Deep Vision Inc. have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop a real-time camera system for automated detection, geo-location and quantification of marine mammals to establish a collaborative relationship in support of their respective business interests.Seiche has expertise in the field of maritime environmental monitoring, having developed a unique camera system, as implemented in its Mini Dual Camera, that has been specifically designed to aid the observation and monitoring of marine mammals (and other surface, and near surface objects).Deep Vision has expertise in

Fishermen Turn to Apps and AI to Tackle Climate Change

Fisheries Resource and Collaboration Hub (SSF Hub) is a multilingual website that aims to bring together fishermen, their communities and advocacy groups to connect, share ideas and find solutions to the problems they face.“Small-scale fishers are already facing many challenges—from multiple marine uses, declining fish stocks, threats from over-fishing—and climate change is just going to exacerbate those challenges,” said Alexis Rife, director of small-scale fisheries initiatives at EDF.“That means that their livelihoods are at risk. It means that their food security is at

Boxfish Luna: New ROV for Underwater Filmmaking

The next-generation Boxfish cinematography drone delivers full-frame, 8K video from 1,000 meters depth.Boxfish Research, New Zealand, manufacturer of underwater remotely operated vehicles, launched its next-generation cinematography drone, the Boxfish Luna, for professional underwater videographers and photographers.Using imaging from Sony and a new 200mm precision optical dome, Boxfish Luna has been completely redesigned to allow filmmakers to perfectly capture underwater environments with brilliant clarity and ease of use.“This new drone was specifically designed for underwater film production

Turkish Oil Spill Response Firm Acquires Saab Seaeye ROV

Turkish oil spill response firm MOST Maritime has acquired a Saab Seaeye Falcon ROV to help with the rapid detection of hazardous substances in Turkey’s offshore waters."MOST Maritime’s emergency response team chose the remotely operated vehicle for its speedy deployment complete with cameras and multi-sensor detectors, ready to locate the incident, observe, and secure the danger," Saab Seaeye said in a statement on Friday."Easy to deploy, the Falcon’s rapid response capability makes it a vital resource for hydrocarbon leak detection where speed is essential to avoid

Team at Purdue Advances Work on New Glider, ROUGHIE

A team of researchers at Purdue University are working on enhancing glider technology to make the study of the world's waterways more efficient and productive.The team is looking to design and build "highly maneuverable, low-cost underwater gliders that operate silently," with components and sensors that can be easily swapped out or added according to a wide range of mission specifications.“Our goal is persistent operation of mobile robots in challenging environments,” said Nina Mahmoudian, associate professor of mechanical engineering. “Most underwater robots have

MacArtney Develops Advanced Telemetry System for Jasco Underwater Listening Stations

Years of development culminated in a MacArtney telemetry concept measuring and transmitting individual noise profiles for complex acoustic data tracking to help preserve and recover one of Canada's most iconic species - the Southern Resident Killer Whale.Under the Canadian Species at Risk Act, the Southern Resident Killer Whale was recently concluded to be facing an approaching threat to survival and recovery. At Boundary Pass in the Salish Sea, an enhanced monitoring project provides an underwater sound picture of the Southern Resident Killer Whale's habitat, consequently rendering the most

Subsea Defense: Navy Deepens Commitment to Underwater Vehicles

interaction.The most recent edition of the Navy’s Unmanned Systems (UxS) Roadmap was issued in 2018, and a new version is expected in the near future.  The 2018 document states that UxS will operate in every domain; always be an option; and be at their best when teamed with Sailors and Marines“UxS will strengthen naval power at, on, and from the sea by reducing operational risk and cost. UxS operating in the air, on the surface, under the sea, and on shore as a rapidly adaptable and interconnected network will provide access to areas denied to manned platforms, provide better situational

New Recordings of Ultrasonic Seal Calls Hint at Sonar-like Abilities

of bottom time before our hands get too cold to work. Then we make our way back to the dive line. Its flags and blinking lights guide us to our one and only way out.During my deployment to Antarctica in 2018, I participated in 40 such dives to help maintain the McMurdo Oceanographic Observatory. Polar marine biologist Paul Cziko installed the 70-foot-deep, seafloor-mounted recorder in 2017. Known affectionately as “MOO,” it resembled R2-D2 in both looks and charm. For two years, MOO successfully sent continuous audio, video and ocean data back to our onshore lab via cable connection. It also

Autonomous Navigation – with or without GNSS

current optimally without GNSS significantly reduces the risk of performing ROV and AUV deployments from USV host platforms.A good example of this is the Armada fleet, being built by Ocean Infinity. The first wave of the fleet will host our Ranger 2 Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL) positioning system and Marine Robotics pack, which will enable all-in-one tracking, communications and control capability for underwater payload robotics from the Armada vessels. In addition, the vessels will be fitted with SPRINT-Nav, to provide continuous, uninterrupted navigational aiding to underpin safe remote operations

ISE Completes Phase 1B of Autonomous AUV Docking Test

International Submarine Engineering Ltd. (ISE) reports that it has successfully completed the second stage in the autonomous dock prototype project. This project is a joint project between Dalhousie University and ISE with funding provided by Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS).The dock provides a platform for an AUV to autonomously latch onto while remaining subsea. Once latched, the AUV can then charge its batteries and download the data for the operators. Then once that is complete, the AUV can unlatch and begin its next mission. This essentially eliminates the risks of launching

Oceaneering Donates ROVs to Global Ocean

US-based ocean science nonprofit Global Oceans, has acquired, via a donation from Oceaneering, three deep-sea exploration vehicles rated to6000 meters of operational depth.The donation includes the Magellan 725 ROV, the Ocean Discovery ROV, and the Ocean Explorer 6000 Towed Sonar System, together with the infrastructure needed to deploy the vehicles including winches, cranes, power systems, operational modules, workshops, and supplies."These vehicles contributed to several historic projects, including the successful recovery of the lost Apollo “Liberty Bell 7” space capsule from the

Teledyne to Acquire FLIR Systems in $8 Billion Deal

Industrial conglomerate Teledyne Technologies Inc said on Monday it will acquire thermal imaging camera supplier FLIR Systems Inc in a $8 billion cash-and-stock deal to beef up its portfolio of imaging sensor technology.FLIR shareholders will receive $28 in cash and 0.0718 shares of Teledyne common stock for each share held, the companies said.That implies a purchase price of $56.14 based on Teledyne’s last close, and represents a premium of 28.1% for FLIR shareholders to the stock’s Thursday close.Teledyne and FLIR sell cameras and sensor systems.“Our technologies and products are

Chile's Underdeep Solutions Adds Another Falcon ROV

Chile's Underdeep Solutions has expanded its ROV Fleet with a third Seaeye Falcon ROV, to support its aquaculture workUnderdeep’s latest Falcon is the second 1000m deep-rated version for the company, which specializes in fish farm inspection and support throughout Chile and the region.Underdeep's three Falcons are currently working at full capacity in the aquaculture facilities of the major aquaculture company, Salmones Camanchaca.In addition, Underdeep Solutions has been working for several years in the removal of structures from the Salmones Camanchaca concessions, as requested by

Technology: New Manta Underwater Camera

Arctic Rays, LLC has released Manta HD, a small HD-IP or HD-SDI underwater camera.  The Onvif profile S compliant Manta HD camera is capable of a resolution of 1920 x 1080 at 30 fps (1080p30 full HD), features a 30x optical zoom and on-board recording to an SD card.  An additional connector is offered to provide power and control for an external pan & tilt or light.The camera measures 82.6mm (3.25in) diameter by 198mm (7.8in) long with connector and weighs 1.21 kg (2.67 lbs) in air and .34 kg (.75 lbs) in seawater. Housed in a 6061-T6 AHC aluminum housing with acrylic lens, it is rated

New HD-IP or HD-SDI Manta Camera Released

Arctic Rays, LLC has released Manta HD, a small HD-IP or HD-SDI underwater camera.  The Onvif profile S compliant Manta HD camera is capable of a resolution of 1920 x 1080 at 30 fps (1080p30 full HD), features a 30x optical zoom and on-board recording to an SD card.  An additional connector is offered to provide power and control for an external pan and tilt or light.The compact design measures 82.6mm (3.25in) diameter by 198mm (7.8in) long with connector and weighs 1.21 kg (2.67 lbs) in air and .34 kg (.75 lbs) in seawater. Housed in a 6061-T6 AHC aluminum housing with acrylic lens, it is

Unmanned Marine Systems, Squared

, who leads the glider programme at the University of East Anglia (UEA), and who came up with the idea. “It means we can deploy gliders or other vehicles in the middle of the ocean without having to send a ship there. We can be more efficient. We can choose when to deploy it,” she told the Marine and Autonomous Technology Showcase (MATS) conference last year. “AutoNaut can sit and wait for a Tsunami, an eruption or spring bloom and can also deploy into places too dangerous to go for a manned vessel. And they can get simultaneous measurements. In Antarctica that’s very important

Tech File: Offshore Real-Time Video Streaming Solution Debuts

SubC Imaging released its new Offshore Real-Time Video Streaming Solution. The low-latency video streaming solution enables live streaming of subsea video from ROV, and other subsea systems, allowing decision-makers real-time operation of remote assets from anywhere in the world.The cloud-based service is of particular interest today as many offshore operations have been affected by COVID-19. Many teams are unable to travel, and where travel is possible, there are new vessel capacity restrictions. SubC’s Offshore Real-Time Streaming allows staff onshore to view live video without taking up

Barcodes to Drive Down Pipeline Inspection Costs

support for subsea drones equipped with Forssea cameras and iXblue’s inertial navigation systems that relay the pipelines’ locations to the operators, thus removing the need for acoustic positioning systems and costly mother vessels.Per the project participants, the markers are resistant to marine growth and erosion. Thus they will remain visible to divers and subsea drones throughout the project’s lifespan,“This technology had already proven itself on large structures in the field,” said Jean-Guillaume Besse, Vallourec R&D project leader. “Back in January of this

Xerox and DARPA Partner to Develop IoT Ocean Sensors

.Initially announced by DARPA in 2017, the Ocean of Things project is deploying small, low-cost drifters in the Southern California Bight and Gulf of Mexico to collect data on the environment and human impact. This includes sea surface temperature, sea state, surface activities and even information on marine life moving through the area.“Oceans cover more than 70% of the earth’s surface, but we know very little about them,” said Ersin Uzun, vice president and general manager of the Internet of Things team at Xerox. “The drifters gather data that we could never track before, enabling

Seabed Imaging Re-imagined

accidents. The end result for either method is usually extensive, lengthy post-processing on the vast amounts of gathered data.A new, 3D deep-sea imaging system, developed by the University of Southampton, with support from Sonardyne, under the Natural Environment Research Council’s OCEANIDS Marine Sensor Capital “BioCam” program, has gone a long way to resolving these challenges.During its first 24-hour deployment, a BioCam fitted to an Autosub6000 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), from the UK’s National Oceanography Centre (NOC), mapped more than 50 times the area of

Saab Seaeye Cracks into the Superyacht Security Market

For superyacht owners, eyes beneath the waves, provided by intelligent underwater robotic vehicles, is a valuable resource. Yacht security company, MarineGuard, includes the Saab Seaeye Falcon underwater robotic vehicle as part of its security system for superyachts.MarineGuard is known for creating a ‘virtual security bubble’ around a yacht, and the Falcon is a powerful tool in this regard as it can examine a yacht’s hull millimeter by millimeter with its HD cameras, and descend down 1000 meters to explore the seabed below.Superyacht owners often view the underwater world live on

Ocean Startup Challenge Awards 14 Companies $25K Each

airboats for inland and coastal water monitoring and surveying applications. Their boats are built to be simple and straightforward to operate, easy for users to customize with add-on equipment, and reliable in operation.Kavacha.ca (Canoe Cove, PE) uses fish waste to provide active protection to marine industries through direct-to-metal coatings in harsh environments. Their solution saves users more than 30% on material and labor, while increasing or maintaining asset lifetime, reducing toxin exposure/imprint, and providing a high-volume value add for a fishery waste stream.Marecomms Inc. (Halifax

VIDEO: Barcode Tags Could Cut Subsea Pipeline Inspection Costs

drones equipped with Forssea cameras and iXblue’s inertial navigation systems that relay the pipelines’ locations to the operators, thus removing the need for acoustic positioning systems and costly mother vessels. Per the project participants, the markers are long-term resistant to marine growth and erosion, thus they will remain visible to divers and subsea drones throughout the project’s lifespan,"This technology had already proven itself on large structures in the field”, said Jean-Guillaume Besse, Vallourec R&D project leader. “Back in January of this

Subsea Technology and the New Routes to Residency

Efforts to increase remote capability often go hand in hand with increasing ROV residency. But exactly what form residency takes is diverging. Elaine Maslin takes a look.Dial back the clock five years and there was a movement towards an idea dubbed subsea resident remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). The idea, in simple terms, is that you increase ROV availability and reduce cost and carbon emissions by having the vehicle permanently based subsea in underwater garages. A number of vehicles could even cover a cluster of fields, potentially with different owners who can dial up, on demand, a vehicle when

Interview: RDML Gallaudet Steers NOAA’s Path Toward Uncrewed Maritime Systems

health and conservation by the public. There’s an increased awareness about the dependence of our security and our economy on the oceans. People simply care a lot more (today).• A growing awareness of the necessity for sustainable use of our oceans, which includes everything from fisheries, to marine transportation, to critical minerals and pharmaceuticals. Using that same time frame, put in perspective the evolution of unmanned maritime systems as you see it.To start, just this week we’ve decided we are going to move from the word ‘unmanned’ to ‘uncrewed.’

Charting Terradepth's Big Ambitions in the Unmanned Vehicle Space

Kauffman, with a mission to increase seafloor mapping rates economically and to create a business based on the data it gathers.Terradepth CEO Joe Wolfel.An ocean data challengeTheir focus came from personal experience, specifically the collision of the USS San Francisco – a nuclear powered submarine – with a seamount at flank speed in 2005. While they were deployed in Iraq at the time, it was big new. “How does the US navy not know there's a mountain underwater? That idea stuck in our heads,” explains Wolfel. They did a little digging and discovered that 70% of the earth

Eager Wins 2020 Acoustic Zooplankton Fish Profiler Contest

ASL Environmental Sciences said that Dannielle Eager is the winner of the fifth annual Acoustic Zooplankton Fish Profiler (AZFP) early career scientist award contest. Dannielle is presently studying at the University of Plymouth at Devon, UK at a postgraduate level in the school of Biological and Marine Science.Eager’s research will focus on the influence of dynamic seamount oceanography on pelagic biota in the tropical Indian Ocean, with support from the Garfield Weston Foundation, Bertarelli Foundation and the University of the Highlands and Islands. In contrast to surrounding waters, seamounts

New Corals Discovered at Great Barrier Reef

Australian scientists have viewed the deepest regions of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, discovered five undescribed species consisting of black corals and sponges and recorded Australia’s first observation of an extremely rare fish. They also took critical habitat samples that will lead to a greater understanding of the spatial relationships between seabed features and the animals found in the Coral Sea.The complex and scientifically challenging research was completed aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor, on its fourth expedition of the year, as part of the Institute&

Panther Wins GOM Pipeline Inspection Deal

ACSM chose an electric Saab Seaeye Panther XT robotic vehicle for pipeline inspection in the Gulf of Mexico. The Panther inspected 261 pipelines totalling 2,340 km in four fields in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), at depths ranging from 15 to 130 metres, in a less than 10 month project duration.ACSM, a maritime, survey and ROV services operator, said that considerable savings come from deploying the 700 kg Panther system.Rated for 1000 m, Panther’s can accommodate a wide range of tooling with a ‘plug and go’ simplicity that makes it easy to change, maintain and repair systems.The ROV’s

Partnering on the Digital Ship: Inside Denmark’s ShippingLab

by the Danish maritime cluster, Blue Denmark. A lead partner is The Automation and Control Group within the Technical University of Denmark’s Department of Electrical Engineering which has researched autonomous systems for the past 25-30 years focusing on diverse application domains including marine craft. Around 2010-2011, in collaboration with the Royal Danish Navy, the group started a series of projects looking into the development of control and perception algorithms for achieving unmanned operation of a high-speed waterjet. Over a period of four to five years, this collaboration produced

Robotics: Autobots Transform in the Offshore Energy Sector

Robots and robotics have slowly been entering our lives, in various shapes and forms (and fictional characters), from self-driving household vacuum cleaners to highly automated manufacturing systems. Now they’re heading for the offshore world – in just as many shapes and forms.There could be a lot to gain from robotics, but platforms and offshore wind turbine structures are also very challenging places to put them on. For oil and gas, key drivers are around safety and cost . For the offshore wind sector, the sheer volume of structures being installed is driving a push for robotic systems

The Ocean's Microplastics Mess: Technology & Technique to Identify & Clean Up

The science and technology surrounding discovery, mitigation and clean-up of microplastics in the world’s environment makes this year’s “MTR100.” Here we offer insights on the organizations, people and technologies taking the lead.As marine journalists, scientists, technologists, activists and enthusiasts, we are aware of the large-scale impact that consumer macro-plastic products have on aquatic ecosystems. Ranging from plastic bags and straws to bottles and fishing nets, these materials pollute harbors, rivers, lakes and oceans, all while threatening the prosperity of wildlife

Ocean Influencer: Graham Hawkes, HAWX Open Ocean

The July/August edition of Marine Technology Reporter, the 15th Annual "MTR100", recognizes Graham Hawkes a subsea innovator, explorer, inventor and pusher of boundaries. A pioneer in the realm of ocean engineering, he’s designed and built more than 60 manned submersibles—everything from atmospheric dive suits to flying subs. As a test pilot, he’s maintained the deepest solo dive record for more than 20 years. He’s also the founder of HAWX Open Ocean LLC, created to design and build revolutionary marine technologies that enable undersea access to all.Inspired by

Welaptega's Riser Cleaning Tech in Successful Debut Offshore Norway

Underwater asset integrity company Welaptega's recently launched system for marine growth removal from offshore risers recently had a debut at Var Energi's Balder X project, in the North Sea, offshore Norway. Welaptega delivered the system called RCIS (Riser/Rope Cleaning and Inspection System) to the Norwegian offshore services company Ocean Installer, which used the RCIS for riser cleaning operations carried out in Norwegian waters as part of the Balder X project. This project with Ocean Installer marks the first occasion that an RCIS has been used in the field, Welaptega said.

Ocean Influencer: Karl Kenny, Kraken Robotics

The July/August edition of Marine Technology Reporter, the 15th Annual "MTR100", recognizes Karl Kenny and his Kraken Robotics team for moving forward fast on the evolution of subsea technology and business.Karl Kenny and Kraken Robotics are on a mission to revolutionize the way business is conducted subsea. It’s about high-quality data, collected, delivered and analyzed more regularly, liberally shared among a disparate group of stakeholders, from science to commerce to military. It’s about tossing out old norms and embracing different ways of doing business.Underwater vehicle

NOAA Grants Support Small Business Tech Development

system and integrated data management platformPacific Hybreed, Inc., Bainbridge Island, Wash., $149,862, for identifying genetic markers of resistance in oysters for Pacific oyster mortality syndrome.Lynntech, Inc., College Station, Texas, $149,991, for a rapid, simple diagnostic tool for pathogens in marine aquacultureShellfish Solutions, Castine, Maine, $150,000, for a tide-to-table traceability and marketing system for shellfish aquaculture.  Recreational and commercial fisheriesCreare LLC, Hanover, N.H., $149,361, for a low cost ocean temperature profiling sensorSafetySpect Inc., Los Angeles

Salvors Outline Plan to Recover Titanic's Telegraph System

Marine salvors on Wednesday outlined plans to recover the Marconi wireless telegraph from inside the RMS Titanic after being cleared by a U.S. judge in May to retrieve a piece of history from the world's most famous shipwreck.Originally scheduled to embark on the mission to recover the system this summer, the private company with exclusive rights to salvage artifacts from the ship announced it has shifted its expedition to spring/early summer of 2021 to abide by ongoing travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic."The safety of our crew, ports where we conduct business and foremost the

TDI-Brooks' New Vessel Completes Its First Projects

TDI-Brooks’ newest vessel R/V Miss Emma McCall has recently completed its first projects for the U.S.-based marine data acquisition services company on behalf of Total and Cairn Energy offshore Mexico. TDI-Brooks has the vessel on a long-term bare-boat charter from Cameron Offshore Boats.The 2003-built Miss Emma is a multi-use oceanographic research vessel outfitted for a wide variety of oceanographic research duties for operations in the Northern/Southern Gulf of Mexico (GOM), U.S. East Coast and elsewhere in the Americas. The vessel is equipped to acquire geophysical surveys for offshore

Army Corps' Data Driven to Improve Coastal Projects

In a hotel conference room on Long Island, New York, a team of experts are processing data and information on computers. Alongside them is a large display monitor screen that's projecting the information."It's a beautiful thing. On the screen they are able to observe the condition of New York's and New Jersey's coastlines almost in real-time," said Jeffrey Cusano, Geospatial Coordinator, New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.The team is the Joint Airborne Lidar Bathymetry Technical Center of Expertise.  Recently, Cusano and other members of the U.S. Army Corps

Using High Res 3D Meshes for improved Shape Reconstuction of Marine Survey Data

is beneficial anywhere that accurate shape reconstruction is of utmost importance. This can apply when proper identification and measurement of features is critical to risk management, and to a greater extent in situations where there will be close interaction with the surveyed objects. When performing marine salvage, construction, or asset inspection, it is critical to have the most comprehensible and accurate representation of the data.These applications highlight the differences between historical usages of mesh structures, and the new techniques now being introduced. Representations such as triangulated

VIDEO: Drone Inspects FPSO Tank. It Could Soon Do It On Its Own

Autonomous drones could soon be used for tank inspections on offshore installations, with data immediately analyzed by AI. This would boost safety and cut costs, as the need for scaffolding, and for technicians climbing on an into tanks for inspection would be eliminated.Drone company Scout Drone Inspection and DNV GL, the quality assurance firm company, that have been working together to develop an autonomous drone system to cut inspections costs, and to increase safety, have this week shared a major milestone in this area.DNV GL said Tuesday that a drone - controlled by a pilot - had successfully

Forum ROV Completes Trials for Vietnam Navy

completed harbor trials for the Vietnam Navy. The vehicle is the compact derivative of the XLX work class ROV, and is a heavy-duty work class hydraulic ROV with a depth rating of 4000m, outfitted with cameras, lights, altimeters and sonars.The Perry XLX-C will be used to support the Vietnamese’ submarine rescue vehicle in its operations during assessment and preparation of a site for a submersible rescue. The XLX-C is fitted with Forum’s latest technology and can deliver specialized equipment, including an Emergency Life Support System, to a distressed submarine. It was supplied with an Emergency

One-on-One with Duane Fotheringham, President, Unmanned Systems, HII

to Boeing on the Orca program, which broadens our portfolio and allows us to offer the full range of UUVs, from small class to extra large class.”HII is not simply a larger corporate entity, but one with a treasure trove of experience serving the U.S. Navy with both surface craft and nuclear submarines. “We are also able to leverage HII’s expertise in submarine and ship design to provide increased capability in platform integration,” said Fotheringham.With the move under the HII banner the Hydroid brand is transitioning into Huntington Ingalls Industries. According to Fotheringham

Robotics Community Gains Access to Xsens IMUs

Xsens, the manufacturer of motion sensing modules, has signed a sales distribution agreement with Clearpath Robotics, the manufacturer of robot development platforms, which will make it easier for R&D teams and university researchers to use the popular MTi-series of inertial measurement units (IMU, VRU, AHRS and GNSS/INS) in robot designs.Under the arrangement, Ontario, Canada-based Clearpath Robotics has been appointed as an authorized distributor of Xsens’ MTi-series with a regional focus on Canada and the Eastern United States.Clearpath Robotics enjoys close relationships with a broad

Global Reef Expedition: Mission to Tonga

of high-resolution habitat and bathymetric maps of Ha’apai, Vava’u, Niuatoputapu. Using multispectral WorldView-2 satellite imagery obtained from DigitalGlobe Inc., in combination with data obtained from aerial surveys and ground-truthing, we created high-resolution maps of the shallow marine environments in Tonga. These maps have been shared with government officials in Tonga and are available to explore on the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation World Web Map Portal (http://maps.lof.org/lof).To verify the accuracy of these maps, an underwater tethered video camera, called a drop-cam

First YM Efficiency Containers Retrieved

Work is underway to retrieve dozens of containers lost from a containership off the coast of Australia, with the first boxes raised to the surface this week. The first container was recovered from the seafloor on Monday using a hydraulic crane and rigging, remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROV) and a specially manufactured steel basket, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said. Another two boxes were lifted in the days following.The recovered containers are among more than 80 lost from containership YM Efficiency in the Tasman Sea, about 30 kilometers off Australia's east coast

NASA Asks Gamers, Citizen Scientists to Help Map World's Corals

these reefs provide homes for as many species as a tropical rainforest. Corals are at risk from rising ocean temperatures, pollution and ocean acidification. Scientists are seeking more data to understand the ways in which corals are responding to these forces.Reefs also play a part in combating disease. Marine systems – and particularly coral reefs – are often considered the "medicine cabinets" of the 21st century. Organisms such as sponges, mollusks and others that call reefs their homes have contributed to medicines used to treat viruses such as HIV and diseases such as cancer

Greensea’s New Ship Hull Crawler Tech Launches with VideoRay Defender ROV

Greensea introduces a new hull crawler that easily attaches a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) to a ship hull without magnetics, allowing the operator to “drive” the ROV and payloads over the hull. Initial hull crawlers are designed to work exclusively with the VideoRay Mission Specialist Defender ROV. The hull crawler represents a milestone in Greensea’s hull robotics program, which is advancing navigation and localization capabilities for a fully autonomous robotic hull inspection and proactive in-water cleaning solution.  “VideoRay is a valued Greensea partner with

SubSeaSail G6 Platform Passes the Test

The Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) along with logistical support from the US Navy successfully tested their SubSeaSail G6 platform at multiple coastal sites off the Vieques Island, Puerto Rico. Remote sensing applications for monitoring underwater unexploded ordnance were demonstrated by mounting a passive filter assembly to the G6 platform to detect explosive compounds in the water. Additionally, a water quality sensor was mounted to monitor other water quality parameters including temperature, salinity, depth, and turbidity.  During

Nido Robotics Debuts Two Underwater Drones

locate the wreckage of a downed USS Dakota plane. The thought occurred to him that deep-sea missions of that nature, often conducted in extreme conditions, would be made substantially easier and safer with the use of suitably adaptable, affordable and portable mini ROVs.The fact that Torgersen, a Master Mariner, couldn’t find anything on the market capable of meeting the standards he envisaged led him to co-found Nido Robotics in 2016 with business partner Enrique González. Basing their business in Murcia, Spain and assembling a crack team of technicians and scientific advisors around them

Ocean Infinity’s Hunt for the Submarine San Juan

The search for the Argentinian submarine was like hunting for the proverbial needle in a hay stack, except that it was a piece of straw. Elaine Maslin reports. At 7.19am, local time, on November 15, 2017, the last message was received from the San Juan submarine. She belonged to the Argentinian navy and was on a routine mission from Ushuaia in the Patagonia region to Mar del Plata in Buenos Aires province when she lost contact with the military.  Fifteen days later, neither the submarine nor any debris had been found and the crew of 44 sailors were presumed dead.  The loss made internatio

​Water Drone Christened in the Port of Hamburg

A 1.65-meter-long water drone, also known as unmanned surface vehicle (USV), was christened on Wednesday morning. The USV named Echo.1 is dedicated to measure water depth and can work continuously for up to six hours without emissions.Senator for Economic Affairs Michael Westhagemann and Jens Meier, Managing Director of the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA), Rike Verheye from the HPA Hydrography christened the yellow drone.According to HAP, Echo.1 will be able to travel up to six hours at a time in the harbor to improve the understanding of the water depths and provide information about the condition of