Communications

Ørsted Collaborates with US Fishing Coalition on Offshore Wind

Global developer of offshore wind farms Ørsted U.S. Offshore Wind has entered into a partnership agreement with Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) to improve communications between the seafood industry and offshore wind energy developers.“This first-of-its-kind partnership will create an unprecedented opportunity for commercial fishermen to provide direct input to the wind energy industry on matters of significant interest to their businesses,” according to the statement issued in Boston by the RODA, originally organized by scallop fishermen and others to protect their

EdgeTech Delivers ERB for Deewater Acoustic Release Mooring Recovery

EdgeTech, a provider of high resolution sonar imaging systems, acoustic release systems and underwater technology, said it recently delivered an innovative solution for deepwater acoustic release mooring recovery.The Emergency Recovery Beacon (ERB) is a self-contained, programable acoustic command transmitter and transponder in a 6,000 meter rated nickel aluminium bronze alloy housing that can be lowered from the side of a vessel below any surface noise, shipboard noise or thermoclines.The ERB is programmed through a serial port using a computer running a terminal program and can transmit EdgeTech LF

IUEM Chooses iXblue Equipment

Navigation, positioning and underwater imaging solutions provider iXblue said it has been chosen by the European Institute for Marine Studies (IUEM) to provide 8 Canopus long baseline (LBL) transponders for a geodetic mission off the coast of Sicily. Deployed on the seabed, 2,500 meters below the surface, the Canopus transponders will measure the crustal deformation along the North-South Alfeo faults with a millimeter-scale resolution over the course of four years.Hubert Pelletier, Head of iXblue Acoustic division, said, “Because the Canopus transponders precisely meet the exacting requirements

Sensor and AI System for Plymouth Sound

M Subs Ltd has announced it has installed a ‘game changing’ sensor system with connected artificial intelligence (AI) machine-learning technology around Plymouth Sound as part of the vision to turn the city into a center of excellence in maritime autonomy and unmanned vehicles.Plymouth-based M Subs  will operate a secure network of cameras, radars, and other sensors which will provide situational awareness and communications with the unmanned vehicles operating out of the city’s harbor.The system will also provide the command & control of unmanned vehicles using the nearby

Equinor and Vissim Partner

.When delivered, the Equinor system will give operators an almost complete overview of the ocean space, Vissim said. Vessel and helicopter movements integrated with weather forecast, oil spill surveillance and integrated radio communication will enable Equinor to provide surveillance services and maximize marine operational performance and logistics.(Image: Vissim

Eni Deploys OPT's PowerBuoy

Ocean Power Technologies' PowerBuoy has been deployed in the Adriatic Sea to advance Eni’s R&D MaREnergy project that aims to develop, deploy and demonstrate wave energy renewable technologies in oil and gas operations, the U.S.-based ocean energy solutions provider announced Wednesday.The OPT PowerBuoy will be used in the Adriatic Sea to advance Eni’s research and development of proprietary integrated subsea technology systems to allow future applications for remotely controlled field developments powered by wave energy, environmental monitoring and offshore asset inspection using

LRAUV: Arctic Oil-Spill-Mapping Robot Put to the Test

As commercial shipping and energy activities picks up in the Arctic region, the prospect of accidental oil spills in this pristine environment remain a concern. In response, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is taking the lead – through the U.S. Coast Guard – to develop a subsea robotic system to map and report on spills.“Because of ice coverage and the tyranny of distance, it is difficult to get resources and assets up in the Arctic in a quick manner,” said Kirsten Trego, Executive Director of the Coast Guard’s Interagency Coordinating Committee on Oil

NATO Uses IoT to Study the Oceans

of Oldenburg’s work monitoring plastic debris in the North Sea and Spain’s coastal authority, Salvamento Maritimo, using SPOT Trace to devise oil spill disaster recovery procedures. The National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics and the “Istituto di Scienze Marine” of the Italian National Research Council use SPOT Trace to study surface currents in the Mediterranean and the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science has used large quantities of SPOT Trace satellite trackers also for oceanographic and oil spill research

Ocean Power Technologies Pact with NEC Energy Solutions

The provider of ocean energy solutions Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) signed a letter of intent to enter into a long-term supply agreement with NEC Energy Solutions, global leader in utility scale energy storage.Under the terms of the supply agreement, NEC ES will supply lithium ion batteries for OPT's subsea battery solutions.George H. Kirby, President and Chief Executive Officer of OPT, said: "NEC is a supplier of lithium ion batteries for our subsea battery solutions. Their long-standing leadership in the industry, as well as their dedication towards providing versatile, high-quality

Autonomous Subsea Pipeline Inspection

Swire Seabed said it completed autonomous inspection of offshore pipeline systems for Equinor in October 2018 utilizing Kongsberg Maritime’s Hugin autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV).The inspections were performed on three pipelines between Kollsnes and Troll A. In total, 180 kilometers of pipeline were inspected over two AUV dives.The inspections were undertaken with the subsea vehicle in autonomous mode, with a small surface vessel accompanying the AUV to provide positional updates to the vehicle and act as a communications relay between the AUV and the Control Center at Swire Seabed’s

Performing Coating Systems for Different Applications

Subsea Industries develops durable, non-toxic hard hull coating systems. Ecospeed was the first coating and was launched in 2002, but since then a line of other products has been added.EcoshieldEcoshield is an enhanced version of Ecospeed. Small but significant variations of the Ecospeed formula have been tested on rudders since 2002 with extraordinary results. After years of testing (initially under the name Ecospeed Strong) the product was launched in 2013.Ecoshield is designed to protect rudders and other underwater running gear against the cavitation phenomenon: against pitting, corrosion and

Sonardyne Unveils Fusion 2

Underwater positioning and navigation specialist Sonardyne International Ltd. has launched a new integrated acoustic and inertial positioning platform for marine survey contractors and offshore construction companies.Available from today, Sonardyne’s Fusion 2 Long BaseLine (LBL) and Inertial Navigation System (INS) software has been written from the ground up to offer a single solution aiming to make field development projects faster and easier. With Fusion 2, the separate software applications, vessel-fit hardware and often complex communication interfaces that have been typically required to

Sonardyne Leads AUV Collaboration Project

provider of underwater acoustic, inertial, optical and sonar technology said in a release that with partners L3 ASV and the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), Sonardyne will focus on longer-term navigational accuracy for AUVs in deep water, while reducing power requirements and increasing autonomy in marine operations.The P3AUV project will involve trials using Sonardyne’s leading underwater positioning technology on the NOC’s Autosub Long Range (ALR) and L3 ASV’s C-Worker 7 autonomous surface vehicle (ASV). The project, which will include trials in Loch Ness next month, is due to

Tidal Power for Seabed Oil and Gas Installations

the added benefit of introducing a renewable component to fossil-fuel projects, whose developers are keen to show they are making their operations as green as possible.Successful testA prototype Power Hub, using one turbine, completed a successful eight-month sea trial in December 2017 at the European Marine Energy Center (EMEC) in the Orkney Islands, northern Scotland. EC-OG is now refining the system to match the requirements of oil and gas field developers. These include having two or more turbines and differing battery sizes depending on site requirements.The device being lowered to the deck of the

SubCom: Manatua Cable Contract is in Force

New submarine cable system will provide connectivity between Samoa and Tahiti with branches to Niue, Cook Island and Bora BoraSubCom and the Manatua Consortium announced the contract is in force for the supply and installation of the Manatua submarine cable system. The Manatua Consortium is composed of: The Office des Postes et Télécommunications (OPT), the telecoms operator of French Polynesia; Avaroa Cables Limited (ACL), the cable operator of Cook Islands, Telecom Niue Limited (TNL), the telecoms operator of Niue; and Samoa Submarine Cable Company (SSCC), the cable operator of

New Ethernet Cable from TE

TE Connectivity (TE) introduced its Raychem Cat 5e cable that offers high-performance Ethernet connectivity at speeds up to 1-Gb/s in harsh military, marine and aerospace environments.The Cat 5e cable makes use of high temperature fluoropolymers that are designed to perform under extreme temperature fluctuations from -65°C to +200°C. Designed in accordance with ANSI/TIA-568-C.2, the cable is both lightweight and easy to terminate, the manufacturer said. TE’s waterblock variation uses super absorbent tapes and yarns that further help reduce weight, increase flexibility and lower installatio

OPT Rolls Out New Products

Ocean energy solutions developer Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. has expanded its suite of complimentary products that leverage the core technology of the PowerBuoy, which include subsea batteries and a hybrid (liquid-fueled) PowerBuoy.George H. Kirby, President and Chief Executive Officer of OPT, said, “Our team has been working diligently to identify opportunities to leverage our technologies to address the needs of current and potential customers in subsea environments. These new product offerings provide OPT with the means to better serve customers by expanding its product and service offerings

Tech Spotlight: JW Fisher’s CT-1 Cable Tracker

tracked is “dead,” then a signal will have to be induced into the cable. The signal injector is connected to the shore end of the target cable and, after the signal has been sent, the cable tracker probe is used to locate the electromagnetic signal along the length of the cable.Intercoastal Marine, LLC. was established in 2013 and has developed into a well-respected unlimited general contractor. Located in Castle Hayne, N.C., Intercoastal Marine began as a small commercial diving and service corporation supporting heavy construction, utility, and manufacturing industries throughout the Mid-Atlantic

L3 OceanServer Expands

L3 OceanServer, a developer and manufacturer of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), has recently added 4,700 square feet of space at its headquarters location in Fall River, Mass. This doubles the operational footprint of the business and will accommodate the company’s rapid growth while continuing to leverage its waterfront location for daily vehicle testing and operations. Additionally, a 46-foot research vessel, R/V Cassiar, has been dedicated to customer training and vehicle testing at L3 OceanServer’s San Diego location.“The decision to expand our physical assets was based on

Partners Lead New Swarm Technology Research

U.K. based marine technology company Autonomous Robotics Ltd (ARL) will collaborated with Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University (RGU) to research simultaneous, distributed and scalable localization system for a swarm of autonomous underwater sensor flying nodes.The research will aim to further enhance the capability of the flying node system and further reduce the cost and time for ocean bottom seismic surveys.RGU is a leading Scottish university in Aberdeen, the oil capital of Europe, and its School of Engineering has an outstanding track record of working in collaboration with industry.The Swarm

20’ WAM-V Delivered to XPrize Finalist TeamTao

competition.The new WAM-V has a range of over 400 nautical miles, can carry up to 600 lbs of payload, has a top speed of 15+ knots, and has passed rigorous open-ocean testing to ensure it is a stable platform for sensor deployment.“This is an exciting addition to our product lineup,” said Marine Advanced Research President and CEO Mark Gundersen. “With multi-day endurance in blue water, it brings a host of new capabilities to the marketplace.”Nick Ridley, TeamTao’s surface system design lead, commented, “We searched the global market for a suitable ASV platform. The

US Navy Sailors Dive Into Aquarium Exhibits

schools, conducting ship tours, attending receptions and sporting events, participating in community service projects and experiencing Baltimore.MDFWASB is Baltimore’s celebration of the sea services and provides an opportunity for the citizens of Maryland and the city of Baltimore to meet Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen, as well as see firsthand the latest capabilities of today’s maritime services.The AuthorVictoria Kinney is Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class, NAS Patuxent River Public Affair

'Smart Boulders' Measure Seafloor Avalanches

global networks of seafloor telecommunication cables.The so-called "smart boulders" revealed some surprising findings that will help inform where best to lay the seafloor cables that keep the internet running. Published this week in the journal Nature Communications, this research shows that submarine avalanches of rock and sand, which have been notoriously difficult to directly measure due to their powerful nature, can travel across the seafloor at almost 30 km/hour (similar to a human sprinter), and are powerful enough to move objects weighing almost one metric ton for several kilometers.Over

Hunting Hydrocarbons

acoustic monitoring (PAM) projects to aid environmental and anthropogenic monitoring during seismic surveys and, it hopes soon, also around offshore wind piling operations monitoring. For PAM operations, broad spectrum hydrophones are mounted to the gliders to record low and high frequency acoustics from marine life.Blue Ocean’s first PAM survey was in 2016, offshore Western Australia, during 3D seismic acquisition operations. The glider was deployed in the survey area and traversed four days, covering about 30km/day, depending on the current, before performing simultaneous operations with the seismic

Sonardyne Hires Paull as Business Development Manager

instrumentation and systems company Aquatec Group, will also focus on other developing ocean industry markets, such as subsea mining, for Sonardyne’s widening portfolio of products.The ocean space is home to an increasing number of offshore renewables facilities, including offshore wind farms and marine energy devices, and aquaculture operations, as companies look to diversify and countries seek to grow their energy and food production.“Increasingly our oceans are being looked at as engines of growth – be it in renewable energy, aquaculture, mineral resources and even biotechnology.

BMT and Sonardyne Partner on Subsea Monitoring

Engineering consultancy BMT and subsea technology company Sonardyne International Ltd. will together provide advanced integrated marine integrity monitoring solutions to the oil and gas industry under a new agreement announced today at the Rio Oil & Gas exhibition and conference in Brazil.The official Teaming Agreement will allow the two companies to collaboratively provide smarter and more efficient through-life solutions for monitoring and managing critical subsea assets, including drilling and production risers, moorings and wellheads.By jointly offering BMT’s monitoring and analysis

GTI to Supply Low Frequency Sources to Scripps

GeoSpectrum Technologies (GTI) announces it will supply the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (University of California San Diego) with two “C-BASS” low frequency sources.This new technology will allow researchers to conduct low frequency acoustic experiments more efficiently and less expensively than previously possible, GTI said. A successful field trial at Seneca Lake last December caught the attention of Scripps, resulting in the purchase.The fully coherent C-BASS are tuned to operate at 34 Hz and are capable of continuous operation. The energy efficient sources are physically

Ashtead Delivers Installation Monitoring Services to Subsea 7

Subsea equipment specialist Ashtead Technology said it has completed a subsea installation monitoring project for Subsea 7 in support of Equinor’s Utgard development, located in blocks 15/8 (NCS) and 16/18a (UKCS) of the central North Sea.The contract, which was awarded by i-Tech Services on behalf of Subsea 7, saw Ashtead’s Deflection Monitoring System (DMS) used to capture critical data required to safely deploy a subsea template in water depths of 110m from Subsea 7’s vessel the Seven Arctic.The DMS monitors structure deflection, heading, pitch, roll, depth and suction at differenti

Mapping the Future

Marine Technology Reporter catches up with Dr. Jyotika Virmani, Ph.D, Senior Director, Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE and members of the GEBCO-NF Alumni Team as the conclusion to the $7 Million Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE fast approaches.The Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE is a global competition challenging teams to advance deep-sea technologies for autonomous, fast and high-resolution ocean exploration. The prize will stimulate even greater exploration and mapping of the ocean floor, helping to uncover our planet’s greatest wonders and resources for the benefit of humanity. The winner will be

L3 Technologies Acquires ASV Global

New York headquartered L3 Technologies said it has acquired unmanned surface vessel (USV) and autonomous vessel control systems company ASV Global, LLC, effective September 20.According to L3, the acquisition enhances its spectrum of unmanned maritime capabilities, including integrated antisubmarine warfare (ASW) solutions, future surface combatant unmanned off-board sensors, and integrated unmanned surface and undersea vessel (USV/UUV) operations. The new company will be known as L3 ASV.“Autonomous capabilities for surface ships and undersea vessels are top priorities for our naval and

Cerberus to Acquire Subsea Communications Business from TE Connectivity

Cerberus Capital Management announced that one of its affiliates has entered into an agreement with TE Connectivity under which Cerberus will acquire TE's Subsea Communications business (SubCom).Headquartered in Eatontown, New Jersey, SubCom is a leading global supplier of subsea communications systems with approximately $700 million in revenue, based on fiscal year 2018 expectations. The business designs, manufactures, deploys, and maintains the subsea fiber optic cable systems that are vital for global communications.To date, SubCom has completed more than 100 cable systems and deployed over 610

MainOne Cable System to Extend to Francophone Region

Undersea communications technology company TE SubCom  has secured a contract from connectivity and data center solutions provider MainOne to extend its active submarine cable system into West Africa’s francophone region with two additional branches connecting Senegal (Dakar) and Cote D’Ivoire (Abidjan). These new branches will connect to MainOne’s 7,000km cable system, which extends from Portugal to Nigeria, and will inject new technology that upgrades the system to a potential capacity of 10TBps by November 2019 when the subsea system becomes operational.With this development

Navy Divers to Have Automated Logging from Worn Dive Computers

at sea into a system known as the Dive/Jump Reporting System (DJRS). Manual entries can be time-consuming and allow human error.Enter the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global TechSolutions program, a rapid-response science and technology program focused on solutions to problems submitted by Sailors and Marines.ONR TechSolutions and industry partners have created a new tool called the Scuba Binary Dive Application (SBDA) 100 to digitally plan, record and report dive-profile information to DJRS. The application will accelerate the process of logging and uploading dive information, and will help eliminate

Forum Tackles Decom Challenges

At its inaugural Collaboration and Innovation in Decommissioning event earlier this month, Decom North Sea brought together more than 110 delegates – from operator and supply chain companies – to focus upon finding solutions to current and future decommissioning challenges.Working with the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), Decom North Sea constructed a highly interactive day comprising presentations, open forum sessions, networking and one-to-one sessions to maximize delegate engagement resulting in the generation of over 120 potential solutions.Setting the scene, the Oil & Gas Technology

Competitor Preps for XPRIZE Final with 24-hour Sea Trial

on the collaborative approach, Yulia Zarayskaya, training program alumnus and Project Lead, noted that “the skills acquired by the alumni through the data processing development, as well as working alongside team partners and suppliers, puts them at the forefront of rapidly developing autonomous marine operations and the modern processes of transforming data into useful information.”It is hoped that the team’s technology will find wider applications once the XPRIZE is completed, and discussions are ongoing with The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project to see how this might be

MultiBeam EchoSounder Enables First-of-its-kind Research

, there is a concern that rising ocean temperatures could lead seafloor methane hydrate deposits to dissociate, which would result in a greater volume of methane released in the ocean, and potentially reaching the atmosphere, and therefore causing a high risk for humanity.Scholars at the MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Germany, and the University of Washington in Seattle are working on a project initiated in 2017 called M3, funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) that monitors the natural release of methane at the Southern Hydrate Ridge (SHR)

WHOI Hires Harp in Advancement, Marketing Role

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has hired international brand marketing expert Samuel C. Harp as the Institution’s first Vice President for Advancement and Chief Marketing Officer. Harp has spent much of his career in academic, technology, and research institutions and will begin working at WHOI on October 1.Harp most recently served as the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where he has worked for more than eight years. Before working at Harvard, Harp worked in marketing, communications, and business development roles at

DNV GL Recertifies Rutter’s Wave and Current Monitoring system

After extensive testing, the sigma S6 WaMoS II Wave and Surface Current Monitoring System was recertified by DNV GL in May of this year. The system was certified compliant with IEC 60945 Ed. 4 (2002-08) maritime navigation and IEC 62288 Ed. 2.0 (2014-07) radio-communication equipment and systems for Wave Monitoring Systems.The sigma S6 WaMoS II Wave and Surface Current Monitoring System provides real-time wave and surface current measurements using standard navigational radars as a sensor. The operator is able to effectively identify environmental conditions and safe operational windows with the help

iSURVEY Completes Industry First Project for Norske Shell

iSURVEY, a provider of survey and positioning services to the global oil and gas, offshore renewables and telecommunications markets, has completed a pioneering project for A/S Norske Shell.  The project, which took place last month as part of the operator’s Scarabeo 8 drilling campaign, utilized iSURVEY’s survey support remotely from its Oslo headquarter. This marks the first time remote positioning has been applied for a regular DP drill rig move operation on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.The survey equipment was initially mobilized on board, and then operated from the iSURVEY

5 Minutes with Mike Read, President, Teledyne Marine

Teledyne Marine Group has been a consolidator in the subsea space for more than a decade, today totaling 23 companies. Teledyne Marine’s MTR100 entry is focused on insights on the moves in the market from Mike Read.As we continue to navigate through a historic downturn in the offshore energy sector, can you give us your view of the market? Where you see opportunity in the coming 12 to 24 months?We are optimistic on the health of the marine market across all market sectors over the next 12 to 24 months. Our interconnect and instruments businesses are beginning to see the effects of stabilization

Fundraising Campaign Launched For 10-Year Dolphin Research Project

Dr. Richard Connor, Professor of Biology at the University of Massachusetts, has embarked on a journey to Shark Bay in the western part of Australia where he has studied a wild population of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins since 1982.Dr. Connor is the co-Director of the Dolphin Alliance Project (DAP), and President of the nonprofit Dolphin Alliance Project, Inc., which is aggressively seeking donations to continue funding DAP research.The Dolphin Alliance Project’s mission is to learn everything they can about these unique underwater creatures during the Dolphin Decade, an ambitious ten-year

MTR100: The Ones to Watch

is able to transfer 24v DC 1,000 Watt of power across a 0-10mm seawater gap, alongside 100 Mbps Ethernet and serial data transfer. Developed for the subsea market in general, one of its initial goals, in collaboration with NOV, was to increase connection reliability between a blowout preventer and lower marine riser package during subsea well intervention operations.  The firm is also gaining traction for its Maelstrom and Fonn connectors. Maelstrom is suitable for data-only or low-power applications, with 24v DC, 50 Watt power transfer and 100 Mbps Ethernet plus serial data transfer, while Fonn offers

Aker Solutions to Supply Umbilicals for Liuhua FPSO

Aker Solutions said it has been contracted to deliver power umbilical systems to China National Offshore Oil Corporation's (CNOOC) Liuhua oil fields in the South China Sea, off Hong Kong.The order, which is said to be worth more than NOK 350 million ($36.6 million), was booked in the third quarter of 2018. The work scope includes more than 35 kilometers of dynamic and static power umbilicals for the Liuhua 16-2, 20-2 and 21-2 fields, linking the subsea development to a new floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit.Power umbilical systems are bundled cable and fiber optic systems

Scientists Map Fast-moving Fault off Alaska

to study the offshore Queen Charlotte-Fairweather fault system in U.S. territory in more than three decades. A similar effort led by the Geological Survey of Canada has been underway along the portion of the fault located in Canadian territory.The 2018 Fairweather survey built on five previous USGS-led marine geophysical and geological surveys between 2015 and 2017 in southeastern Alaska aboard a number of research vessels, as well as two cruises led by researchers from the Geological Survey of Canada, Sitka Sound Science Center and USGS. During these surveys, researchers used an array of instruments

Students Face Off in Underwater Competition

It was an exciting time in San Diego as nearly 50 high school and university teams from around the world made a splash at the 21st International RoboSub Competition at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific Transducer Evaluation Center, July 30 – August 3.The week-long autonomous submarine competition, co-sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the Association of Unmanned Vehicles International Foundation, tested students’ mechanical, electrical, computer and systems engineering skills—as well as their presentation skills and teamwork while competing for cash

Scientists Complete 1700km Autonomous Acoustics Mission

A state-of-the-art technique for mapping and counting schools of fish has been tested on an autonomous marine platform in the North Sea, offering a new method for collecting data on fish stocks.The U.K.’s Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) and U.S. based Liquid Robotics, A Boeing Company, have deployed, tested and recovered a remotely piloted Wave Glider, which was adapted to allow scientists to collect high quality broadband fisheries acoustics data.As part of a multi-vehicle mission under the U.K. NERC/Defra funded AlterEco project, the Wave Glider called Lyra

Drone Boats to Face-Off in Global RobotX Challenge

.The purpose of the challenge is to foster innovation as students develop their skills in systems engineering and autonomous command and control, while collaborating with the engineers and organizations that develop the required sensors and technologies.The WAM-V USV platform, designed and manufactured by Marine Advanced Research, Inc. in Richmond, Calif., is used by every university participating in the challenge. “Lightweight, maneuverable, and easily customized, the WAM-V is the ideal platform for this competition,” says Mark Gundersen, President and CEO of the company. “We’re

Hunting Pipes and Cables at a Lower Cost

A new way to hunt down and survey buried submarine pipelines, energy cables and communication cables, comes as Innovatum teams up their Smartrak magnetic sensor system to a Saab Seaeye Sabertooth autonomous robotic vehicle.As Innovatum’s Smartrak is the smallest survey system of its type, high quality data is now available at a much lower cost.Skimming just two meters off the seabed in shallow turbulent waters - typical of installation sites - Sabertooth is the only autonomous vehicle able to handle the out-rigged Smartrak, whilst its iCON intelligent control system thinks for itself.“I&rsqu

Remote Monitoring System Delivered for The Ocean Cleanup

Subsea technology company Seatools said it has completed the development, manufacturing and testing of a remote offshore monitoring system on behalf of The Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit organization dedicated to removing plastic from the world’s oceans.The monitoring system is currently integrated into the first-ever ocean cleanup system at The Ocean Cleanup’s assembly yard in Alameda, Calif.In the third quarter of 2018, The Ocean Cleanup’s system will be deployed into the waters between Hawaii and San Francisco. The primary goal of the Pacific trials is to confirm the performance of

TE SubCom to Design and Deploy Google's New Cable System

Undersea communications technology firmTE SubCom, a TE Connectivity Ltd. company, announced it has been selected by Google as the supplier of its Dunant submarine cable system. The four-fiber pair cable system will span over 6,400km and will connect the East Coast of the United States to Europe, adding dedicated capacity to Google’s global network and will enable interconnection to other subsea infrastructure in the region.Sanjay Chowbey, president of TE SubCom, said the Dunant cable system will be built using SubCom’s A1 cable family, which is optimized for projects compatible with higher

Symbiotic Autonomy for Deep Water Survey

Marine technology partners have developed a new long endurance, multi-vehicle, autonomous survey solution.ASV Global (ASV), in partnership with Sonardyne International Ltd., the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) and SeeByte, have delivered a long endurance, multi-vehicle, autonomous survey solution after a two-week trial in Scotland’s Loch Ness. The tests were the culmination of the three-year ‘Autonomous Surface and Sub-surface Survey System’ collaborative project, part-funded by Innovate UK and Dstl, which set out to produce an integrated system to perform low cost, full water

ABB Wins Order for World's Biggest Offshore Wind Farm

ABB has won orders worth more than $150 million from Danish energy company Ørsted to supply technology to transmit wind energy from the 1,400 megawatt (MW) Hornsea Project Two, slated to be the world's largest offshore wind farm.The orders were booked in the second quarter of 2018 and are the first tranche of a global five year frame agreement for the supply of electrical and automation equipment for offshore and onshore wind power connection and integration to the grid, ABB said.ABB will supply its Static Var Compensation (SVC) Light technology with ABB Ability MACH control systems, High

NOC Predicts Increase in Extreme Sea Levels

A new study has predicted that future global warming will lead to an increase in ‘extreme sea levels’, with consequent flood risks to coastal infrastructure and human populations. Extreme sea levels occur through a combination of high tides and extreme weather events, which can generate storm surges and high wind waves. These incidents are intensified by gradual rises in mean sea level and predicted increases in tropical cyclone activity. Researchers have taken all these factors into account to assess future risks of extreme sea levels up until the year 2100. The National Oceanography

Aquabotix to Support U.S. Navy

UUV Aquabotix, an underwater robotics company with operations in Australia and the U.S., announced its agreement to support the U.S. Navy’s Forward Deployed Energy and Communications Outpost (FDECO) program as a member of the Innovative Undersea Prototype Development Consortium (iUPDC).Historically, unmanned underwater vehicle use has been challenged by limitations in endurance and difficulties in transferring data. FDECO’s publicly-stated mission is to seek to prototype a forward deployed, open, scalable and coordinated undersea energy replenishment, data management, and communications

Meet Kraken’s Tentacle Autonomous LARS

From elephant trunks to octopus legs, nature abounds with tentacles that are adept at precise manipulation.At Kraken Robotics, we wanted to see what nature could teach us about better manipulation methods for launching and recovering marine vehicles and equipment. Inspired by the sophisticated feedback loops and dynamic response times found in creatures such as the elephant, octopus and jellyfish—and even the occasional carnivorous plant—we undertook an 18-month research and development program into biomimetic design.Getting into or out of the water is by far the highest-risk operation for

ION, Greensea Ink Joint Marketing Agreement

ION Geophysical Corporation and Greensea Systems, Inc. will work together to provide underwater navigation solutions for manned and unmanned underwater vehicle operators under a new joint marketing agreement.The partnership will aim to accelerate the adoption of ION’s technologies into larger, less cyclic adjacent markets offshore and in the military while providing Greensea with options to integrate ION sensor technology into a growing number of navigation systems. Greensea and ION have already collaborated to integrate ION’s optical magnetic heading sensor into Greensea’s INSpect

Taking UUVs Faster, Further & Deeper

technology approach has ensured faster delivery of UUVs that can range further, while diving deeper, than ever before possible in compact vehicles. With nearly 100 Riptide vehicles delivered to date, the market has clearly indicated it is moving faster as well.(As published in the June 2018 edition of Marine Technology Reporter

Teledyne Benthos Acoustic Modems Meet NATO’s New JANUS Interoperability Standard

by all the NATO Nations.According to a recent CMRE press release, once adopted globally, JANUS can make military and civilian, NATO and non-NATO devices interoperable, providing them all with a common language with which to communicate and arrange to cooperate. Put simply, JANUS is an interoperable marine radio channel 16 for digital underwater communications devices. Over the past several years, the standard has been extensively tested at sea in exercises involving a number of partners (universities, industries and research institutions) covering a range of application scenarios.Ken Scussel, Acoustic

Unmanned Vehicles May Soon Take Up Residency Subsea

infrastructure for resident vehicles, regulation relating to unmanned vehicles, and skepticism and resistance to change. But, with a string of roadmaps in place, from vendors to operators and service providers, resident subsea vehicles are just a matter of time.(As published in the May 2018 edition of Marine Technology Reporter

Deep Ocean Exploration is the 21st Century ‘Space Race’

A new version of the Space Race is happening, with researchers aiming for the deep ocean.Human history has shown us to be a resourceful species, always using the tools available to us to explore, understand and utilize the bounty of resources around us to create a better life. We have come a long way from the stone tools of our ancestors; the tools of today take the form of technology, computers, artificial intelligence and robots which we use very effectively in a number of areas including healthcare, education, transportation, manufacturing and communication. Many of these advances have been made