Deepwater Positioning

Meredith Joins BIRNS Sales Team

Marine lighting and connector systems manufacturer BIRNS, Inc. announced that Bruce Meredith has joined its sales team as Technical Sales Manager, responsible for leading the company’s sales team, overseeing its global distributor and dealer networks and managing accounts for advanced deep submergence connectors and cable assemblies and high performance marine and nuclear lighting systems sales.Meredith brings decades of sales and marketing experience to his new role. Prior to his position at BIRNS, he served in a range of sales management leadership roles, including Western Regional Vice

Aker Solutions Buys Stake in Airborne

Airborne Oil & Gas announced Friday that Aker Solutions has joined its shareholder base to further strengthen, integrate and diversify its range of thermoplastic composite pipe (TCP) solutions for the international subsea sector.The global engineering company joins other shareholders Chevron Technology Ventures, Evonik Venture Capital, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, Shell Ventures, Subsea 7, Sumitomo Corporation and the private equity investor, HPE Growth Capital.Oliver Kassam, Airborne Oil & Gas CEO said,  “We have a very strong portfolio of organizations invested in the business

Magseis Fairfield Wins Gulf of Mexico Work

Oslo based offshore seismic services provider Magseis Fairfield said on Friday that it has received a contingent letter of award (LOA) for a three months data acquisition program for an unnamed client in the Gulf of Mexico.The survey is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2019, it said.Magseis Fairfield CEO, Per Christian Grytnes, siad, “The program in the Gulf of Mexico further strengthens our order backlog for 2019 and reflects the increasing interest in ocean bottom seismic nodal surveys.“The awarded program would be our fifth acquisition program in the Gulf of Mexico in 2019 and

DGA Taps iXblue for AUV Positioning & Monitoring

The French General Directorate of Armament for Technical Naval Applications (DGA Technique Navales – DGA/TN, formerly GESMA), an entity specialized in experimentation in the area of mine warfare, has selected iXblue's Gaps acoustic positioning system for its autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) positioning and monitoring applications."The choice of Gaps by the DGA/TN, which is the reference in France in the area of mine warfare, is a clear mark of the confidence placed in our underwater positioning technology," said Hubert Pelletier, Head of the Acoustics Division of iXblue. "Thi

Real-time ECDIS Updates via FleetBroadband

A contract signed in London at the end of last month by Inmarsat and SRH Marine SAIT formalizes arrangements for real-time Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) updating to be accomplished ‘ship-to-shore’ using an application over FleetBroadband for the first time.The SRH Delta platform, which includes chart updates, publications and notices of mariners, will be available for L-band transmission to any FleetBroadband user equipped with the new, dedicated bandwidth Application Access Point Name (APN) developed by Inmarsat.“The SRH platform is the first application by

COVE Welcomes Aboard IBM Canada

COVE announced that IBM Canada has joined the ocean business park as a tenant, one of 50 currently in residence.“We are very pleased to welcome IBM Canada to COVE,” says Jim Hanlon, CEO at COVE. “IBM has proven its commitment to the growing field of ocean data analytics and we feel this new tenancy at COVE further helps support COVE’s position as a significant hub for ocean technology, not just in Nova Scotia, but globally.”IBM is one of Canada’s top 10 private R&D investors and last year contributed more than $478 million to Canadian research activities. In

IBM Canada Joins COVE

COVE has announced that IBM Canada has joined the ocean business park as a tenant, one of 50 currently in residence.IBM is one of Canada’s top 10 private research and development investors and last year contributed more than $478 million to Canadian research activities. In September 2018, it was revealed that IBM, along with COVE, Dalhousie University, the Ocean Frontier Institute, the Government of Canada, local industry and the Province of Nova Scotia, were collaborating on the rollout of DeepSense – a world class big ocean data innovation environment.“IBM is committed to supporting

Subsea 7 Wins Three Woodside Contracts

Australia's Woodside Petroleum in recent months has awarded several oil and gas engineering contracts to Subsea 7 for two projects offshore Australia and one off Senegal, the offshore services company said on Wednesday.The three contracts awarded since December 2018 are for engineering studies related to the SNE Field Development-Phase 1 offshore Senegal, as well as the Scarborough Project and Julimar Development Phase 2, both offshore Australia. The contracts include options for Woodside to proceed to the execute phase with engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contracts.

Scripps Adds Volvo Penta Vessel

The Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego has added to its fleet a fourth research vessel, which was constructed by Armstrong Marine. The research vessel Bob and Betty Beyster is expected to launch in mid-April for use in San Diego.Armstrong Marine of Port Angeles, Washington, designed the 42-foot aluminum hulled boat. Pacific Power Group, working closely with Armstrong, fit the vessel with a Volvo Penta IPS 650 propulsion system. This is the first time PPG has mated the IPS configuration with an aluminum hulled boat.“We took a lot of time with the Scripps

Leak Detection Sonar Deployed in the US Gulf

A sonar monitoring system will help a major US oil company to reinforce its deepwater offshore asset integrity assurance in the US Gulf of Mexico.The system, a wide-area Sentry Integrity Monitoring Sonar (IMS) developed and delivered by subsea engineering specialist Sonardyne International, has been deployed on the seafloor at more than 2,000 meters water depth. The ROV-deployable Sentry IMS,  which features a titanium housing and can be installed short-term or permanently, is able to detect, classify and localize subsea releases of hydrocarbons from either the seafloor or oil and gas field

R/V Bob and Betty Beyster: New CAT For Scripps

The Research Vessel Bob and Betty Beyster is a purpose-built coastal research vessel designed for efficient operations offshore Southern California and throughout the Channel Islands.  Based at the Scripps Nimitz Marine Facility and operated as a shared-use facility, Bob and Betty Beyster provides scientists, students and engineers a capable, safe and economical platform for research and teaching.R/V Bob and Betty Beyster is a 42-foot scientific workboat with a range of 500 nautical miles, a cruising speed better than 25 knots, and a capacity for six scientists and a boat operator. The vessel has

PLAT-I Operational in Nova Scotia

An innovative tidal energy platform has generated first power from the tidal currents of Grand Passage in Digby County, Nova Scotia.Following a period of commissioning and testing environmental monitoring equipment, Sustainable Marine Energy has satisfied the requirements set out by the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans to commence operation of tidal turbines on the PLAT-I platform. Originally developed and tested in Scotland with support provided by Scottish Enterprise, it was relocated to Nova Scotia and installed at Grand Passage in September 2018.On Saturday, February 23, the system

Subsea 7 Profit Beats Forecast

Subsea 7 posted higher-than-expected fourth-quarter profits on Thursday and announced a special dividend payment as well as an extension of its share buybacks.The Oslo-listed offshore services provider's adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization fell 7.4 percent year-on-year to $163 million, while analysts in a Reuters poll on average predicted a $146 million profit."A new two-year $200 million share repurchase program has been announced, enabled by our strong financial and liquidity position and improving market outlook," Subsea 7 said in a statement.Pending

Kongsberg on board South African Navy Survey Vessels

Maritime will deliver a turnkey survey package for diverse environments to the new ship, including: EM 304 Deep Water Multibeam Echo Sounder, EM 2040 Shallow Water Multibeam Echo Sounder, TOPAS PS 40 Parametric Sub-Bottom Profiler, EA640 Single Beam Echo Sounder, K-Sync Synchronization System, MDM 500 Marine Data Management System and Seapath 380-R3 Combined GNSS and Inertial Navigation System.Ensuring safe and efficient navigation and maneuvering, as well as effective survey operations, the vessel will feature the K-Bridge Integrated Navigation System and K-Pos Dynamic Positioning.Three Survey Motor

WAM-V 8 Unveiled

Marine Advanced Robotics, Inc. (MAR) has launched a new autonomous surface vessel (ASV), the 8’ Wave Adaptive Modular Vessel (WAM-V), offering new capabilities.MAR is scheduled to deliver the next generation MARV II (Multifunctional Assessment Reconnaissance Vessel) to the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory (ERDC-CHL) for Pier Reconnaissance under the PIER JCTD, sponsored by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Emerging Capability and Prototyping.The system will be comprised of an 8’ WAM-V autonomous surface vessel (ASV), as well

Boskalis Acquires Horizon

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) has acquired a 62.5% majority stake in the Horizon Group (Horizon) from the United Arab Emirates. Horizon's main activities include marine geophysical surveys and geotechnical services."Through this transaction, we are adding an important strategic position to our existing marine survey and subsea geotechnical business," said Peter Berdowski, CEO Boskalis. "Horizon is a market leader in the Middle East and we are committed to continuing and expanding the high quality of services they deliver to their clients. Furthermore, Horizon with its

Oi ‘Voices’: Tony Hodgson, Fugro

In its January/February edition, Marine Technology Reporter published a supplement celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Oceanology International, the subsea industry's largest global conference & exhibition. We asked industry leaders to weigh in on the value of Oi, and here we feature:Tony Hodgson, Regional Business Development Manager Europe, Fugro“Fugro is pleased to have supported the Oceanology event over the majority of the last 50 years. Fugro supported the event in Brighton at the Metropole Hotel, which was an excellent venue and surroundings for networking with clients and suppliers

Acoustic Tracking in Aquaculture

Joint trials by Norwegian research institute SINTEF Ocean and Sonardyne reportedly have proven the ability for an acoustic positioning system to track underwater robots as they move through industrial-scale fish pens.Until now, there has been a misperception that acoustic tracking systems do not work in fish farm applications, due to the volume and density of fish within the pens or cages. Fish have an air-filled swim bladder that helps them regulate their buoyancy and this organ can interfere with the transmission and reception of acoustic signals from the surface to an ROV. In a farm with up to 200

Subsea Electrification: Subsea Power Evolves

packs also function for up to eight times the cycle life of traditional sealed lead acid batteries, which may provide many years of service, and eliminate classic and costly battery failure headaches.Meeting customer needsAn example user of SWE SeaSafe II is SEAmagine, dedicated to the personal submarines industry since 1995. This private submersibles company has demonstrated the safety, utility, and dependability of its submarines. To support this, SWE SeaSafe employs its patented Battery Management System within every SeaSafe II Battery Module to ensure safety and dependability unsurpassed in the

Saab Seaeye Progresses Vehicle Residency

Saab Seaeye said it has shown that underwater e-robotic vehicles can dock at remote deepwater sub-resident docking stations for data transfer, assignment instructions and battery charging.The underwater robotics company said its Sabertooth hybrid autonomous/remotely operated underwater vehicle (AUV/ROV) can now successfully dock in a safe and controlled manner at different kinds of remote stations.“This breakthrough is significant for both the offshore energy industry and ocean science who have been watching developments in residency technologies for the substantial operational and financial

ArgoX90: Rocket Recovery Boat

Parker Shinn and Morrelli & Melvin introduce the ArgoX90, a unique concept designed to significantly reduce space launch and rocket component recovery costs.Rocket reusability has become the space industry’s focus to reduce cost. While SpaceX has landed boosters on drone ships hundreds of miles out to sea, expensive parts of a rocket have still proven unrecoverable. The ArgoX90 may change that.“A boat like this could lower launch costs by 10% in some cases,” said Shinn, who conceived of the original concept. “Not only could it catch fairings (the top of a rocket that houses

French Port: First Phase of Subsea Cables

Feed Equipment of subsea cables.The Port of Marseille-Fos is now fully positioned as a maritime digital gateway. Not only is Marseille ideally positioned at the crossroads of Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia, but we also benefit from a favorable seabed for this type of infrastructure. Connecting submarine cables through the Port of Marseille also makes sense given the current location of carrier-neutral data centres, both within and near the port area.This investment is yet another landmark in the development of the French Smart Port in the Med, a port that is always at the forefront of innovation

Proserv Names Erntsen as CTO

Controls technology company Proserv said it has promoted Tore Erntsen to the position of chief technology officer (CTO), Subsea Controls, based at the firm’s Trondheim facility.Prior to taking on his new role, Erntsen  was vice president, engineering and technology, within the subsea team. He joined Proserv in 2012 when the firm took over the subsea controls business of Weatherford and he has been at the forefront of the core commitment to technological innovation, and its application, providing leading edge solutions for global customers.Erntsen  holds an MSc in engineering and ICT

Partners Designing Autonomous Seismic Nodes

Underwater sensor technology company Sonardyne International said it is partnering with Shell Brasil and Brazilian research institute Senai-Cimatec to develop autonomous technology to make the monitoring of Brazil’s deepwater pre-salt oil fields more efficient.The new 4D seismic monitoring system, based on so-called On Demand Ocean Bottom Nodes, is being developed under a National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) promoted program.According to Sonardyne, the goal is to increase the autonomy of ocean bottom nodes and enable them to be deployed and remain on the seafloor for up

DOF Bags Multiple Offshore Vessel Deals

and Skandi Buchan, and both vessels will join the Skandi Neptune in the second quarter of 2019 carrying pipe and subsea hardware to the main installation vessels. The forecast assets utilization is estimated close to 650 vessel days plus options. Geoholm has commenced preparation in Singapore for marine and ROV operation in the Red Sea offshore Saudi Arabia for more than 700 vessel day campaign in support of a 3D Ocean bottom node survey projects. Finally, the Skandi Caledonia is secured a short-term contract in the Mediterranean with start-up in March 2019. These collectively contract

Aker Solutions Revenues Up 8%

Aker Solutions reports Q4 2018 revenue of $813 million, an 8% rise compared to Q4 2017 powered by “significant international awards in a competitive, but improving market.” In total, order intake for the quarter was $615.6 million, leaving the company with an order backlog of more than $4 billion. Better still, looking forward the company sees “continued signs of a recovery in the global market” with approximately $5.2 billion worth of contracts currently in the bid phase.In analyzing the results, executives credit an improving market in step with its own “investments in

Enpro Testing New FIS Technology

Aberdeen-based production optimization specialist Enpro Subsea announced that the £1.5 million investment project in its Flow Intervention Services (FIS) technology, which included a £755,000 research and development grant from Scottish Enterprise, has started onshore testing ahead of planned subsea field trials later this year.The company had previously developed a lower pressure (10kpsi) version of their tool and this investment has allowed them to develop the higher rated (15kpsi) version, extending its operating capabilities to support high pressure wells, common in Gulf of Mexico.

Unique invests in Sonardyne Tech

On the opening of Subsea Expo, in Aberdeen Unique Group’s announced orders for multiple copies of Sonardyne’s Fusion 2 Long BaseLine (LBL) and INS operating platform and a large number of the latest Compatt 6+ seabed transponders and ROVNav 6+ vehicle-Unique Group, which is headquartered in the UAE and has offices in Aberdeen, Rotterdam, Saudi Arabia, Houston, Mumbai, Cape Town and Singapore, has also ordered Sonardyne’s GyroCompatt 6 positioning transponders, which offer operators real-time positioning and motion data from one small, versatile and robust instrument.

i-Tech Services Expands in Houston

i-Tech Services, a Subsea 7 company, said it has taken on 13 new people in Houston following a 12-month period which saw the office secure a series of new contract awards in the Gulf of Mexico. The expansion grows the regional team by 25%.Recent contracts included vessel charter renewals and the provision of custom engineering solutions for subsea flow assurance and inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) workscopes, the company said in a press release on Monday.Edward Galloway, Regional Director, Gulf of Mexico for i-Tech Services, said: “Despite the challenging market conditions, we enjoyed a

Saab Seaeye Appoints Lumsden

Saab Seaeye, the world’s largest manufacturer of electric underwater robotic vehicles is expanding its business operations with the appointment of Ryan Lumsden as Business Development Manager.Lumsden has wide experience in the underwater vehicle market and will join the company’s sales and marketing team where he will focus on further growing the company position in the electric work vehicle market. Saab Seaeye’s head office is in Fareham on the south coast and Ryan Lumsden will be based in Aberdeen.

Rebuilding Confidence in Reactivated DP Assets

and efficiently as it did before lay-up.  Image Courtesy Bureau Veritas.In anticipation of these demands, MAC and Bureau Veritas have been active in the development of guidance and recommended practices to verify that reactivation has been addressed properly. MAC has been directly involved with The Marine Technology Society in developing The DP Asset Reactivation Guidance and has supported Bureau Veritas in the development of Guidance Note NI 649 DT R00 E, Guidance for the Lay-Up and Reactivation of DP Vessels.Both guidance documents are designed to support the efficient return of DP assets to service

ZX Lidars: World-first wind Lidar Measurements via Drone

ZX Lidars demonstrated the use of Drone Wind Lidar to accurately measure the wind in what is believed to be a world-firstZX Lidars provides vertical and horizontal profiling wind Lidars to accurately measure wind conditions remotely and above or ahead of their installed position. These accurate, independent wind measurements are a cornerstone in the development, construction and operation of wind farms globally.The company has now achieved accurate wind Lidar measurements from a commercially-available drone (an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) for demonstration purposes, and trialed the system successfully

USVs Secure Offshore Oil and Gas Infrastructure

While much of the “buzz” regarding America’s increased energy production has focused on onshore fracking, which has opened up billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas to production, the offshore oil and gas industry continued to provide a huge amount of the U.S. energy production. According to Forbes Magazine, offshore energy production has been increasing this decade and now stands at over two-and-one-half million barrels of oil, and almost three trillion cubic feet of gas a day.This massive production effort is sustained by offshore drilling rigs

NNHO Expands Bathymetric Capabilities

Nigerian Navy Hydrographic Office establishes new bathymetric capabilities with CARIS softwareThe Nigerian Navy Hydrographic Office (NNHO) has selected Teledyne CARIS to provide solutions for both current and future national and international charting requirements. Equipped with CARIS Ping-to-Chart technology, the NNHO is establishing new capabilities for bathymetric analysis, and completion of hydrographic and other geospatial data. These tools will ensure an efficient workflow for the production of electronic charts and paper charts according to both the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO)

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

Seacor Marine Acquires Three Cosco PSVs

The offshore marine support vessels operator Seacor Marine Holdings announced it has entered into definitive agreements to acquire three platform supply vessels (PSVs) from Cosco Shipping Heavy Industry, an affiliate of Cosco Shipping Group, the world’s largest ship owner.Aggregate consideration for the vessels will be approximately $46 million, of which 30% will be paid in cash and 70% will be paid under a four-year deferred payment agreement between Seacor   Marine and Cosco Zhoushan.Half of the cash payment will be funded in the first quarter of 2019 with the balance per vessel to be

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

LLOG Exploration Reports Deepwater Exploratory Discovery

The  deepwater exploration company operating primarily in the Gulf of Mexico  reported the drilling of a successful discovery on its Nearly Headless Nick exploratory prospect on Mississippi Canyon Block 387 in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.Louisiana-based company said that it has drilled  successful  discovery  on  LLOG’s  exploratory  prospect,  Nearly  Headless  Nick,  in Mississippi  Canyon  387Brought  online  five  new  fields  in  2018,  of  which  four  initiated  prod

Crude & Fuel Outlook: Fund Managers Neutral

Hedge fund managers show signs of having completed their recent sale of crude and refined fuels, with positions edging up slightly in the first week of the new year, amid hopes a recession can be averted.Oil prices have bounced off their recent lows, the U.S. dollar has weakened against most other major currencies and expectations of a trade deal between the United States and China are rising.Portfolio managers raised their net long position in ICE Brent crude futures and options by 6 million barrels to 158 million barrels in the week to Jan. 8.Funds also boosted their net long position in European

Gardline Names Vermeijden CEO

Marine survey company Gardline has appointed Christiaan Vermeijden as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Vermeijden will replace Gardline's current interim CEO, Gerben Eggink.Vermeijden joins the U.K. based Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. subsidiary after leaving his position as CEO at Norway-based Electromagnetic Geoservices ASA (EMGS). Prior to his role with EMGS, he was part of the Executive Management Team and Global Offshore Geotechnical Director at Fugro N.V.He holds a Master of Science (MSc) degree in Physical Geography from the University of Amsterdam and a Master of Business

Jan de Nul Completes Umbilical Installation Offshore Egypt

Marine engineering firm Jan De Nul Group Jan De Nul Group has completed the installation and burial of the two main subsea umbilicals for the exploitation of new gas fields in the West Nile Delta concessions, located in the North Alexandria region, offshore Egypt.According to the company release, specifically for this project, Jan De Nul Group reconfigured its multi-purpose vessel Willem de Vlamingh into an efficient Umbilical Installation Vessel.The two umbilicals, with a total length of 69 km, were loaded in Norway in May 2018 and transported to Egypt. The installation campaign started with a 3-km

iXblue Partners with Forssea

iXblue, a designer and manufacturer of advanced navigation, imagery and subsea positioning solutions, said it has joined forces with Forssea, a robotics startup that develops autonomous docking underwater technologies, to bring more agile and cost-effective subsea operations.Combining Forssea’s Atoll, an observation-class remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) that offers autonomous docking capabilities, with iXblue’s DriX offshore going unmanned surface vessel (USV) and its Gaps ultra-short baseline (USBL) embedded gondola, both companies are now offering a new method of long baseline

Forum Unveils New eROV

Forum Subsea Technologies' recently launched XLe Spirit is the first observation-class electric remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to utilize Forum’s Integrated Control Engine (ICE) to bring greater functionality commonly only found in larger work-class vehicles.According to the manufacturer, the advanced control electronics pod fitted to all Forum XLe observation class vehicles enables superior connectivity and expansion capabilities. Ethernet interfacing allows for seamless integration with other industry sensors using common IP architecture and ease of remote data transfer.Kevin Taylor

Ørsted Tapped for Connecticut Offshore Wind Farm

Denmark based Ørsted has been selected by Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to move forward to negotiate a fixed-price power purchase agreement (PPA) with the state’s power distribution companies for 0.42TWh (terawatt hours) per year equivalent to 100MW offshore wind capacity.  Subject to contract signing and Ørsted’s final investment decision (FID), construction on the Revolution Wind project is expected to start in 2022, and the wind farm is expected to be commissioned in 2023.With the 100MW added capacity, Revolution Wind has now

Boskalis Buys BoDo's Cable Lay Business

Dutch dredging and offshore contractor Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. announced Friday it has reached a deal with Geramny-based SPIE to acquire the offshore cable installation activities and assets of Bohlen Doyen GmbH (BoDo).BoDo's operations include grid to grid and offshore substation to shore connections, which includes the installation of nearshore and offshore cables and the connection of offshore wind farms to substations. Its offshore activities generate an annual turnover of EUR 20-30 million.The scope of the transaction, to be financed from Boskalis' cash flow, includes the acquisitio

New Research on Gulf of Mexico Loop Current

More than $10 million in grant funding has been awarded for a group of new projects that aim to fill research gaps in order to help improve understanding and prediction of the Gulf of Mexico Loop Current System (LCS).As the Gulf of Mexico's dominant ocean circulation feature, the LCS has far-reaching implications for a wide range of human and natural systems, including oil and gas operations, yet knowledge about the underlying dynamics that control its behavior is limited.Following recommendations from a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) report released earlier this

3D at Depth Expands

Subsea laser LiDAR (SL) technology and 3D data visualization solutions specialist 3D at Depth said it has expanded several global office locations and launched a new portfolio of services designed to support cohesive workflow efficiencies for offshore oil field design through decommissioning. The new line includes: terrestrial dimensional control to support subsea data collection workflows; subsea tooling design solutions; remote sensing, and real-time LiDAR data collection. These new services will compliment 3D at Depth's existing portfolio of solutions and deliver additional 3D insight to measure

Mancuso Joins Teledyne Marine

Carl Mancuso has joined Teledyne Marine as the Director of Product Line Management for Teledyne Benthos, which consists of acoustic modems / positioning products, flotation, releases, pinger locators, and deep tow systems.Mancuso comes to Teledyne from Falmouth Scientific Inc. (FSI), where he served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the past eight years. He brings with him a keen understanding of the oceanographic community, and a strong familiarity with Teledyne’s products. Prior to FSI, Mancuso worked in various capacities at Boston Dynamics, American Research Institute, Philips

BOEM "Blown Away" by Record U.S. Offshore Wind Auction

 A U.S. government auction for three wind leases off the coast of Massachusetts ended on Friday with record-setting bids totaling more than $400 million from European energy giants including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Equinor ASA.The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced the sale's three winners - Equinor Wind US LLC, Mayflower Wind Energy LLC, and Vineyard Wind LLC, at the conclusion of the two-day sale that attracted 11 bidders and lasted 32 rounds.Mayflower is a joint venture owned by Shell and EDP Renewables, a division of Portugal's EDP. Vineyard Wind is a joint venture

Europeans Sweep Record US Offshore Wind Auction

A U.S. government auction for three wind leases off the coast of Massachusetts ended on Friday with record-setting bids totaling more than $400 million from European energy giants including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Equinor ASA.The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced the sale's three winners - Equinor Wind US LLC, Mayflower Wind Energy LLC, and Vineyard Wind LLC, at the conclusion of the two-day sale that attracted 11 bidders and lasted 32 rounds.Mayflower is a joint venture owned by Shell and EDP Renewables, a division of Portugal's EDP. Vineyard Wind is a joint venture between

Acteon Acquires Deepwater Corrosion Services

Acteon Group Ltd has acquired subsea corrosion specialist Deepwater Corrosion Services Inc. in a move to strengthen the group's ability to help customers manage the integrity of subsea infrastructure throughout the life of a field.Deepwater has designed, built and installed more offshore cathodic protection systems than any other company and provides corrosion investigation and subsea inspection services. It operates from facilities in the U.S., the U.K., Brazil, Norway and Australia.Acteon said the acquisition broadens its technical knowledge of corrosion engineering, problem solving and retrofit

New F180 Lightweight Pre-Calibrated System

CodaOctopus unveiled a new F180 Lightweight Pre-Calibrated Housing designed for those who require a simpler, faster, more flexible solution for accurate marine positioning. This waterproof housing for the F180 and F180R series of GNSS aided inertial positioning devices fully integrates with CodaOctopus MOTION control to provide precise IMU to Antenna alignment without the need for calibration.This latest model is 25 percent smaller, more than 20 pecent lighter, and competitively priced, allowing customers to integrate their system faster and in more flexible ways than before, the manufacturer said.

UTEC Wins Survey Work Offshore India

Surveying company UTEC, part of subsea services group Acteon, said it has been awarded a subcontract by McDermott International for a series of survey work scopes offshore eastern India.The work, due to commence in December 2018, will see UTEC provide surface and subsea positioning services during the installation of subsea flowlines, pipeline end manifolds and terminations, jumpers, risers and umbilicals that form part of the development of a field in water depths to 2,100 meters.UTEC said it will operate equipment and personnel initially on three vessels: the McDermott operated DLV 2000 pipelay

Admiral Tim Lowe to Head UK Hydrographic Office

replacement is sought for John Humphrey, the current Chief Executive and Accounting Officer of the UKHO, who will leave at the end of January 2019.Rear Admiral Lowe said: “I look forward to taking the helm as Acting Chief Executive, whilst we continue to transform the UKHO into a world-leading marine geospatial information agency. It is an exciting time for our team as we transition to a data centric, digital first organisation whilst continuing to deliver on our wide spectrum of responsibilities, including our obligations to support safe passage in UK waters, provide hydrographic services to

UK Hydrographic Office Taps Lowe as Chief Executive

and Accounting Officer of the UKHO, who will leave at the end of January 2019.Lowe is a Rear Admiral in the Royal Navy and joined the UKHO as UK National Hydrographer and Deputy Chief Executive in 2015. In his role, he has led a number of key projects for the UKHO. This includes the Commonwealth Marine Economies and Overseas Territories Seabed Mapping programs to support the development of blue economies in territories across the world.The Minister with responsibility for the UKHO Earl Howe, Minister of State for Defence, said: “I would like to thank John for his leadership as CE of the UKHO

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

Kongsberg Unveils HUGIN SUPERIOR AUV

, increasing productive survey time and contributing to reduced OPEX.“The new HUGIN SUPERIOR AUV System is available alongside the existing HUGIN and MUNIN AUV Systems, expanding our product portfolio to cover all market segments and performance requirements,” said Richard Mills, Director, Marine Robotics Sales, Kongsberg Maritime. “Our new flagship AUV is designed to deliver superior data, positioning and mission endurance, enabling users to do more with a single asset than ever before.“Ultimately, it can generate much more data for less operational expenditure, all while offering

Seatools Unveils New Deepwater Excavator

Subsea technology company Seatools has introduced the Carrera E 3D motion-controlled precision flow excavation spread. The 630+ kW, all-electric deepwater excavator features Seatools’ advanced ROV DP technology and sets the stage for better accuracy, production and workability in the mass flow excavation (MFE).Seatools developed the Carrera E mass flow excavation spread leveraging its capabilities in heave compensation and ROV control technologies. The patent-pending spread features 3D motion control, which enables precision excavation operations at a minimum of seabed disturbance. Thanks to the

MMT: Image Processing in Focus

Since the launch of its Surveyor ROV as primary tool of inspection and survey through the production of High-Resolution imagery, marine surveying firm MMT said it has taken another step forward.In a long-term collaboration, of more than a decade, between industry and academic research, MMT and Reach have conducted deep sea (up to 2,200 meters deep) high resolution photogrammetric surveys of more than sixty historically important shipwrecks in the Bulgarian Black Sea between 2016 and 2017.The Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project (Black Sea MAP), funded by the Julia and Hans Rausing Trust and led by

Eriksen Joins Kreuz Subsea Board

Global integrated subsea services business Kreuz Subsea has appointed Knut Eriksen as the board’s first independent nonexecutive director. Eriksen, who took up the advisory position on December 1, will support the business on a strategic level and help to identify future growth opportunities.Eriksen has worked for more than 35 years in the oil and gas sector around the world, having worked for the past two decades in senior management roles, including president of engineering at Aker Maritime and senior VP roles at Oceaneering International and NATCO Group, focusing on operations and business