Deepwater Positioning

Four HUGIN AUVs for the Indian Navy

Kongsberg Maritime sold four HUGIN AUV systems to the Indian Defense Public Sector shipyard Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSE), located in Kolkata, India. This sale was  conducted in collaboration with Kongsberg Maritime India, a subsidiary of Kongsberg Maritime.The purchase, which also includes HiPAP 502 high-accuracy acoustic positioning and communication systems to support AUV operations, will be installed on the four Large Survey vessels currently in build for the Indian Navy. GRSE Chairman and Managing Director Rear Admiral (Ret’d) Vipin Saxena said: “We are

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

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

Inspired by Adélie penguins, EvoLogics Presents its new PingGuin AUV

EvoLogics recently introduced PingGuin, an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) with low-drag bionic design. The vehicle was developed as part of the MUM (Modifiable Underwater Mothership) collaborative R&D project and was first demonstrated in Kiel, Germany, in June 2020.Outstanding hydrodynamic properties of a penguin’s body became the starting point for the AUV design within the NaviMUM subproject, assigned to EvoLogics. One of the EvoLogics co-founders, Dr. Rudolph Bannasch studied Adélie penguins and the effectiveness of their locomotion since the 80s, undertaking several field

Teledyne CARIS AI Software Used in Uncrewed Offshore Survey

Teledyne CARIS, a Teledyne Technologies company, said it was an integral part of the team involved in a recent uncrewed offshore survey mission in the Atlantic Ocean. Teledyne CARIS’ Mira AI and CARIS Onboard software were present on the vessel to enable autonomous survey and real-time processing operations.The mission’s uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) built by SEA-KIT mapped over 1,000 square kilometers of the ocean floor in 22 days, while being continuously monitored via satellite communications at its Remote Operations Center in Essex, U.K. A specialized team comprised of the GEBCO-Nippon

Applied Acoustic Launches New Subsea Positioning System

as diver monitoring, for deeper applications where ROV’s and AUV’s might be deployed, and for tracking short or long-range towed sensors such as magnetometers and side scan sonars."The combination of AAE’s Sigma 2 acoustic protocols and SBG Systems high precision Navsight Apogee Marine INS brings together two leading names in the field of marine technology, resulting in AAE’s most accurate and long-range positioning system to date, and in the process providing many time, cost and performance benefits to global survey operators," AAE said in a statement on Tuesday."

Callan Marine Wins North Breton Island Restoration Project

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) recently awarded a $54 million construction contract to Callan Marine, Ltd. for the North Breton Island Restoration Project. The funds for the project come from the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment oil spill global settlement reached in 2016.Located northeast of Venice, La., the restoration project includes dredging 5.7 million cubic yards of material in order to restore the barrier shoreline through beach, dune, and marsh fill placement. It will utilize an offshore sand source located just a few miles away in the Gulf of Mexico.Callan

Gallery: Wreckage of Major German World War Two Warship Discovered Off Norway

in the 1920s, the ship was later fitted with a Nazi-era swastika that was also captured in subsea images taken by Statnett and its partners, and first televised by Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.The 174-meter vessel, part of the German force that invaded Norway in April 1940, was struck by a British submarine torpedo shortly after starting its return voyage from the southern Norwegian port of Kristiansand.The ship's crew subsequently evacuated and the vessel was finally sunk by the Germans themselves, resting upright on the seabed at a depth of 490 meters, some 13 nautical miles (24 kilometers) off

Canada's OFG Acquires PGS' Towed Streamer CSEM System

use the hardware, software and intellectual property associated with the PGS towed streamer CSEM (controlled source electromagnetic) system, in exchange for shares in OFG."The towed-streamer CSEM technology developed by PGS is a state-of-the-art system that allows for the acquisition of high-quality marine CSEM data in a fast and efficient manner. The system complements existing CSEM technology to permit a broad operating envelope," PGS said.Matthew Kowalczyk, CEO of OFG: "We are delighted to have entered into this agreement and to be in a position to add the PGS towed streamer to our OFG

Curtin Joins Acteon as TerraSond Managing Director

Acteon Group Ltd, a global provider of services for the marine and subsea renewables, nearshore construction and oil and gas sectors, announced that Bill Curtin is joining as the managing director of geospatial solutions company TerraSond.Curtin has international engineering, procurement and construction industry experience, including leading KBR’s engineering and construction operations for the Americas region. His project execution experience includes pre-front-end-engineering design, front-end-engineering design and detailed engineering, procurement and construction projects working in

Ocean Influencer: Dr. Jyotika Virmani, Schmidt Ocean Institute

The July/August edition of Marine Technology Reporter, the 15th Annual "MTR100", recognizes Dr. Jyotika Virmani, Schmidt Ocean Institute’s (SOI) first executive director, as an 'Ocean Influencer.' Virmani defines what it means to be passionate and motivated in the field of marine science and exploration. Her humble start began in her hometown of Manchester, England, inspired by the nearby Lovell Telescope — which was then the world’s largest steerable dish radio telescope. Today, her interests and studies, spanning atmosphere to ocean, have guided her drive to

How Coral, Mangroves and Seagrass Could be Affected by the Mauritius Oil Spill

bad things happen in the worst possible places – like the MV Wakashio running aground on shallow reefs off the south-east coast of Mauritius on July 25. The wreck of the bulk carrier ship began leaking oil in front of a nature reserve island (Ile aux Aigrettes), a couple of kilometres from a marine park (Blue Bay), and close to an internationally important wetland area (Pointe d’Esny Ramsar Site).The MV Wakashio was carrying 4,000 tonnes of oil, which hardly compares to the 400,000 tonnes spilled in the Deepwater Horizon disaster of 2010. But it was the vessel’s proximity to the

Kongsberg's DP Digital Survey App Gets Bureau Veritas Approval

and deploy DPDS.”AiP Not Issued LightlyBureau Veritas’ own progress in the digitalisation of surveys has seen the development of an additional BV class notation, DDPS (Digital Dynamic Positioning Survey), an addition to the existing DYNAPOS notation. Laurent Leblanc, Vice-President and Marine Operations Director, Bureau Veritas said: "It should be very apparent that BV approval is not issued lightly."He says that the DPDS application has met BV's stringent criteria to demonstrate compliance in principle with the BV additional class notation DDPS (Digital Dynamic Positioning

Petrobras Awards Fugro Three Long-Term ROV Contracts

Dutch offshore services company Fugro has won three long-term contracts by Petrobras to provide remotely operated vehicle (ROV) services for a variety of subsea activities in Brazil."All three contracts are for 3-year firm periods with additional 1-year options," Fugro said Wednesday. Fugro said the contracts were secured in partnership with offshore vessel owners Solstad and Oceanpact.Under the contracts, Fugro will provide a total of five work class ROVs, each outfitted with tooling and survey spreads that are operational in water depths of up to 3000 m.One ROV spread will be installed on

Silva Tapped to Lead Corpower Ocean Portuguese Ops

this, we plan to expand our fabrication and service capacity to be prepared for widescale supply of our new generation WECs.”Corpower Portugal plans to create 15 highly qualified engineering jobs in the next years, covering composite design and manufacturing, mechanical, electrical, control and marine operations. The first job profiles have been advertised here.CorPower C3 WEC deployment at EMEC Scapa Flow site. (Credit Green Marine

Benthic's Seabed Drilling System to Drill at Petrobras' Mero Field

Offshore geotechnical services company Benthic will be deploying a remotely operated seabed drilling system off Brazil, as part of a contract awarded by the Brazilian national oil company Petrobras.Petrobras has hired Benthic to carry out geotechnical site investigation services at the giant Mero field located in the Santos Basin, which the company is developing in phases.Benthic's work includes in-situ testing, sampling, and seismic cone testing at 26 locations in water depths to 2200 meters. "The deepwater offshore operations will take place this year, despite the COVID-19 pandemic and

Ocean Influencer: Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, President, World Maritime University (WMU)

The July/August edition of Marine Technology Reporter, the 15th Annual "MTR100", recognizes Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, president of the World Maritime University (WMU) in Sweden, as a leading "Ocean Influencer." She is a leader on issues impacting the international shipping industry, maritime law and gender equality in ocean-related fields. She is a distinguished academic in the field of international law, justice drives her motivation for social and environmental change on a global scale.Born and raised in the Commonwealth of Dominica, Doumbia-Henry grew up surrounded by maritime

GeoSpectrum Unveils New Long-range Acoustic Underwater Transducers

of legacy systems.Robust, affordable, easy to operate with, ranges exceeding 2,500 kilometers and capable to effectively operate under ice, the C-BASS family of transducers is suitable for a wide range of subsea applications, including communication/transmission from shore or surface units to submarines; divers’ alert and communications; communication with Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) for control/positioning; mine sweeping, as well as augmentation of submarine signatures when transiting in or out of ports or narrow passages.C-BASS transducers are available in a variety of sizes and configurat

Surveyors Map Sunken Liberty Ship off Texas Coast

U.S.-based marine data acquisition services company TDI-Brooks said it recently mapped the Liberty Ship George Vancouver off Freeport, Texas while out on a seabed survey project with the R/V Brooks McCall. The multiple multi-phase geophysical and geotechnical site surveys program consisted of pipeline routing and subsea structures to facilitate route and project design for offshore developers.Equipment used to map the ship was a Teledyne Reson SeaBat T-20 multibeam sonar with integrated Applanix POSMV for Motion. Applying the mesh tools to the multibeam survey shows an example of the shipwreck.Texas

U.S. Navy, NOAA Strike Deal to Fast-Track Unmanned Maritime Systems

The advent of autonomy in the maritime and subsea space has received a significant boost with the announcement that a pair of U.S. government titans, the United States Navy and NOAA, have inked an deal to jointly expand the development and operations of unmanned maritime systems.“With the strengthening of our ongoing partnership with the Navy, NOAA will be better positioned to transition unmanned maritime technologies into operational platforms that will gather critical environmental data that will help grow the American Blue Economy,” said retired Navy Rear Adm. Tim Gallaudet, Ph.D.

COVE Names Melanie Nadeau CEO

paid tribute to outgoing CEO Jim Hanlon: “Working with many public and private sector partners, Jim led the effort to secure COVE’s headquarters at the former Coast Guard site on the Dartmouth waterfront. He provided industry guidance during the renovations of the buildings and much of the marine-related infrastructure. Most importantly, he led the effort to secure 70 tenants for COVE, creating an exciting mélange of ocean-related start-ups, small and medium-sized businesses, multinational companies and world-class academic expertise that has already attracted global attention. We

Webinar: Floating Production Forecasts & Analysis

A free webinar will deliver latest forecasts and market intelligence for the global floating production industry, offering insider access to business and investment opportunities in the deepwater sector.Floating Production Systems: 2020 Forecasts & Analysis, presented by ABS and World Energy Reports, will be held July 29, 2020, 11 a.m. (EDT). REGISTER HERE.The effects of the COVID-19 crisis and oil supply glut continue to seriously dampen investment appetite in the oil and gas sector, putting new deepwater project starts on hold through at least the third quarter of this year.But with oil prices

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

Webinar: Floating Production Forecasts & Analysis

A free webinar will deliver latest forecasts and market intelligence for the global floating production industry, offering insider access to business and investment opportunities in the deepwater sector.Floating Production Systems: 2020 Forecasts & Analysis, presented by ABS and World Energy Reports, will be held July 29, 2020, 11 a.m. (EDT). REGISTER HERE.The effects of the COVID-19 crisis and oil supply glut continue to seriously dampen investment appetite in the oil and gas sector, putting new deepwater project starts on hold through at least the third quarter of this year.But with oil prices

Trelleborg Names Nilsson as New CFO

Fredrik Nilsson has been hired to take over as the new Chief Financial Officer of Sweden-based engineered polymer solutions company Trelleborg Group, replacing Ulf Berghult who is leaving the role to take a position outside the company.Berghult, Trelleborg's CFO since 2012, will stay on until Trelleborg's 2020 year-end report is completed, leaving Nilsson to assume the position during the first quarter of 2021.Nilsson most recently worked at vegetable oil company AAK for nearly 14 years, holding the position of CFO for the past seven years. He previously worked at engineering group Sandvik for

iXblue Equips Ifremer's New 6000m AUV

iXblue reports it has been chosen by Ifremer, the French National Institute for Ocean Science, to equip its new 6,000-meter-rated autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) for the CORAL Project. The AUV will be equipped with synthetic aperture sonar (SAS), Sams-150, a Phins C7 Inertial Navigation System (INS), a sub-bottom profiler Echoes 5 000 and will use iXblue’s Delph Software suite for SAS and navigation post-processing.The “Constructive Offshore Robotics ALliance” CORAL project aims at developing, in an industrial alliance led by Ifremer, a deep sea AUV - Autonomous Underwater

Klein to Produce Synthetic Aperture Sonar

Mitcham Industries, Inc. announced its wholly-owned subsidiary, Klein Marine Systems, Inc. has entered into an agreement with a European defense contractor to jointly upgrade existing technology to create the next generation of synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) systems for commercial and military markets. The new systems will be based on technology developed by each party over the past several years. Financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed.Guy Malden, Mitcham Co-CEO, said, "Increasingly, customers require higher resolution images and higher scan rates for certain demanding applications.

Balmoral Develops Cable Protection Solution for Offshore Wind

UK-based engineering company Balmoral has developed what it says is a unique integrated cable protection system for offshore wind applications.Dr. Aneel Gill, product R&D manager, said Balmoral's CPS systems are designed based on the fatigue limit state (FLS) and offer something different "because of their unique diverless removal feature and the ability to account for free span caused by scour development.""Our patented fiber-reinforced technology adds stiffness to the system controlling the curvature during the project lifespan. This reduces the amount of movement experienced

UKHO Taps Sparkes as Acting Chief Executive

Defense staff’s liaison officer in the Pentagon, Washington D.C.In his role as national hydrographer, Sparkes has acted as the U.K. government’s representative at the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), working with partners to set and maintain standards that protect the safety of mariners around the world. In addition to this, he has overseen key international partnerships to support the sharing of global marine geospatial data. On behalf of U.K. government, his teams have also delivered numerous hydrographic and capacity building programs that help U.K. overseas territories and

Kraken Moves Closer to Finalizing Danish Minehunting Deal

Canadian marine technology company Kraken Robotics Inc. said its its wholly owned subsidiary, Kraken Robotic Systems Inc., has received notification that the complaint process regarding the Royal Danish Navy’s mine hunting upgrade program has been finalized. The Board of Complaints which oversaw the complaint process has ruled in favor of the Royal Danish Navy’s position on all points.Kraken originally announced in October 2019, that it was chosen as the successful bidder on a program for the acquisition of new sonar systems for an unnamed international navy. The delay since then was the

SeeByte Appoints Haworth as CEO

SeeByte, developer of smart software solutions for unmanned maritime systems, announced the appointment of Dr. Chris Haworth as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer, effective August 2020.Haworth has been promoted from his position of Commercial Director to become CEO of the company. He succeeds Dr. Bob Black, who will retire as CEO after 10 years in the role. Black will remain on the board as a non-executive director and strategic adviser.  At the same time, Dr. Scott Reed has been promoted from his position as Engineering Director to become SeeByte’s new Chief Technology

Oceaneering Nets 3-year Inspection Services Contract with Chevron in Angola

Offshore and subsea services provider Oceaneering has secured a contract with Chevron's Angola subsidiary Cabinda Gulf Oil Company Limited (CABGOC)Under the three-year contract, Oceaneering's Asset Integrity division will provide inspection services onshore Cabinda, Angola, and offshore Angola on Blocks 0 and 14. The contract is scheduled to begin in Q2 2020.Oceaneering said that the contract award followed a recent contract win for inspection services for a major Middle East operator based in Dubai.Kishore Sundararajan, Senior Vice President, Asset Integrity Group, stated: “We are

New Study Tracks Trash Found at the Ocean's Depths

While deep-ocean exploration is responsible for ground-breaking discoveries, it is also unmasking the true scale of our impacts in the deep ocean. Marine debris is a growing problem, and a new study has shown that even unexplored, remote and protected areas of the central and western Pacific deep ocean are not immune from our touch.Coordinated deepwater exploration from 2015 to 2017 via remotely operated vehicle expeditions conducted onboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer and the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s Research Vessel Falkor enabled new insights into the status of deep-sea marine debris. These

SBG Systems Unveils New Line of Miniature Inertial Sensors

conditions.Designed with high quality industrial-grade components, Ellipse inertial sensors are highly tested and calibrated in dynamic and temperature for a consistent and repeatable behavior in all conditions. Highly reliable, the Ellipse Series sensors come with a two-year warranty.All Ellipse marine versions output a 5cm heave, that adjusts automatically to the wave period. Fusion with DVL could be an additional performance enhancement for real-time navigation. This sensor could be easily integrated into marine projects thanks to compatibility with numerous industry software (TSS1, PASHR, INDYN

Seamec Awards Fugro a 3-Year IRM Deal Offshore India

inspection, repair, and maintenance of ONGC Mumbai’s offshore assets, which comprise processing and wellhead platforms, risers, subsea pipelines, pipeline end manifolds, single buoy moorings and single point moorings. Fugro’s ROV services will support critical IRM activities including marine growth removal, cathodic potential, and thickness measurements of jacket structures and subsea pipelines. Fugro’s work class ROV is equipped with specialist tools effective in water depths from 10 m to 150 m and it will be operated by experienced local personnel.Fugro has provided Seamec with

Aker Solutions' Umbilicals for Murphy's King’s Quay FPS

Norwegian offshore engineering and construction company Aker Solutions will deliver umbilicals for Murphy's King's Quay offshore project in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Aker Solutions said Wednesday that the contract for the delivery of umbilicals was awarded to it by Subsea 7.The delivery will include 22 kilometers (14 miles) of dynamic steel-tube umbilicals and distribution equipment to connect the King’s Quay floating production system (FPS) to the Samurai, Khaleesi, and Mormont deepwater developments. The King's Quay semisubmersible FPS will be located around 280 kilometers

Kritzer Joins NERACOOS as Executive Director

in late 2019.NERACOOS, a 501(c)3 non-profit, ensures safety, economic vitality and environmental resilience by producing, integrating, and communicating high-quality ocean information on their open-access website.The NERACOOS hiring committee felt that Dr. Kritzer’s extensive expertise in both marine research and ocean policy made him the ideal choice to lead the organization’s multifaceted efforts.“I couldn’t be more excited to join an organization that plays such a pivotal role in helping our region navigate a changing ocean and a changing world,” Dr. Kritzer said.NERACOOS

Austrlia DST Chooses Sonardyne's BlueComm

Australia’s Defense Science and Technology Group (DST) has acquired a BlueComm undersea communications system from Sonardyne International Ltd. as part of its ongoing program in maritime autonomous systems (MAS).BlueComm is the only commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technology that enables wireless transmission of high bandwidth tactical data, including video, over ranges of a few tens or even hundreds of meters, at rates of up to 10 megabits per second.With it, forces can vastly increase the communications capability of their underwater systems to drive faster, safer and better-informed decision

Norway: CSS Buys Isotek

Norway's subsea pipeline repair and tie-in solutions provider Connector Subsea Solutions (CSS) has completed the acquisition fo Isotek Oil and Gas for an undisclosed fee.CSS said the purchase would bring Isotek’s remote welding technology to its existing range of subsea pipeline repair capabilities which are primarily focused on mechanical clamp and connector pipe joining solutions."The deal strengthens CSS’s position as a complete solutions provider for critical offshore connections and is part of a strategic drive to meet growing industry demand for technologies which offer

Flooded Member Detection Using ROVs

broadband ultrasonic probe paired with an advanced digital signal processing engine to provide reliable readings. The ISFMD uses Impact Subsea's SeaView software for control, visualization and data collection.The ISFMD was supplied and supported by ECHO81, a U.S.-based equipment specialist for marine instrumentation and distributor of Impact Subsea products, to facilitate the successful 30-day trial, where the ISFMD proved it could reliably detect flooded members as large as nine meters in diameter."Flooded Member Detection is a key capability for our offshore users," said Scott Bentley

Sonardyne USBLs Installed on Brazilian Geoscience Vessels

on hire to Brazilian oil major Petrobras. The systems will be used to precisely track the location of underwater equipment and sensor packages deployed from the ships, including seabed corers, towed sensors and data loggers. Both vessels are currently on hire to Brazilian oil major Petrobras.  MarineTraffic shows the Austral Abrolhos is currently operating near the floating production, storage and offloading unit (FPSO) Cidade Niteroi operating for Petrobras in the giant Marlim field located in the Campos Basin, about 110 kilometers offshore Rio de Janeiro. Seward Johnson is currently in port

Subsea 7 to Cut 3000 Jobs, Reduce Vessel Fleet

Offshore installation and construction specialist Subsea 7 will cut 3000 jobs by 2021, and reduce its active vessel fleet, it said in a statement on Thursday.Subsea 7 a month ago said that with the deterioration in the outlook for new oil and gas awards, it would "resize" the business to save $400 million in annual cash costs by the second quarter of 2021.It on Thursday said: "It is envisaged that the overall reduction in headcount would be approximately 3,000 from the global workforce of 12,000, by the end of the second quarter 2021.  It is anticipated that two-thirds of the

Ashtead Technology Enters Trinidad & Tobago Partnership

Subsea equipment solutions specialist Ashtead Technology has entered into a partnership with Trinidad and Tobago-based Reliance Subsea Services Limited.The US-arm of Aberdeen-based Ashtead will provide subsea survey and ROV equipment through Reliance across the CARICOM region to support offshore drilling, field development, IRM, and decommissioning projects. Ashtead Technology dispatched the first of several equipment shipments to Reliance earlier this month.Steven Thrasher, Regional Vice President at Ashtead Technology, said: “The appointment of Reliance Subsea as our business partner is an

Sonardyne Tests Autonomous Vehicles Navigation for UK MOD

Marine robotics company Sonardyne International Ltd. demonstrated technologies that will aid autonomous vehicle operations in challenging environments under a project funded by the UK’s national Defense and Security Accelerator (DASA).Working with a 12-meter-long SEA-KIT X class unmanned surface vehicle (USV), Sonardyne tested and validated sensors already used by unmanned underwater vehicles for use on USVs in support of missions in coastal watersSpecifically, Sonardyne’s SPRINT-Nav hybrid inertial navigation instrument was integrated into a SEA-KIT X and tested against local real-time

Fugro Gets $17.3M from Huawei Marine Networks Deal

Dutch offshore services provider Fugro has said it has received $17.3 million from the sale by Global Marine Group of a 30% stake in Huawei Marine Networks (HMN) to Hengtong Optic-Electric Co Ltd.  The proceeds are in addition to EUR 34.0 million which Fugro received in the first quarter of 2020 from the divestment of its 23.6% stake in Global Marine Group, which was bought a J.F. Lehman & Company affiliate for an enterprise value of $250 million.The remaining 19% of Huawei Marine Networks that is under a two-year put-option agreement is expected to generate another $10-15 million for Fugro

MacGregor's Gangways and Cranes for Edda Wind SOVs

Cargotec's MacGregor has secured orders to equip Edda Wind's new offshore wind service vessels, ordered from Spanish shipyards.Two of the equipment packages were awarded by the shipbuilder Astilleros Gondán in Asturias for Edda Wind's Commissioning Service Operation Vessels (CSOV), the first of which will enter into a firm charter period of 11 years starting Q1 2022.Each of these vessels will be equipped with a Horizon all-electric walk-to-work gangway, including the largest integrated passenger lift ever fitted to a wind service vessel, which is interconnected to a Colibri 5 tonne

Arctic Rays Launches High-torque Pan & Tilt

Arctic Rays, LLC has released a high torque version of its miniature Hammerhead pan and tilt for use on multiple platforms, including ROVs, HOVs, ASVs, landers and fixed platforms. In addition, the standard 316 SS unit can be supplied in 6061 Aluminum for weight critical applications. The original Hammerhead and the new Hammerhead XT are both available as single axis rotators.The new Hammerhead XT provides a rated torque of 13.6 N-m (10 ft-lbs) in a compact envelope measuring only 6.59” (167mm) tall x 5.02” (128mm) wide x 2.5” (64mm) deep.  Hammerhead XT features absolute

Oceaneering's ROS Wraps Remote Work Campaign on Offshore Rig

Offshore services provider Oceaneering has said that its Remotely Operated Survey (ROS) group has completed an Integrated Rig Services campaign Apache.Oceaneering was contracted by Apache Corp. in June 2019 to provide Integrated Rig Services on the Noble Sam Croft drillship. The work scope included the provision of ROS, Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), and Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) for a potential three-well campaign.The ROS and ADCP systems were mobilized and commissioned on the drillship Noble Sam Croft during the summer of 2019. The drillship then transited to Suriname where it

EvoLogics Modems Authorized for US Navy Use

ANU listing granted after favorable USBL accuracy testsEvoLogics underwater acoustic modems were recently listed as Authorized for Navy Use (ANU), following a lengthy period of testing and technical evaluation by Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) and The Emergency Ship Salvage Material (ESSM) System.  The ANU Program provides a list of selected diving equipment, tools and accessories which have undergone design safety reviews, testing and evaluation to ensure diver safety and acceptability.Engineers at ESSM who conducted the testing of the EvoLogics 18/34 kHz USBL modem system concluded “the

Reiss Named Director of NOAA's Ocean Prediction Center

NOAA has selected Arthur John “A.J.” Reiss, as the director of NOAA’s Ocean Prediction Center (OPC) in College Park, Maryland. OPC provides marine forecasts and critical decision support services for mariners, ensuring the safety of lives and vessels at sea by alerting to hazards like hurricane-force winds and high seas.“The nation’s maritime shipping industry is a $2.1 trillion economic activity for the U.S., making accurate and reliable weather forecasts at sea economically critical,” said Grant Cooper, Ph.D., acting NCEP Director. “A.J.'s maritime

Schottel to Power 'Wind of Hope'

Schottel will provide a range of propulsion systems for Louis Dreyfus Armateurs's second wind farm service operation vessel (SOV) the Wind of Hope.The new walk-to-work vessel, a sister vessel to the Wind of Change SOV, is currently under construction at Cemre shipyard in Turkey and will enter service operating under a long-term contract with Ørsted.The propulsion system of the vessel designed by Salt Ship Design vessel is powered by four diesel generators, which drive the electric motors of the Schottel propulsion package. Two Schottel Rudderpropellers type SRP 430 FP, each with an

VideoRay ROVs Equipped with Sonardyne Positioning

at VideoRay. “It’s a high-performance tool that gives our ROVs even more range and flexibility when matched with the Viper system.”Extremely portable and quick to mobilize, Micro-Ranger 2 can be deployed from any waterside location or vessel. This makes it ideal for supporting marine operations conducted in rivers, lakes and coastal waters. The system has an operating range of 995 meters and can update the position of each target being tracked up to twice a second.Micro-Ranger 2 calculates the position of underwater targets using a transceiver at the surface to transmit an acoustic

Fugro ROVs for Normand Clipper Vessel

Dutch marine and offshore services company Fugro has won a long-term contract for two remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and a full survey positioning package on Global Marine Group recently chartered vessel, the Normand Clipper.As part of the contract, Fugro will provide two Fugro core vehicles (FCVs) from their FCV600 model portfolio."The FCV600 is a versatile work-class ROV (WROV) and will allow Fugro to support the Normand Clipper across a range of operations, with primary focus on subsea cable-laying for the offshore utilities and renewables markets," Fugro said.The FCV600 model can be

BOEM Studies Renewables' Potential in US Gulf

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Gulf of Mexico OCS office published two new studies examining the potential for and impacts of renewable energy projects in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.“Offshore Renewable Energy Technologies in the Gulf of Mexico” analyzed different offshore renewable energy technologies -- including wind, wave, tidal, current, solar, deepwater source cooling and hydrogen --  to determine which are best suited for development in the Gulf of Mexico.Offshore wind, which is of course the most mature of the technologies analyzed, showed the greatest resource

Pulse Wins Taiwan Offshore Wind Farm Contract

Pulse Structural Monitoring signed its first major contract for the provision of digital structural monitoring and insight services and equipment on an offshore wind farm. The contract, which provides for the design, fabrication, yard installation and commissioning of its market-leading monitoring instrumentation on three wind turbine foundations to be installed offshore Taiwan, was awarded by global offshore wind leader Ørsted.Pulse will supply its cutting-edge NX2 digital platform for acquiring a range of high-quality measurements that include bending and torsional strain, inclination

Challenges of Underwater Structure Monitoring for Offshore Operations

As the global energy industry enters a period of increased offshore deepwater exploration driven by economic viability, the demand for international underwater monitoring services looks set to strengthen into the new decade. According to a report from TechSci Research1, the value of global underwater monitoring services for the oil and gas sector is projected to grow from around $1billion in 2018 to $1.8billion by 2024.With an increasing focus on improving efficiencies throughout the global energy sector, the installation of subsea structures on the seabed can pose complex and costly challenges if

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

BMT Unveils Hull-form for Autonomous Operations

has been optimized to reduce fuel consumption and increase its adaptability across multiple applications.Offering a myriad of applications for defense and commercial innovators, Pentamaran vessels may be custom configured for military, patrol, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and hydrographic survey work.The Pentamaran has been designed to reduce drag as much as possible, with very slender central hull and two smaller hulls or ‘sponsons’ on either side. The sponsons are set one behind the other, and when the vessel is operating on flat water

Thyssenkrupp in Talks About Possible Warship Unit Merger

German conglomerate Thyssenkrupp is in talks about possibly merging its subsidiary ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) with a domestic rival to create a national champion.The Thyssenkrupp board member in charge of the marine systems unit, Oliver Burkhard, tweeted earlier that the company was in talks as an alliance could make sense in the current European market environment, with the creation of a national champion one possible outcome.The tweet followed a report by public sector broadcaster NDR which said Thyssenkrupp was sounding out domestic rivals German Naval Yards (GNYK) and Luerssen.A Thyssenkrupp