Oi: Tracking 50 Years of Ocean Innovation
As Oceanology International celebrates its 50th Anniversary, Marine Technology Reporter explores half a century of subsea technology development and discovery. Oceanology International Americas runs February 25-27, 2019 in San Diego.When Oceanology launched in 1969 in the seaside resort of Brighton the world was a very different place. For a start, Brighton was home to the mods and rockers, who would square off against each other on the town’s elegant seafront. The British currency included shillings and ha’ pennies and man had yet to step foot on the moon.More crucially, to the
Subsea: The Future of Unmanned Vehicles
vehicle control technology and is the creator of OPENSEA, an open architecture software framework for marine robotics across various vehicle sectors. “We develop software and hardware that revolutionizes the working relationship between people and machines both on and under the surface of the ocean,” said Kinnaman, who, like many in the sector “started working with vehicles as an ROV pilot after leaving a diving career. Now I am focused on what vehicles could be for the next generation of the subsea industry.”Kinnaman has been a leading voice in aiming to change what he perceives
Subsea Electrification: Subsea Power Evolves
heavy.Six years ago, Southwest Electronic Energy Corp’s SeaSafe battery brought revolutionary changes to the market. The first commercial pressure-tolerant lithium-ion polymer subsea battery pack known as SeaSafe became available in 2013 after SWE worked on the design in conjunction with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The radically lighter and smaller battery delivered efficiency gains in installation times in addition to vastly improved performance.About four years later, SWE made available the next generation of the battery pack. The SeaSafe II, available since 2017, incorporated lessons
The “Disruption” in AUV Trends
off into the darkness and submerges, a tube rights itself and launches a rocket packing a satellite the size of a softball.No, it’s not General Dynamics’s large, drone-launching Marlin AUV just released. It’s a writer’s impression of the missions now being planned by AUV-equipped oceanographic researchers at Norway-based research community, AMOS. The real mission is about to begin. AMOS will shortly be test-firing tiny, disposable satellites bearing spectral cameras that will also gather and beam back the data gathered by the spectral cameras and sensors of their REMUS-dominated
Unmanned Vehicles: 25 Years of Milestones
As 2019 begins, the ocean tech community celebrates 50 years of Oceanology International, a global gathering and showcase of the tools and technologies used by maritime industry, science, and defense. In that retrospective spirit it is informative to look to the history of the unmanned maritime vehicle (UMV) community. While there are records of developments in the field as far back as 1957, the modern era traces its roots to the early 1990s. One key source of technology developments was the MIT Sea Grant Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Lab which spawned numerous vehicles, launched an industry
3D Mobile Laser Scanner for ABP Humber
ABP Humber continues to increase their technology for Hydrographic surveying in their ports and harbors with the purchase of a new Carlson Merlin Lidar Scanner supplied by Swathe Services.The Merlin is a vessel-based 3D mobile laser scanner system developed specifically for coastal, offshore and inland waterway surveying. ABP Humber intends to use the system for quay wall inspections and surveying offshore structures.The Merlin is designed to integrate with existing hydrographic systems to simultaneously produce an accurate dataset of the environment above the waterline while a Multi-Beam Echo-Sounder
Partners Designing Autonomous Seismic Nodes
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 to five years. During that
Ocean Infinity Searches for Lost S.Korean Ship
The seabed survey and ocean exploration company Ocean Infinity announced that its vessel, Seabed Constructor, sets sail from Cape Town to begin the search for the lost South Korean ship, Stellar Daisy.Stellar Daisy sank on 31 March 2017, with the tragic loss of 22 of its 24 crew. The ship, which was transporting iron ore from Brazil to China, is believed to have gone down in the South Atlantic Ocean approximately 1800 nautical miles due west of Cape Town.The Ocean Infinity team is expected to be on site and commencing search operations by mid-February 2019. Ocean Infinity will use its
Ashtead Invests in Teledyne's Survey Sensors
Teledyne Marine has announced a significant investment by Ashtead Technology in the newest subsea multibeam imaging, survey and pipe tracking technology. Key items include RESON SeaBat T50-S IDH multibeam systems (successor to the 7125 ROV2), BlueView M900-2250 dual frequency imagingsonars and HydroPACT 660E pipe and cable trackers among other items purchase from Teledyne Marine.“As owners of the largest fleet of TSS pipe and cable trackers in the rental market, Ashtead are impressed with the new miniaturized single pod '660E' version with its reduced weight, size and power,"
OceanWise, Valeport Supply Monitoring System for HHA
Harwich Haven Authority (HHA) has chosen OceanWise to supply, install and maintain new tide and weather systems at the 900-year old east coast of England port. British marine instrument specialist, Valeport, has partnered with OceanWise to deliver the environmental monitoring systems and continue its long-standing relationship with HHA.HHA, a trust port, is responsible for 150 square miles of the Haven and attracts trade from all over the world seeing 40% of the UK’s container traffic travel through its area.The bespoke system for HHA uses the latest technology to measure tide, weather and wave
C-Enduro Delivered to Royal Navy
capability to be delivered by the MHC program,” said Alex du Pre, MHC Team Lead at Defense Equipment and Support.This project marks the fourth delivery of a C-Enduro vessel, and previous successful missions include an 11-day over-the-horizon marine science mission north of Scotland for the National Oceanography Center
Teledyne Gavia: New SeaRaptor 6000m AUV
Teledyne Gavia will introduce its new 6000 meter rated AUV -- SeaRaptor -- at Ocean Business 2019 in Southampton in April.SeaRaptor AUV incorporates a broad range of Teledyne content including acoustic modems, ascent and descent weight releases, a black box pinger locator, sub-bottom profiler (Teledyne Benthos), multi-beam echosounders, obstacle avoidance multi-beam sonar (Teledyne RESON), Doppler Velocity Log (DVL), Current, Temperature, and Depth sensor (CTD) (Teledyne RD Instruments), and onboard processing software (Teledyne Caris). In addition, the first vehicle delivered also
C-Kore Debuts Subsea Testing Tool
UK-based subsea technology company C-Kore Systems has announced a new subsea testing tool, the C-Kore Sensor Monitor, which can be used in decommissioning, fault-finding and construction campaigns to provide feedback from subsea sensors, such as wellhead pressures and temperatures, even when a subsea datalink is not available.According to the testing techniques provider to the offshore industry, during decommissioning or construction, the C-Kore Sensor Monitor can be used to ensure well head pressures are within safe limits for divers and prevent unintended release of hydrocarbons into the environment.
Meet PoBo: Floating Platform for Disaster Relief
GD European Land Systems develops floating platform for civil protection and disaster reliefGeneral Dynamics European Land Systems-Bridge Systems won a contract to develop a multi-functional, modular floating platform known as Pontoon Boat (PoBo). The project was awarded under the Innovation Program for the Support of Diversification Strategies of Defense Companies in Civil Security Technologies, or DIVERS. DIVERS is a program launched by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy (BMWI), with VDI Technologiezentrum GmbH as the responsible project executing agency."The PoBo is a
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
Ashtead Partners with 4Subsea
Subsea equipment rental, sales and services provider Ashtead Technology announced it has entered into a global strategic partnership with 4Subsea.Under the deal, Ashtead said it will add 4Subsea’s sensors to its portfolio for inspection, maintenance and repair (IMR) services and gain access to 4Subsea’s domain experts within subsea production, well intervention and drilling. 4Subsea hardware and digital services delivery through Ashtead’s sales and distribution network including facilities in Aberdeen, Abu Dhabi, Halifax, Houston and Singapore.Allan Pirie, CEO of Ashtead, said
Swire Seabed Orders a HUGIN AUV
Equinor for provision of offshore survey services.Now, the firm will have a HUGIN AUV of its own. Due for delivery in 2020, the vehicle will be rated to 4,500 meters and equipped with Kongsberg Maritime’s HISAS 1032 synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) and EM2040 multibeam echosounder, as well as a CathX Ocean 48.5-degree field of view still image color camera and laser profiler, a sub-bottom profiler, magnetometer and turbidity sensor.The vehicle will also make use of Kongsberg’s automatic pipeline tracking solution, which utilizes the SAS or multibeam echo sounder to track alongside or above a
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
More Tenants Move into COVE Facility
The Center for Ocean Ventures and Entrepreneurship (COVE) reports it continues to onboard tenants in 2019.“We’re pleased to announce RBR, Precise Design and Nova Scotia Boatbuilders Association (NSBA) have moved into COVE,” said Jim Hanlon, CEO of COVE, a collaborative facility for applied innovation in the ocean sector located in Halifax Harbor, in Nova Scotia, Canada.COVE's mission is to propel the ocean economy by providing high quality marine infrastructure and a collaborative space in which a community of ocean enterprises can start, grow and prosper. Its primary goal is to
Ocean Infinity to Conduct AUV Surveys for Petrobras
U.S. based seabed survey and ocean exploration company Ocean Infinity announced Wednesday that its Brazilian partner has been awarded a contract to provide high-resolution hydrographic mapping services to Brazilian national oil company Petrobras.Working under contract to Brazilian offshore consulting company Cepemais, Ocean Infinity will go to work in the the Campos, Espirito Santo and Santos basins offshore Brazil, mapping an area of 5,000km2 and inspecting 12,000km of pipelines. Work will commence in mid-2019, and the contract duration is for three years.Ocean Infinity will operate a fleet of
Underwater Custom Cable for Cinque Terre Marine
NOVACAVI provided a tailor-made underwater hybrid cable solution to meet the Ligurian Cluster for Marine Technologies (DLTM) needs in enhancing marine and coastal environmental monitoring system in the Cinque Terre Marine Protected Area.12XM473 underwater cable is a hybrid power and multi-protocol transmission cable specifically engineered to handle its tough subsea application and to withstand long-term deployment in saltwater while connecting sea bottom, subsea sensors and buoy.NOVACAVI is honored to play a part in developing technological solutions to support research on marine ecosystems and to
Sensor and AI System for Plymouth Sound
of Thales and a global and corporate partner leading in the field of machine learning and artificial intelligence. The results of this work will finalize development of the computing system at the heart of the maritime AI system to navigate the Mayflower Autonomous Ship across the Atlantic Ocean in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the original Mayflower sailing in 1620.In October 2018, Thales announced it was opening a new maritime autonomy center at Plymouth, with an aim to build relationships with industry and academia to operate unmanned vessels out of the Sound.M Subs is working
Saipem to Advance Shell's FlatFish Technology
Italian oil and gas contractor Saipem said it will work with Shell to further enhance key features of the oil major’s proprietary subsea autonomous vehicle, FlatFish.Since March 2018, Saipem has been the sole developer of FlatFish technology for Shell. FlatFish is a resident subsea autonomous vehicle able to perform complex inspection tasks, particularly suited to Brazil’s pre-salt offshore fields. It was previously developed by Brazilian research institution SENAI CIMATEC in partnership with DFKI over a four-year project funded by the Brazilian oil and gas regulator ANP's research and
New Robot Can Sense Plankton Optically and Acoustically
A team of biological and physical oceanographers and engineers have modified a common physical oceanography instrument to be able to image zooplankton as it glides through the ocean.The robot, a first-of-its-kind sensing instrument dubbed Zooglider by Mark Ohman, a biological oceanographer at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, uses as its platform a Scripps-developed glider known as Spray. Ohman and Scripps instrument developers outfitted the torpedo-shaped Spray gliders with a camera (called Zoocam) and a device researchers call Zonar that gathers acoustic
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
EIVA Named Distributor for Sea-Bird Scientific Solutions
serve as official distributor of all salt water Sea-Bird Scientific products in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland.Sea-Bird Scientific, which is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States, developer and manufacturer of solutions for the measurement of salinity, temperature, pressure and related oceanographic parameters in marine environments.With customers involved in every sector of maritime industries, Sea-Bird Scientific sensors and systems are deployed around the world by ocean researchers, resource managers and key stakeholders engaged in offshore exploration and ocean resource utilization
Ocean Cleanup Device Malfunctions
A first-of-its-kind floating ocean cleanup system deployed to collect plastic pollution from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch has been taken out of service early after it broke apart while operating halfway between Hawaii and California.The wind- and wave-propelled cleanup system, launched from San Francisco in September by Dutch nonprofit The Ocean Cleanup, consists of a 600-meter-long U-shaped floating barrier with a three-meter skirt below that glides at the ocean surface to collect plastic and funnel all debris at its center.Operations have been put on hold after an 18-meter section separated from
Ocean Infinity Joins Search for Lost Bulker
U.S. based Ocean Infinity said it has been awarded a contract from the Government of South Korea to search for the wreckage of lost bulk carrier Stellar Daisy, which sank on on March 31, 2017, with 24 people on board.The Stellar Daisy was transporting iron ore from Brazil to China when it was lost in the South Atlantic Ocean, approximately 2,500 nautical miles due east of Uruguay.Ocean Infinity said it expects to commence search operations in January 2019 using its high-tech fleet of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). The company's CEO, Oliver Plunkett, said, “For the sake of all
Equinor and Vissim Partner
Vissim said it has reached a global frame agreement with Norwegian energy giant Equinor to deploy its solution for surveillance of the ocean space surrounding all Equinor- and several third-party-operated assets on the U.K. and Norwegian Continental Shelves. The new system will incorporate machine learning and enable surveillance of vessel traffic (VTMS), air traffic, subsea structures, environment and real time weather situation and forecasts.Conceived to incorporate both traditional oil and gas and offshore wind assets, the resulting system is one of the largest of its kind in the world, Vissim said.
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
Kraken Completes Sea Tests of KATFISH with Elbit Systems
;. Seagull is a multi-mission USV platform boasting high autonomy levels and modular features, allowing it to be rapidly reconfigured for a wide array of missions – including anti-submarine warfare and mine countermeasures.“Elbit Systems’ Seagull USV is one of the most advanced ocean drones in the world,” said Karl Kenny, Kraken’s President and CEO. “With KATFISH integrated on Elbit’s Seagull USV, the system can provide remotely operated, unmanned, end-to-end mine hunting operations. With KATFISH, these ocean drones can detect very small objects hidden
Ushant Tidal Energy Project Gets a Data Boost
Sabella, a French tidal and ocean stream turbine developer, partnered with QOS Energy to improve the performance monitoring of its Ushant tidal energy project. The first 1MW tidal turbine is immersed 55 meters underwater off the west coast of France, and it is equipped with more than 100 sensors gathering data every five minutes using QOS Energy’s data intelligence platform to identify, assess and anticipate potential failures.Sabella’s 1MW D10 turbine was initially commissioned in 2015 in the Fromveur Passage, a strait that lies between Ushant Island and the Molène archipelago
Lost @ Sea: Missing Equipment Washes Up Five Years Later
After going missing on Christmas Day five years ago, deep ocean measuring equipment belonging to the UK’s National Oceanography Center (NOC) has just been found on a beach in Tasmania by a local resident after making a 14,000 km journey across the ocean.In 2011, this deep-ocean lander instrument was deployed by NOC scientists in the northern Drake Passage, which is a narrow section of the ocean between South America and Antarctica. Measuring ocean bottom pressure here helps provide information on the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, which is the largest ocean current in the world. The instrument
LRAUV: Arctic Oil-Spill-Mapping Robot Put to the Test
Guard map oil spills under ice, the DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has been working on an underwater robot for the past four years through a DHS Center of Excellence, the Arctic Domain Awareness Center (ADAC) at the University of Alaska Anchorage, in partnership with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.The result of this research is the Tethys Long Range Autonomic Underwater Vehicle or LRAUV, a helicopter-portable, torpedo-shaped system with oil sensors and navigation capabilities. This robot can provide real-time data for
US Marine Corps Awards UUV Contract to L3 OceanServer
L3 OceanServer announced Thursday it has been awarded a contract to support the U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command for an Iver3 unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) to be used for testing and evaluation.Over the past four years, L3 OceanServer has leveraged hundreds of thousands of operational hours on Iver vehicles to build a system with war fighter driven attributes. With more than 300 vehicles sold to various customers worldwide, the Iver is a commercial-off-the-shelf product that delivers the latest advances in technology with proven performance in real-world situations.The Iver is a purpose-built UUV
NATO Uses IoT to Study the Oceans
Satellite Services Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Globalstar Inc., said that scientists from the NATO’s Science and Technology Organization (NATO STO) are deploying an IoT solution using SPOT Trace and Globalstar satellite communications to further their understanding of the world’s oceans.Research teams from the NATO STO Center for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE), based in La Spezia, Italy, are embedding SPOT Trace devices in freely drifting buoys and setting them afloat in the Mediterranean and in Arctic waters to monitor surface drift behaviour. SPOT Trace tracks the
ROVs and Surveying Harbor Pollution
Norway’s Agder Dykk, is extending its scope of operations in the region with a new Saab Seaeye Falcon.An early task for Agder Dykk’s Falcon is a survey of Norway’s harbors to provide data for the authorities on the status of sediment built up over decades of environmentally polluting activities.In addition to this task, Agder Dykk will extend itsFalcon’s role across a wide scope of operations in the region to include multibeam survey, construction work support and inspection of cables, pipes and moorings, together with inspection of infrastructure for the Norwegian authorities.
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
A new autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) system rolled out today by Norwegian-based Kongsberg Maritime offers significantly enhanced data, positioning and endurance capabilities.The new HUGIN SUPERIOR AUV system builds upon the existing HUGIN technology platform with some of Kongsberg's latest technologies, including the new HISAS 1032 Dual Receiver Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS) which generates approximately 1,000 meters swath at 2.5 knots for SAS imagery, and real aperture and SAS bathymetry, with consistent resolution over the entire swath (typically 5x5 cm in mission imagery). The system also
Royal Navy Supports Successful Trial of New Micro-Robots
ecoSUB, has been successfully trialed in the North Sea off Orkney during a marine robot demonstrator mission coordinated by the National Oceanography Center (NOC).ecoSUB is a new type of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) developed by Planet Ocean in partnership with the NOC. The vehicles are around 0.5 meters in length and weigh only 4 kg, and are therefore classified as 'micro-AUVs'. Despite their small size, they are capable of diving to 500 m (2500m for ecoSUB-m25) and have sufficient battery power to stay underwater for several hours.Two of the new ecoSUB-µ5-SVP vehicles were
STR Upgrades to Sonardyne's Fusion 2
Subsea Technology and Rentals (STR), a multi-disciplinary technology expert specializing in the design, production, rental and sale of innovative marine survey equipment, has become the first company to invest in Sonardyne International Ltd.’s new Long BaseLine (LBL) and Inertial Navigation System (INS) software, Fusion 2. The announcement was made following Sonardyne’s launch event at OSEA 2018 in Singapore.STR will upgrade its existing 6G hardware to Sonardyne’s new 6 ‘plus’ variants, which, combined with Fusion 2, will make marine survey and offshore construction
Eight OSD Systems to Petrobras
Sea-state monitoring firm Miros Group is set to supply eight Oil Spill Detection (OSD) systems to Brazilian oil major Petrobras in the world’s largest x-band radar-based OSD surveillance and response contract to date.The agreement is in partnership with Ulstein Belga Marine, primary supplier to Petrobras, and includes radars and thermal imaging cameras for Petrobras Mobile Offshore Production Units (MOPUs) in the Campos Basin. Delivery and commissioning are scheduled for 2019.The backdrop for the record delivery is a February 2018 agreement reached between Petrobras and the Brazilian federal
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
The UK-based underwater positioning and communications technology company Sonardyne International Ltd has initiated a collaborative project to drive a major step change in ocean system autonomy for long-endurance autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs).The aim of the Innovate UK-supported Precise Positioning for Persistent AUVs (P3AUV) project is to enable AUVs to operate at high levels of navigation performance with less surface support and for longer periods.The provider of underwater acoustic, inertial, optical and sonar technology said in a release that with partners L3 ASV and the National Oceanograp
Tidal Power for Seabed Oil and Gas Installations
There is great potential for large underwater turbines engineered to harness power from tides and ocean currents to produce industrial-scale levels of electricity. At the smaller scale, tidal power can be just as useful and, indeed, can be much easier to deploy to meet commercial needs.A team of subsea engineers from the North Sea oil and gas industry saw one such potential opportunity and decided to set up their own company – EC-OG – to pursue it in 2013. The result of their endeavors is the Subsea Power Hub, a compact tidal- and ocean-current-based electricity generator, suitable for
Hydroid Bags AUV Order from Japan
Autonomous underwater vehicle (AUVs) manufacturer Hydroid, Inc., said on Monday it has received an order for a New Generation REMUS 6000 AUV from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science Technology (JAMSTEC).The New Generation REMUS 6000 is based on the legacy vehicle design and features a modular architecture that allows for the addition of multiple payloads including customer sensor packages, forward fins and additional battery sections, the manufacturer said. With new low-power core electronics and a hydrodynamic hull design, it has increased endurance for longer missions.The order is part of the
Sensor Technology Expands
Sensor Technology Ltd. announced it has expanded its manufacturing to Nova Scotia at the Center for Ocean Ventures & Entrepreneurship (COVE), a collaborative facility for applied innovation in the ocean sector.“This opportunity has come at the perfect time for Sensor Technology as we are in a significant growth stage as well as developing a new products and markets for our custom solutions. We are really excited to be a part of the collaborative community at COVE,” said Niru Somayajula, president and CEO of Sensor Technology.Sensor Technology, which provides custom hydrophones and
MacArtney Delivers TRIAXUS ROTV to China
MacArtney Singapore delivered a TRIAXUS ROTV with customized sensor payload to the Chinese Academy of Science for oceanographic research projects in the South China Sea.The Chinese Academy of Science, via MacArtney agent Geo Marine Technology Ltd, has purchased the first TRIAXUS ROTV to be utilized aboard CAS research vessels in the South China Sea.This milestone sale means that the MacArtney TRIAXUS ROTV is the first of its kind to enter the Chinese Ocean Science market and forecasts a future need for ROTV facilitated research in this region.Marine Observation Technology is a developing market as
Subsea Vision & Photogrammetry Lab Formed
Offshore robotics company FORSSEA ROBOTICS chose GMS as main technical partner to certify its real-time visual positioning technologies. A joint laboratory will be created to develop a common offer covering camera calibration, subsea image treatment and innovative photogrammetry solutions.FORSSEA ROBOTICS decided last year to adapt its Atoll ROV embedded visual docking technology into a stand-alone product. The company was already manufacturing and commercializing underwater cameras, mainly for R&D underwater vision applications.The so-called V-LOC (Visual LOCalization) technology has been designed
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
Construction Starts on OSU's Research Ship
Construction of a new Oregon State University (OSU) bound research ship that will advance the science of coastal environments, and support research on topics such as ocean acidification, hypoxia, and sea level rise, officially began today at Gulf Island Shipyards in Louisiana.Officials from OSU the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Gulf Island Shipyards LLC gathered at the shipyard in Houma, La. for the keel-laying ceremony, marking the start of fabrication of the state-of-the art ship. The ship will be the first in a class of Regional Class Research Vessels funded by the NSF.During the ceremony
Ocean Infinity Orders Five HUGIN AUVs
Hydrographic and geophysical survey company Ocean Infinity has placed three separate orders for a total of five Kongsberg Maritime HUGIN autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Systems, increasing its inventory to 15.Kongsberg Maritime said the AUVs are supplied with its latest generation HISAS 1032 synthetic aperture sonar, giving Ocean Infinity a total of six HUGINs with the ability to deliver high resolution imaging in its fleet.HISAS generates high resolution range independent imagery and full swath bathymetry. Coupled with the other sensors on board, the HUGIN AUVs produce a data set including HISAS
iSURVEY Completes Nord Stream 2 Survey
Survey and positioning services provider iSURVEY said it has completed a 30-day geophysical seabed survey for offshore pipelay and subsea construction company Allseas.The project team set out to identify obstructions and hazardous seabed features over a 40-kilometer section of route survey in the German Baltic prior to forthcoming pipelay anchoring and mooring operations for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.Taking on a vessel charter, the iSURVEY team had full contract responsibility for the vessel, marine, survey, processing and reporting elements of the entire scope – a first for the group.
Teledyne CARIS Unveils Bathy DataBASE 5.2
Teledyne CARIS has released Bathy DataBASE 5.2, which introduces enhanced tools for validating and creating chart features from lidar surveys as well as new bathymetry compilation techniques.This latest version includes an updated workflow process found in BASE Editor designed for performing both quality control and feature set building from lidar data. Bring LAS/LAZ data into the BASE Editor environment to assess quality, adjust classification, and compare against other sources. Identify relevant features in the point data and imagery, and easily model as S-57 features directly in the area-based
RBR Opens Office in China
Oceanographic instrumentation manufacturer RBR announced it has opened RBR China in Qingdao. The wholly-owned foreign enterprise under the direction of RBR Ltd. (Canada) will support the growing customer base and collaborative business development activities in China, the company said.“The market in China is huge and the local innovation in ocean science research, operational oceanography, deep sea studies and autonomous vehicle development is tremendous. RBR’s continued investment in China will help enable more innovative projects in China and allow RBR to share these experiences and
Knud E. Hansen, DTU Aqua Pact on Marine Research Vessel
Danish naval architectural firm Knud E. Hansen has signed a contract with the Technical University of Denmark's DTU Aqua (National Institute of Aquatic Resources) on consultancy assistance for a project study and concept design of a 65M multidisciplinary marine research vessel to replace the aging R/V DANA IV from 1981."Knud E. Hansen signed the contract on the basis of our references in designing fishing vessels and in-depth know how in marine research vessels and icebreakers for scientific operations, like the RSV NUYINA for the Australian Antarctic Division," said a press release from
Klein Selects Greensea Inertial Navigation
Klein Marine Systems chose Greensea Systems to provide SWaP-C optimized inertial navigation for its side scan sonar towfish products. The Greensea INSpect GS products use Greensea’s open architecture operating platform, OPENSEA, and a patent-pending heading alignment methodology.“We chose the Greensea INSpect GS product family due to the price/performance alternatives offered as well as the additional sensor options that it supports,” said Dean Fleury, Director of Engineering for Klein. “The interface to the system is straightforward and the integration activities unfolded
Second Harbor Regeneration Deployment for OSIL Buoy
A turbidity monitoring buoy built by OSIL is to be re-deployed by BAM Construction on a further dredging project in Ireland.The buoy was originally purchased as part of a network to monitor the dredging activity for the new Bantry Harbor Marina (Cork, Ireland), part of the €8.5 million ($9.6 mln) Bantry Inner Harbor Redevelopment project, which was completed recently, and the buoy will now be deployed to another BAM project having completed a full system check at OSIL.The 0.7m Small Field Buoy can easily be deployed from a small boat by hand, and will now be monitoring continuous dredging in a
Rovco Buys a Falcon DR ROV
U.K. subsea services company Rovco said it has expanded its remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) and hydrographic survey capabilities with the addition of an electric Saab Seaeye Falcon DR ROV to its fleet.The 1,000-meter depth rated, long-range Falcon DR will enhance Rovco’s ability to deliver intricate and demanding missions that require a variety of high bandwidth sensors, either at depth or over long distances, the company said.The Falcon DR marks a £200,000 investment for the firm and is part of its expansion program. As well as its commercial use, it will support Rovco’s
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
