NOC and Royal Navy Renew MOU on Underwater Systems
The UK's National Oceanography Centre (NOC) has renewed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Royal Navy, reinforcing a long-standing partnership in marine science and technology. The MOU, which includes collaboration with the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), the Ministry of Defense (MOD)’s science and technology organization, underscores a shared commitment to fostering innovation and advances in autonomous and robotic underwater systems.With expertise from NOC Innovations, the applied research and commercialization arm of NOC, the agreement will help enhance
The Biggest Conservation Commitment in the World
At COP 15 in December 2022, over 190 countries adopted a framework for action in support of the Convention on Biological Diversity.The framework includes 23 targets aimed at reversing habitat and species loss. Target 3, known as “30x30”, calls for the effective protection and management of 30% of the world’s terrestrial, inland water and coastal and marine areas by the year 2030.Put simply, says the Nature Conservancy, 30x30 is the biggest conservation commitment the world has ever seen.Only about 17% of land and 8% of marine areas are currently under some form of protection.A new
A New Approach to Studying the Air-Sea Flux
A group of over 50 researchers have made the case for a new permanent unmanned surface vessel (USV) network to complement the mature and emerging networks within the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS).They have drawn up a blueprint for guiding the global USV community towards an integrated approach to a key ocean observing frontier: the air-sea flux (the interface between the ocean and the atmosphere).Here, momentum, energy, freshwater and gases are exchanged which drive ocean circulation, the Earth’s energy budget, weather and climate.Despite its importance, this interface remains minimally
Klein Marine Systems Signs Agreement With SAAB to Provide Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS) Technology
Klein Marine Systems, a leader in sonar technology, has received a contract to provide Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS) hardware technology to Saab Kockums AB (Linköping, Sweden). The sonar hardware will be integrated onto the Saab AUV62-MR, an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) designed for mine-countermeasures (MCM) missions. Saab has signed a contract with the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) for the AUVs. The vehicle has the ability to quickly map and produce high-resolution sonar images of the seabed over large areas and detect various types of objects. The system provides
Belgian Energy Island in North Sea Starts Taking Shape (Video)
TM Edison, a consortium of Belgian marine construction companies DEME and Jan De Nul, has installed the first two of a total 23 caissons in the Belgian North Sea, marking the start of construction for the Princess Elisabeth Island, the ‘world’s first’ artificial energy island.Caissons are concrete building blocks that form the outline of the future island. In a later phase, the interior will be filled with sand to build high-voltage infrastructure that will connect new offshore wind farms.TM Edison is carrying out the work on behalf of grid operator Elia Transmission Belgium (Elia).
International Seabed Authority Responds to Trump Plan
The International Seabed Authority has issued a statement following the announcement that deep-sea mining firm The Metals Co has asked the Trump administration to approve its plans to mine the international seabed.This would make it the first such company to seek the government's permission to operate outside U.S. territorial waters, and it comes after a US Executive order “Unleashing America’s Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources” which was issued on April 24.Leticia Reis de Carvalho Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority, said: “The issuance of an
Ocean Aero to Continuously Monitor the Port of Gulfport Autonomously
On May 1, the Port of Gulfport will implement continuous autonomous subsea surveillance. Using Ocean Aero’s technology, the Triton AUSV, they will begin running ongoing scans using a variety of subsea payloads, including bathymetry, side-scan sonar, and magnetometers to produce high-resolution comparative datasets for real-time change detection. The initiative is designed to detect irregularities in both port traffic and infrastructure, a feature that Port CEO and Executive Director, Jon Nass, says has the potential to save the port millions.Triton’s monitoring will also play a
First Deep-Sea Mining Company Asks Trump for International Permit
Deep-sea mining firm The Metals Co asked the Trump administration on Tuesday to approve its plans to mine the international seabed, making it the first such company to seek the government's permission to operate outside U.S. territorial waters.Last week President Donald Trump signed an order aiming to jumpstart mining in both domestic and international waters in an attempt to boost U.S. access to critical minerals and reduce China's market control.The move ratchets up tension between Washington and the United Nations-backed International Seabed Authority, which has been crafting mining standards
Venterra Completes Celtic Sea Metocean Study for Ireland's South Coast Designated Maritime Area Plan
Venterra has confirmed the successful completion of a regional metocean characterization study for the South Coast Designated Maritime Area Plan (SC-DMAP), another step in Ireland's renewable energy journey. This study, commissioned by Ireland's Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC), is a contribution to the preparation for Ireland's forthcoming Offshore Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (ORESS) Tonn Nua Offshore Wind Auction.The study utilized advanced numerical modeling techniques and provided a robust 40-year hindcast dataset of metocean conditions across
February 2025
