Stealthy Submarine Concept Unveiled
80 metres· Armament: 24 heavy-weight weapons (naval cruise missiles, F21 torpedoes, anti-ship missiles)· Up to 6 UUV (533mm) + 2 XLUUV· Special Forces dedicated facilities (trunks, storage rooms, vehicle and weapons, grouping areas…)· Two rim driven electric propulsion motors· Crew: 15 crew members + 12 to 20 pax· Submerged mission: > 40 days at speed of 8 kts
General Dynamics Mission Systems Wins $13.5 Mln Navy UUV Contract
General Dynamics Mission Systems said it was recently awarded a $13.5 million cost-plus fixed-fee and cost-only modification for continued engineering support, development, test and production of the Knifefish Surface Mine Countermeasure (SMCM) Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV). This award is a modification to the original contract, bringing the post-milestone C phase of the effort to $62.1 million since September 2019.Knifefish SMCM is a medium class mine countermeasure UUV intended for deployment from the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship and other Navy vessels of opportunity. Knifefish SMCM will reduce
Barcodes to Drive Down Pipeline Inspection Costs
down the costs of subsea pipeline inspections.According to the companies involved, the solution would remove the need for surface vessels, traditionally used in pipeline inspection projects.Usually, surface vessels with acoustic positioning are used to monitor the deployment of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) or Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs). The subsea vehicles then collect the required information – such as a pipeline’s general aspect and route, anode consumption, free span, burial, and crossing areas – using observation sensors.The project relies on barcodes placed on
Fugro to Deploy Latest RAMMS Tech to Map Lake Huron
Fugro is mobilizing its Rapid Airborne Multibeam Mapping System (RAMMS) to Ontario, Canada, to acquire 3,147 square kilometers of high-resolution bathymetry data over Lake Huron for the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS).The survey is expected to last six months from data collection to data delivery and will support the agency’s ongoing nautical charting updates in the country’s Great Lakes region.Fugro has used RAMMS throughout North America, the Caribbean and Europe since launching the next-generation airborne lidar system in 2018. In addition to nautical charting, RAMMS has supported
Xerox and DARPA Partner to Develop IoT Ocean Sensors
PARC, a Xerox company, announced Thursday it has been awarded a contract by the U.S.' Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the next development phase in the Ocean of Things, a project to expand what scientists know about the seas.Initially announced by DARPA in 2017, the Ocean of Things project is deploying small, low-cost drifters in the Southern California Bight and Gulf of Mexico to collect data on the environment and human impact. This includes sea surface temperature, sea state, surface activities and even information on marine life moving through the area.“Oceans cover
RRS Sir David Attenborough Starts Sea Trials
The U.K.’s most advanced polar research ship RRS Sir David Attenborough left Cammell Laird shipyard Wednesday to commence two weeks of technical sea trials ahead of scheduled delivery to the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) in November.“Although the vessel’s construction is now complete, trials are a critical and final part of the program as they allow our engineers and the ship’s crew to put the vessel through its paces at sea,” said Linton Roberts, Director of Operations at Cammell Laird. “Over the next two weeks our engineers will assess and record
Seabed Imaging Re-imagined
of Southampton, with support from Sonardyne, under the Natural Environment Research Council’s OCEANIDS Marine Sensor Capital “BioCam” program, has gone a long way to resolving these challenges.During its first 24-hour deployment, a BioCam fitted to an Autosub6000 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), from the UK’s National Oceanography Centre (NOC), mapped more than 50 times the area of a football pitch at photographic resolution – a rate 40 times that of conventional high resolution imaging systems. By the end of this dive, it had already created the largest continuous visual
Coral Reef Health Report: Palau’s Coral Reefs - A Jewel of the Ocean
The latest report from the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation finds Palau’s reefs had the highest coral cover observed on the Global Reef Expedition—the largest coral reef survey and mapping expedition in history.Scientists at the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation (KSLOF) have released their findings on the state of coral reefs in Palau. Their research, based on extensive underwater surveys, found Palau’s reefs had the highest live coral cover of all the reefs studied on the Global Reef Expedition, a scientific research mission to assess the health and resiliency of
MacArtney LARS for Fifth Asia Pacific Research Vessel
MacArtney completed its order of a launch and recovery (LARS) system for Taiwan National University, the fifth Ocean Research Vessel (ORV) in the Asia Pacific region to date. MacArtney Asia Pacific provided the full launch and recovery system solution for the new vessel R/V New Ocean Researcher 1 (ORV 1), including slip rings, cables and docking heads. The 1,000 GT RV was completed on July 21, 2020.Behind ORV 1 is the CSBC Corporation, which built the ship for end-user Taiwan National University. CSBC, owning two shipyards, is the largest shipbuilding company in Taiwan. Now that ORV 1 has passed
Seabed Geosolutions Wins OBN Survey Work in Brazil
Ocean bottom seismic company Seabed Geosolutions has won a contract for a baseline 4D ocean bottom node (OBN) survey as well as a future 4D monitor OBN survey in Brazil. The project, for an unnamed client, is to be acquired in water depths greater than 2,200 meters and the baseline survey is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2021. The total combined duration of the two surveys is estimated at around eight months.Stephan Midenet, CEO of Seabed Geosolutions this would be the company's sixth project in Brazil "a core OBN market."The company, which collects geophysical data on
Op/Ed: An Antarctic Marine Protected Area is Long Overdue
Antarctica, the world’s last true wilderness, has been protected by an international treaty for the last 60 years. But the same isn’t true for most of the ocean surrounding it.Just 5% of the Southern Ocean is protected, leaving biodiversity hotspots exposed to threats from human activity.The Western Antarctic Peninsula, the northernmost part of the continent and one of its most biodiverse regions, is particularly vulnerable. It faces the cumulative threats of commercial krill fishing, tourism, research infrastructure expansion and climate change.In an article published in Nature, we join
Vestdavit Wins NOAA Marine Davit Deal
Vestdavit won a frame agreement to provide service, support and spares for the variety of marine davits it has supplied to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).NOAA operates a fleet of research and survey vessels that conduct a wide variety of missions, including oceanographic research, marine life studies and hydrographic surveys. Davits are needed to handle RHIBS of different sizes and 30ft Hydrographic Survey Launches, depending on the NOAA mission.The all-embracing five-year contract is valued at up to US$2.5 million and aligns with U.S. Department of Commerce requirements.
Ultrabeam, USS team up to deliver Autonomous Pipeline Survey
Ultrabeam Hydrographic teamed up with Unmanned Survey Solutions (USS) to conduct a pair of subsea gas pipeline inspection surveys in Northern Ireland. Both companies are based in the UK and offer unmanned platforms as an alternative to traditional manned survey vessels. The contract was awarded by Mutual Energy, which wanted experience on how unmanned autonomous platforms can increase the knowledge of their pipelines while reducing risk and overall cost."Mutual Energy contracted with Ultrabeam Hydrographic in August 2020 to perform inspection surveys of our Larne and Belfast
DOE, NOAA Challenge Innovators to Integrate Renewable Energy, Ocean Obs
of innovators who are bringing truly creative solutions to renewable energy for marine applications," said retired Navy Rear Adm. Tim Gallaudet, Ph.D., assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and deputy NOAA administrator. "Harnessing wave energy for autonomous underwater vehicles shows great promise for supporting hurricane forecasting and also poses potential benefits for the application of unoccupied systems research and exploration more broadly, which connects to the heart of many of NOAA's critical mission areas.""This partnership with the Department of
OFG, EMGS Enter Cooperation Agreement
Ocean Floor Geophysics Inc (OFG) and Electromagnetic Geoservices ASA (EMGS) signed a cooperation agreement under which the two companies agree to work together on various projects to promote the use of marine CSEM technology.The agreement places specific emphasis on exploiting the obvious synergies between the state-of-the-art towed-streamer CSEM system from OFG (under its exclusive right to acquire the PGS EM technology) and the industry-leading sea-bottom CSEM/MT nodal system from EMGS. Cooperation will include development of proprietary and multi-client surveys, and multiphysics reprocessing of
Offshore Surveyors OFG, EMGS Enter CSEM Tech Pact
Canadian offshore survey firm Ocean Floor Geophysics (OFG) and its Norwegian counterpart Electromagnetic Geoservices ASA (EMGS) have signed a cooperation agreement.Under the agreement, the two offshore surveyors have agreed to work together on various projects to promote the use of marine controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) technology."The agreement places specific emphasis on exploiting the obvious synergies between the state-of-the-art towed-streamer CSEM system from FG (under its exclusive right to acquire the PGS EM technology) and the industry-leading sea-bottom CSEM/MT nodal system
AIRMAR Hires Vlad as Marine Product Line Manager
Ultrasonic sonar and Chirp technology company AIRMAR Technology Corporation has hired Brian Vlad as Marine Product Line Manager. Vlad will focus on the direction and evolution of Airmar’s line of marine products, and joins with over 20 years of marine electronics experience, primarily in product development and line management.Vlad comes to Airmar following a lengthy career at Raymarine where he managed over 30 product introductions. In the role of Airmar’s Marine PLM, Vlad will help structure and focus Airmar’s product roadmap through market analysis and VOC feedback from both the
Polish Divers Hope Nazi Shipwreck Holds Key to Amber Room Treasure
Karlsruhe.“We have been looking for the wreckage since last year when we realized there could be the most interesting, undiscovered story lying at the bottom of the Baltic Sea,” diver Tomasz Stachura said in a statement.“It is practically intact. In its holds, we discovered military vehicles, porcelain and many crates with contents still unknown.”The Catherine Palace (© Mistervlad / Adobe Stock)The Karlsruhe had been taking part in Operation Hannibal, one of the largest sea evacuations in history which helped more than one million German troops and civilians from East Prussia
Ocean Startup Challenge Awards 14 Companies $25K Each
The first-ever Ocean Startup Challenge has awarded 14 startup companies with $25,000 each to help the companies advance their technologies and increase market adoption. They will also receive industry support, including coaching from an Executive in Residence. The companies were among 31 shortlisted to attend online bootcamps, receive one-on-one coaching and pitch to the Ocean Startup Challenge final judging panel last week. Organizers had planned to announce 10 winners of the 2020 Ocean Startup Challenge, but the caliber of the startups led the judges to extend that pool to 14 winners. While
MIND Tech, Klein Complete Naval Exercise
(NSWC PCD); Commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (CNMOC) and in coordination with the Naval Oceanographic Office's Fleet Survey Team (FST), at NSWC PCD.Klein and a group from NSWC Panama City partnered to integrate the Klein UUV 600 and µMAX technologies into its Iver3 vehicle. In addition, Klein partnered with Seafloor Systems, Inc. to integrate the Klein MAX View 600 gap-filling side scan sonar system with their large-format, wave adaptive HydroCat-180 USV. The HC-180 has been integrated with a winch and Towfish Launch & Recovery System (T-LARS) designed
Polar Science: SRO Solutions Delivers IT Package to Facilitate Data Flow
, and each season sends around 300-plus research and support staff to the continent. It operates three research stations in the Antarctic and two on Subantarctic South Georgia, and one in the Arctic on behalf of NERC. Other assets include the RRS James Clark Ross, a fleet of aircraft and specialist vehicles, plus the eagerly awaited new polar ship for Great Britain, RRS Sir David Attenborough.Ashish Patel, SRO Project Delivery Manager, said the new system will allow data recorded at all of BAS’ remote stations, as well as on board the ships, to be made available across the organization&rsquo
The Troubled History of Protecting Marine Assets
The history of protecting marine assets is a tale of endless perseverance. From the moment humans have put infrastructure in the water, it has been damaged by other humans. Despite incredible advances in technology and installations, incidents still occur at an unacceptable rate. The types and volume of marine assets have exploded since the 1850s when the first submarine telegraph cables were laid. Today oceans, seas and lakes are the home of thousands of cables, tens of thousands of miles of subsea pipes, and countless underwater storage tanks. Above surface, assets are also still at a surprising
The Ocean's Microplastics Mess: Technology & Technique to Identify & Clean Up
The science and technology surrounding discovery, mitigation and clean-up of microplastics in the world’s environment makes this year’s “MTR100.” Here we offer insights on the organizations, people and technologies taking the lead.As marine journalists, scientists, technologists, activists and enthusiasts, we are aware of the large-scale impact that consumer macro-plastic products have on aquatic ecosystems. Ranging from plastic bags and straws to bottles and fishing nets, these materials pollute harbors, rivers, lakes and oceans, all while threatening the prosperity of wildlife
NOAA Grants Support Small Business Tech Development
NOAA has awarded $3.1 million in grants to 21 small businesses from 14 states to support the development of innovative technology for aquaculture, commercial and recreational fisheries, weather prediction, earth and ocean observations and modeling.“Small businesses across our Nation are catalysts for technology innovation, which can produce products and services that support NOAA’s mission while directly benefiting the public and growing the American economy,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross.In December 2019, NOAA’s Small Business Innovation Research Program issued a
NOAA, Scripps Partner on Unmanned Systems
NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego are partnering to improve how unmanned systems (UxS) are used to collect important ocean observations and augment NOAA’s operational capabilities.The 10-year agreement provides a framework for Scripps and OMAO’s new Unmanned Systems Operations Program to collaborate on specific projects to further UxS research, development and operations.“The operational experience of NOAA’s fleet of ships and aircraft combined with the extensive research and
