Mitcham Delivers BuoyLink 4DX RGPS Systems
Mitcham Industries said its Seamap subsidiary has completed deliveries of its BuoyLink 4DX RGPS positioning systems. So far this year, Seamap has delivered orders totaling almost $3 million for the 4DX version of its BuoyLink product line. Axxis Geo Solutions and the WGP Group unit of Magseis Fairfield are among the customers receiving deliveries so far this year.Guy Malden, Co-CEO of Mitcham commented, "Our BuoyLink 4DX RGPS positioning system continues to gain traction with operators of seismic exploration vessels. We believe that BuoyLink 4DX is quickly becoming the preferred
XOCEAN Secures $8.7 mln in Funding
Ocean data company, XOCEAN, has announced the successful completion of a $8.7 million funding round. The purpose of this funding is to support the company’s international scaling plans and was fully subscribed by existing shareholders.XOCEAN is transforming the way ocean data is collected using marine robotics known as Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs). The company has recently delivered projects for clients including BP, Equinor, PX Group and the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). The services provided by XOCEAN include mapping the seabed, inspecting subsea structures and monitoring
Robotic Hull Cleaning Advances in Dutch Ports
Recent acceptance to operate in Rotterdam and proof of sustainability claims after more than 500 hull cleaning operations help propel ECOsubsea, the robotic hull cleaning system.The Dutch national regulatory body Rijkswaterstaat gave the Norwegian company the green light to start offering hull cleaning services to vessels at all Dutch Ports including Europe’s biggest port, the Port of Rotterdam, a move that is helping the firm solidify its position in Europe following similar permissions in Antwerp, Zeebrugge, Ghent and Southampton.“Ports want evidence that our system works,” said
ROVCO Completes Galloper Offshore Wind Farm Project
Rovco completed a ROV inspection contract, a $1 million contract that resulted in completion of the baseline asset integrity survey at the newly constructed Galloper Offshore Wind Farm, a 353MW installed capacity wind farm which lies 30km off the coast of Suffolk, UK.“This project demonstrates the future of offshore inspection,” said Brian Allen, CEO and founder of Rovco. “innogy is the first of our customers to complete a whole field 3D inspection, the data they’ve obtained will go a long way to enabling and ensuring better asset integrity and knowledge of their infrastructure.
XOCEAN Attracts Funds for Global Growth
Ocean data company XOCEAN announced the completion of a €7.9 million ($8.8 million) funding round, fully subscribed by existing shareholders, to support its international growth plans.XOCEAN said it has set out to transform the way ocean data is collected by using unmanned surface vessels (USV) for services such as seabed mapping, subsea inspections and environmental monitoring.XOCEAN’s Chief Financial Officer, Karen May, said, “It is a really exciting time for the business as we scale. This new investment allows us to accelerate our growth with expansion into new markets internationall
OES: Surge in Tidal Energy in 2020
The last annual report issued by Ocean Energy Systems (OES) highlights significant international investment including $25m pledged by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to support 12 ‘next-generation’ marine energy projects and Wave Energy Scotland committing $9.9 million in two wave energy machines next year.“In the last 12 months we have seen major progress with global tidal projects achieving extensive operating hours and wave technology progressing in large-scale laboratory and offshore test sites,” said OES chairman Henry Jeffrey from the University of Edinburgh. “A
CGG Announces Largest Ever Seabed Survey
French geoscience company CGG said it will perform its largest seabed survey to date in the UK Central North Sea.Prefunded in part by BP, the multi-client ocean-bottom node (OBN) seismic survey has already received significant industry interest, CGG said. Operations are scheduled to begin in early 2020, with first results targeted for the first quarter of 2021. CGG said it aims to acquire over 2,000 square kilometers of OBN data in the first phase of this multi-year program."In the Central North Sea, where complex salt diapirism has created significant challenges to imaging deeper reservoir
Kraken Gives Ocean Infinity AUVs an Energy Boost
Ocean Infinity's Kongsberg Hugin autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) have achieved significant endurance milestones during testing thanks to new pressure tolerant batteries from Kraken Robotics. The vehicles performed several missions to greater than 5,000 meters and an unprecedented mission of over 100 hours without recharging, while running a full survey payload. As a result, using Kraken batteries, Ocean Infinity can operate increased survey ranges to nearly 700 line-kilometers per deployment.Using batteries from Kraken subsidiary, Kraken Power GmbH, Ocean Infinity is seeing an increase
Saipem/Subsea 7 Merger Would Create Subsea Giant
Services firm Saipem is considering a merger with rival Subsea 7 in an effort to weather the prolonged industry downturn, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources said to have knowledge of the matter.Commenting on unconfirmed reports, Audun Martinsen, head of oilfield service research at Rystad Energy, said a deal would create a global oilfield giant with more than $12.4 billion in revenue.“Subsea 7 made an unsuccessful bid to merge with US rival McDermott last year. Now it could be looking at a tie-up with Italy’s Saipem, both of which have a strong standing within the so-called SURF
Partners Target Subsea Gas Seperation
Aker Solutions said it is working with a group of leading oil and gas operators in a joint industry project that aims to make subsea gas separation a reality.Using CO2 injection to increase recovery rates in offshore oil and gas fields can improve the economics of a field significantly, but so far, the separation of ‘back-produced’ CO2 from the well-stream has been considered carried out on an existing platform, adding cost and making the concept economically unattractive, Aker Solutions said.Now the Norwegian-based firm is working with energy companies Total, Pertamina, Equinor and
Ocean Infinity Mobilizes Normand Frontier
its third vessel, Normand Frontier. The vessel has now been mobilized, having been signed on a three-year year charter with the Norwegian ship owner Solstad Offshore, in December 2018.The Normand Frontier is a modern, fuel-efficient, multipurpose vessel capable of both supporting autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and unmanned surface vehicle (USV) operations, as well as deepwater search and recovery services. The mobilization of this third vessel adds to Ocean Infinity’s current fleet consisting of the Seabed Constructor and MV Island Pride, and will allow Ocean Infinity to serve its clients
DOE Prizes to to Inspire Ocean Innovation
on September 18, 2019, is now open for submissions. The prize contains a number of competitions, the first being the Discover Competition, which seeks novel concepts that integrate ocean observing technologies with marine energy systems to address end-user needs across five broad themes: (1) Unmanned Vehicles; (2) Communications and Underwater Navigation; (3) Extreme Environments; (4) Buoys, Floats, and Tags; and (5) Blue Sea Ideas (i.e., other). The competition will be followed by a Develop Competition, which will focus on a single theme and challenge contestants to develop ideas into a functioning
MCI Signs EchoPilot Deal
Marine Components International (MCI) in the UK has been chosen by Denmark’s Daniamant to distribute its British-designed EchoPilot forward-looking 3D sonar systems (FLS 3D).Dorset-headquartered maritime company supplies a wide range of high-end marine products to leading yacht builders and shipyards worldwide. MCI managing director Andy Scott said he is delighted to welcome EchoPilot to MCI’s portfolio.“EchoPilot is a pioneer in Forward Looking Sonar ever since patenting the World’s first forward looking sonar in 1992, and its latest FLS 3D sonar system is one of the very best
Bibby HydroMap Charters Glomar Vantage
Bibby HydroMap have taken the 56-meter DP1 survey vessel Glomar Vantage on charter from GloMar Shipmanagement BV.The vessel will initially provide support to existing operations before becoming available for new projects in the first quarter of 2020.Bibby HydroMap CEO Gary Collins said, “The charter of the Glomar Vantage puts the company in a strong position going into 2020. We are delighted to be working with Glomar Shipmanagement and look forward to a successful project.”Glomar Shipmanagement CEO Klaas Weij said, “We are excited to embark on a term charter with Bibby HydroMap and
Mitcham Announces MA-X Sonar Product Deliveries
for this new technology as we have conducted a number of successful field demonstrations. We expect to deliver further orders in the coming weeks. MA-X technology can be embodied in several products, including towed-bodies for both manned and unmanned vessels, and autonomous underwater vehicle configurations. We expect the deployment of this technology to continue to gain momentum."
i-Tech 7 Performs UWILD for Borr Drilling
for Borr Drilling in the North Sea.Borr Drilling required a hull inspection for its Paragon MSS-1 mid-water semi-submersible, to meet ABS intermediate survey certification requirements. In place of conventional methods using divers, i-Tech 7 presented a solution using a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) to reduce cost, risk, and allow drilling operations to continue without interruption.i-Tech 7 mobilized an observation class ROV and supporting UWILD equipment to be installed on the Paragon MSS-1, along with two ROV personnel and one inspector to complete the operations.i-Tech 7 said its
Subsea Digital Alliance Launched
Showcasing Norwegian digital solutions, the Subsea Digital Alliance has been launched to bring smart cloud collaboration to the energy industry.As digital strategists in the oil and gas sector see the opportunity to leverage new projects to introduce new, more transparent digital workflow processes into their operations, digital solutions firm FutureOn has launched the Subsea Digital Alliance to bring together the best subsea solutions emerging from Norway to showcase how smart collaborative digital technology is meant to work.“Forward-thinking companies understand the tremendous opportunity of
De Keukelaere Wins IADC "Young Author Award"
The International Association of Dredging Companies (IADC) bestowed the Young Author Award to Liesbeth De Keukelaere, R&D Professional at VITO in Belgium. IADC’s Young Author Award is given annually to “stimulate the promotion of new ideas and encourage younger men and women in the dredging industry”. The award is granted at industry-leading conferences, with a winning young author selected from the proceedings of the CEDA Dredging Days 2019, held on November 7-8, 2019, in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.Ms De Keukelaere was selected as the Young Author Award winner for the co-authoring
Vard to Design LNG Bunker Barge for Fincantieri
Vard Marine, a naval architecture and marine engineering company, recently completed the concept design of a new 5,400 cubic meter (CBM) LNG bunker barge for Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding.The barge is being designed for Polaris New Energy’s bunkering operations that will support LNG fueled ships in the east coast of the United States. It will be built at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin and is expected to be delivered in November 2021.Vard Marine is currently developing a classification design package for the review and approval by the American Bureau of Shipping and the
FarSounder Unveils 3D Forward-Looking Sonar
FarSounder has debuted a new sonar and a new name for its series of 3D forward-looking navigation sonars. With the company’s continued growth and focus on research and development, it was time to give the series a name and offer more alternatives. The new name is the Argos series and are now 3 models in the series. The latest model the Argos 350 will be revealed for the first time at Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (FLIBS).This new sonar option has all the same applications and quality found in its other navigational sonars. It has been designed with a smaller and lighter transducer
Sunken Japanese Carrier Discovered
A Japanese aircraft carrier lost during the Battle of Midway has been discovered 5,400 meters below the surface of the Central Pacific by the crew of R/V Petrel.IJN Kaga, part of the six-fleet carrier that launched planes that attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, was scuttled by the Japanese on June 4, 1942 after being attacked by approximately 30 dive bombers and two torpedoes launched by the USS Nautilus. After efforts to keep the ship alive, the remaining crew realized the damage was beyond repair, and the escorting destroyer Hagikaze launched two torpedoes at the ship to effectively scuttle it. Of the
Interview: Dr. Catherine Warner, Director, NATO CMRE
.We are actually developing an unmanned control system that’s multi-domain: under the sea, surface, and air. Because of our experience with JANUS, which is the NATO STANAG, or NATO standard, for digital underwater communications, we actually have some experience in this area.Do you make your own vehicles and platforms, or do you buy systems on the open market?We have commercially available buoyancy glider UUVs and USVs, and we’re doing all kinds of work with them. We have underwater vehicles such as the Bluefin 21, Ocean Explorer and the Remus. With all of our various vehicles
Phoenix & Supsalv Salvage USN Aircraft
Phoenix International Holdings, Inc. (Phoenix), under the direction of the U.S. Navy’s Supervisor of Salvage and Diving, located and recovered the fuselage of a downed C2-A Greyhound aircraft from the depth of 18,809 feet using the deep ocean remotely operated vehicle CURV 21.The aircraft, which was lost in November 2017, was recovered at the request of Commander Pacific Fleet in order to facilitate the mishap investigation.Phoenix is an employee-owned, ISO 9001-2015 Management System certified marine services contractor providing manned and unmanned underwater solutions, design engineering
WASSP Launches New Rapid Deployment Multibeam Sounder
, motion sensor and satellite compass. This lets operators deploy the unit over the side or the transom of the vessel into the water quickly and easily often in just minutes.Once deployed, W3 RDS can quickly and effectively profile the seafloor and water column in search of sunken vessels, aircraft or vehicles. Or it can be utilized in events like cyclones, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes or war disasters which can alter the seafloor in such a way as to make navigation unsafe for support vessels.When in operation, W3 RDS uses a wireless link or a naval secure communication system to send
Teledyne Optech Introduces Galaxy T2000
Teledyne Optech, a Teledyne Technologies [NYSE:TDY] company, and leader in lidar sensing has announced the next evolution of its Galaxy platform, the Galaxy T2000. A compact lidar-mapping sensor, the Galaxy T2000 provides a unique feature set for maximum collection efficiency and point density, and is the next step in the evolution of modern aerial surveying. Coupled with a new G2 mounting system, the Galaxy T2000 leverages its compact size to co-mount two sensors over a single aircraft portal, making it quite simply the most flexible commercial lidar system on the market today.The Galaxy T2000
