Coast Guard, Scripps Launch Blue Technology Center of Expertise
The U.S. Coast Guard and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego will launch the Blue Technology Center of Expertise (COE) on the Scripps Oceanography campus with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and expo in San Diego, Friday.Rep. John Garamendi, Rep. Scott Peters, Rep. Mike Levin, UCSD Chancellor Pradeep Khosla, Port of San Diego Commissioner Marshall Merrifield, Coast Guard Deputy Commandant for Mission Support, Vice Adm. Michael F. McAllister, and the 11th Coast Guard District Commander, Rear Adm. Peter W. Gautier, are scheduled to speak at the event to celebrate the
Saab Seaeye for Gulf Pipeline Inspection
CCC Underwater Engineering is preparing to resume the second phase of a 2,000 km pipeline survey in the Arabian Gulf, totaling 316 pipelines. CCC are inspecting the final 102 pipelines using its Saab Seaeye Leopard underwater robot.Its objective is to achieve a baseline accuracy below 0.5 meters, which requires a large array of high definition filming and sensing equipment.The necessary array aboard the Leopard includes three HD cameras with movie quality 1080i interlacing, two Kongsberg M3 profiling sonars, Sonardyne Mini-Ranger and SPRINT-Nav 500 Hybrid INS, Valeport bathy suite including
Hybrid Autonomous Systems Evolve
Marine autonomous systems and combinations of such systems are being increasingly put to the test in the offshore space. Elaine Maslin looks at how hybrid remote and autonomous systems are now being tested.Concepts like resident subsea vehicles, for inspection, repair and maintenance, are attractive options, but not the only ones being tried. Deploying remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) from unmanned surface vessels (USVs) are also being tested and put to use. It’s another way to take operators out of harm’s way, centralize operations and cut costs and environmental footprints. But, there&rsq
USV Completes Greater Gabbard Survey
A vessel remotely operated from shore performed survey work for a wind farm in the sea off Suffolk, UK, reportedly marking a first for the offshore wind sector.The XO-450 unmanned surface vessel (USV), owned and operated by XOCEAN, carried out seabed surveys on seven of the turbines at the 140-turbine Greater Gabbard offshore wind farm, located 23 kilometers off the UK coast.The USV is around 4.5 meters long and weighs about 750 kilograms, and can be monitored and controlled 24/7 via a satellite connection by a team at an onshore control center.Throughout the survey, the data collected was monitored
Next Gen LARS for Fugro's New L3-ASV
RC Dock Europe, part of RC Dock USA Inc., delivered two fully automated launch and recovery systems (LARS) for Fugro’s new Autonomous Surface Vessels. (ASV)Designed to be used in rough offshore conditions and operated from a moving support vessel, both LAR systems are fully automated and of a “open” design making it suitable to receive ASV’s with different types of keel mounted payloads up to a weight of 6 Tons.A patented lock and release system consists of a series of special designed magnets which are activated by sensors and controlled by RC Dock’s inhouse
Coda Octopus Debuts Echoscope AIR
Coda Octopus has introduced its newest camera, the Echoscope AIR.The Echoscope AIR initially focuses on the above water, short range construction market applications where imaging and placing objects above the waterline can be as critical as underwater, adding to placement accuracy and efficiency for operators and project construction teams. It gives users an extra level of scene awareness to ensure inspection and monitoring tasks are completed safely and efficiently with the same real-time 3D data and multi-aspect imaging as enjoyed uniquely by Echoscope users, Coda Octopus said. Providing the same
Kraken Finalizes OceanVision Contract
since receiving conditional approval at the end of June 2019. These activities have included the hiring of 20 new employees in Canada, continued development of new product initiatives including Multi-Spectral synthetic aperture sonar (SAS), SeaVision laser scanners and ThunderFish autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and the pursuit of a new robotics as a service joint venture business. In October 2019, Kraken completed its first offshore survey campaign for the OceanVision project, deploying its sensors and unmanned underwater platforms to conduct ultra-high definition seabed imaging and mapping on the
Polarcus Kicks Off Australia Survey
Polarcus has begun the latest phase of the Cygnus regional multi-client 3D survey in the Vulcan Sub-basin, offshore north-west Australia, the marine geophysical company announced on Monday.The 1,500-square-kilometer Phase 3 South survey, covering the Skua, Swift and Montara area, completes over 7,200 square kilometers of continuous XArray Triple Source coverage.The Cygnus anisotropic PSDM dataset provides exploration geoscientists with a 3D dataset which allows evaluation of the basin including a number of farm-in opportunities and several areas of open acreage.The prospectivity of the basin has again
MarTID 2020: The Maritime Training Survey is Open
The third annual global Maritime Training Insights Database (MarTID) 2020 survey is officially open.To facilitate a broader response globally, the MarTID steering group again opted to both shorten the survey and to offer three, targeted versions for these three stakeholders:Vessel Operators,Training Institutions, andSeafarers. Take the Survey Vessel Operator survey link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2020MarTIDOperator METI survey link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2020MarTIDMETI Seafarer survey link: https://www.
TerraSond Wins NOAA Contract
TerraSond reports it has been awarded its seveth consecutive NOAA contract.The five-year IDIQ contract was awarded by the Hydrographic Surveys Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s National Ocean Service, Office of Coast Survey, to provide hydrographic surveying services in the USA.The contract was effective January 1, 2020, with a maximum value of $250 million over five years, subject to appropriation by Congress. Thomas Newman, President, TerraSond, said, “Through our NOAA contracts, we have been performing comprehensive site characterization for
Subsea Robots in the Splash Zone
to effect inspection, maintenance and repair, or IMR. Old submarine anchorages are now subsea testing and training sites, but the North Sea is still the target. Hundreds of aging platforms and subsea structures require IMR that’s too costly, complex or hazardous for divers or remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs.As he walks us through Dora II, the original name of the U-boat pen, OceanTech CEO, Berndt Schjetne, points to corners of the building stashed with rental tools custom-built for a range of past clients: a lift palette for the serpentine ROV, Eelume; a large splash-zone tool with
SMTP Helps to Power Future Ocean Tech
types of fishing bear.A New Kind of Ocean RobotTools that are adaptable and flexible are really the successful ingredients in today’s ocean start-ups. Sunfish Inc., a new subsidiary of Stone Aerospace, and another SMTP grantee, has designed and built a new type of hovering autonomous underwater vehicle (HAUV). Unlike other AUVs, the “Sunfish” is capable of mapping and monitoring its environment to create its own mission plan. This dramatically refines what can be accomplished autonomously, exploring diverse systems from coral reefs to the undersides of glaciers. The Sunfish may also
Rovco Nets $6.5 Mln Investment
Subsea technology firm Rovco announced it has secured £5 million ($6.5 million) in new funding to support international expansion and continued development of 3D computer vision and artificial intelligence (AI) subsea technology.The funding includes a £3.9 million ($5.1 million) Series A investment from Foresight group via the Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund and Foresight VCTs as part of a larger round including funds from existing shareholders.Formed in 2015, Rovco has invested heavily in the development of an AI driven data platform and live 3D vision systems for subsea
NOAA, Ocean Infinity Form Research Partnership
US-based subsea technology and data company Ocean Infinity said it will partner with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office to develop new tools for ultra-high-resolution ocean exploration and mapping.The four-year Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between Ocean Infinity and NOAA's Ocean Exploration and Research (OER) will aim to expand deepwater autonomous technologies that will help advance the transmission of ocean information and develop new data-collection and processing methods to increase the value and relevance of deep-ocean data. A key focus
Drifter Buoys Aid Seaweed Research
Biologists are using drifter buoys fitted with satellite trackers to understand the dramatic increase of Sargassum seaweed across the North Atlantic.The relatively harmless Sargassum has started washing up in areas including the Caribbean and the southeast U.S. in such huge quantities that it is killing coral, impacting fishing and forcing the closure of beaches. By analyzing the GPS data transmitted from SPOT Trace trackers, researchers from the NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, The University of Amsterdam (UvA) and Utrecht University aim to understand where the free-floating,
WHOI Robot Takes First Known Automated Sample from Ocean
A hybrid remotely operated vehicle developed by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) took the first known automated sample performed by a robotic arm in the ocean. Last month, an international team of researchers used one of WHOI’s underwater robots, Nereid Under Ice (NUI), to explore Kolumbo volcano, an active submarine volcano off Greece’s famed Santorini island.“For a vehicle to take a sample without a pilot driving it was a huge step forward,” says Rich Camilli, an associate scientist at WHOI leading the development of automation technology as part of NASA’s
Research Vessel Delivered to Orca Maritime
Institution of Oceanography (R/V Bob and Betty Beyster) in 2019.Orca Maritime will utilize the workboat in support of Department of Defense initiatives, environmental agencies, energy sectors, and commercial enterprise. Vessel operations will include the launch and recovery of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV), underwater gliders, surface and underwater sensors, remotely operated vehicles (ROV), and unmanned surface vehicles (USV). Benthic Cat will also support surface-supplied/SCUBA diving operations and provide onboard data processing.(Photo: Maddie Hunt Photography / Armstrong Marine)The catamaran
DSV Completes US Northeast Campaign
Aqueos Corporation said it has wrapped up saturation diving and remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) campaigns for multiple clients in the US Northeast.The saturation diving vessel DP2 DSV Kelly Ann Candies was used to conduct inspection, maintenance and repair (IMR) work on multiple liquefied natural gas (LNG) offloading facilities in the area in depths down to about 107 meters water depth. Work also included conducting +200-ton lifts for which Aqueos opted to mobilize local barges with winch spreads.Jason Brink, campaign project manager, said, “With our company entering into multiyear
Protecting Ports from Sea Level Rise
Coastal flooding disasters have occurred periodically through history often followed by construction of flood defenses to help ensure it does not happen again. One of the most well known was the 1953 North Sea Flood in the Netherlands when a storm surge occurred on top of astronomical high tides causing thousands of deaths, property and economic damages. The Dutch and UK reacted and increased construction of sea defenses including storm surge barriers, such as the Delta Works and River Thames barriers. In the US the New Bedford/Fairhaven port was severely flooded by hurricanes in
Autonomous Trash Collector Deployed on the River Scheldt
An autonomous plastic collector solution installed on the river Scheldt in Belgium will be tested for a year to collect waste from the water.Aiming to tackle the increasing problem of river pollution, the Flemish authority responsible for waterways in Flanders, the Vlaamse Waterweg, has teamed up with the business world to test the concept of waste collectors.After a call from the Vlaamse Waterweg to companies to submit an innovative proposal, DEME proposed a project for collecting waste by the Temse-Bornem Scheldt bridges. The DEME test setup consists of a fixed installation that passively collects
UKHO Appoints Rear Admiral Sparkes
The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) appointed Rear Admiral Peter Sparkes to the position of National Hydrographer and Deputy Chief Executive.As National Hydrographer, Sparkes is the UK government’s representative at the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), where he works with partners to set and maintain standards that protect the safety of mariners around the world. In addition to this, he oversees key international partnerships with foreign navies, hydrographic offices, governments and commercial organizations to support the sharing of global marine geospatial data. And on behalf of UK
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
