New Alliance Set Up to Boost Australia’s Subsea Sector
of subsea assets requiring to be decommissioned includes over 1,500 wells and structures and 4,500km of pipelines with major opportunities for specialist plugging, cutting, inspection and recovery technologies,“Meanwhile in offshore wind, largely focused on key areas in the South East and Western Australia, there are projects totaling 11GW. The subsea requirement for cables, foundations, survey and protection systems across upwards of 700 turbines provides a significant future opportunity for UK subsea companies,” Gordon concluded
Carbon Dumping
snake, the red necked wallaby. More pertinent to the discussion of offshore carbon capture and storage (CCS), there’s the green sea turtle, pygmy blue whale and the dusky sea snake.It’s these three species that environmental groups say are amongst those under threat at Scott Reef in Western Australia if Woodside’s Browse CCS project goes ahead.The environmental groups call it “carbon dumping” rather than CCS in what could be interpreted as blackwashing, in contrast to the greenwashing that they are accusing Woodside of doing.The news is discussed this week in Marine Technology
Woodside Accused of Greenwashing Over CCS Plans
The Australian government’s call for two weeks of public consultation starting January 2 on Woodside Energy’s plans to sequester CO2 as part of the Browse project off Western Australia has met with opposition from environmental groups. The consultation period enables interested parties to voice their opinion on whether or not an environmental impact statement is required.The proposed Browse carbon capture and storage (CCS) project would capture a compressed CO2 stream from onboard the two FPSOs proposed as part of the Browse to NWS Project. Woodside, as operator, is proposing to develop
Curtin, NASA Tap Ocean Information from Space
and the National Institute of Standards and Technology on a new-generation satellite mission to study the colour of the ocean from space, providing vital information about ocean health and its role in climate regulation.Researchers recently deployed a 15-metre-tall buoy off the coast of Perth, Western Australia, as part of a new project to ensure the data quality for NASA’s newly launched PACE (Plankton, Aerosols, Clouds, Ocean Ecosystems) satellite mission.Professor David Antoine, head of Curtin’s Remote Sensing and Satellite Research Group (RSSRG) in the School of Earth and Planetary
Whale Sharks Beware!
forced to move into cooler environments, and this would make them 15,000 times more likely to collide with ships.The study, published in Nature Climate Change, was led by the Marine Biological Association and co-authored by Associate Professor Ana Sequeira and Dr Mark Meekan, from The University of Western Australia’s Oceans Institute, and Dr Luciana Cerqueira Ferreira and Dr Michele Thums from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and adjuncts at UWA’s Oceans Institute.“Moving to cooler regions may protect whale sharks from climate change, but we found it can also expose
Australia Conducts First Maintenance of US Nuclear Submarine
time on Friday, a key step by AUKUS partners to deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific, the defense ministers of Australia, Britain and the United States said.Australian personnel trained with the United States and Britain over the past year ahead of the submarine maintenance at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia, involving personnel from the three nations."Our navies are committed to reinforcing the same guiding principles within Australia that have allowed the United States and United Kingdom to safely operate nuclear-powered ships for nearly 70 years," the ministers said in a joint statement
Barge Confirmed as Earliest Known Wreck in Swan River
A barge wreck found in September last year has been confirmed as the earliest known shipwreck discovered to date in Western Australia's Swan River, the WA Museum said. The barge was identified as one that lost in 1882 while carrying limestone from Fremantle to Perth.The State Government's release of detailed 3D multibeam surveys of the Swan River riverbed played a crucial role in the initial discovery of the wreck, which was first identified by Maritime Archaeology Association WA President Patrick Morrison and his colleagues Jess Green and Ian McCann.Following this discovery in 2023, WA Museum
Most Marine Protection Measures are Not Working; A New Approach is Needed
The radio crackles into life on a small boat off an idyllic beach in Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia. Two recreational fishers are trying to catch prized spangled emperors in a sanctuary zone, where all fishing is supposed to be banned, to help protect this fish from overfishing.A recreational fisher further down the coast is using his radio to alert others of the imminent arrival of marine park wardens in a patrol boat. The two fishers calmly stash their rods, power up the large outboard engine, and motor away from the sanctuary zone. By the time the wardens arrive, all appears calm and well.
Can Underwater Sound Signals Solve Aviation’s Greatest Mystery?
of kilometres, making hydrophones a valuable tool for identifying and classifying events in marine environments.For our study, we analysed data from the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization’s (CTBTO) hydroacoustic stations. We focused on data from stations at Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia and Diego Garcia, an island in the Indian Ocean.Both locations were operational around the time MH370 is believed to have crashed. These stations are located within tens of minutes’ signal travel time from the seventh arc. CTBTO stations have previously detected distinctive pressure signals
February 2025
