Hardide Coatings: First ROV Application

Hardide Coatings completed its first application for a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) for Seatronics with exceptional test results, the company claims, resulting in improved performance. Since using the coating on a critical part of the thruster system, the Predator ROV manufactured by Seatronics reportedly has increased in performance and power, with critical wear issues also vastly improved. David Currie…

Osbit Builds Cable Test Rig for Subsea

North East engineering specialist Osbit Ltd has developed a cable bend fatigue test rig for the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult that will support the development, and improve the performance and reliability, of subsea cables.According to a press release from the company, the Northumberland-based Osbit designed and built the 15-tonne cable fatigue test rig to ORE Catapult’s specifications.With cable-related failures accounting for up to 80% of offshore wind project insurance claims…

Riptide Selects Teledyne RD Instruments DVL

Underwater vehicle manufacturer Riptide Autonomous Solutions has selected Teledyne RD Instruments’ (TRDI) new ultra-compact 600 kHz Pathfinder Doppler Velocity Log (DVL) to provide precision navigation capability for a recent Micro-UUV order for the U.S. Navy.The Pathfinder delivers a small form factor, advanced features and Teledyne’s extensive track-record for delivering proven navigation solutions.

HP to Help Carnegie Develop AI-Tech for Wave Energy Project

Australian wave energy technology developer Carnegie Clean Energy has signed an agreement with Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE) to cooperate on a project to develop a reinforcement learning-based controller for the CETO wave energy technology.CETO is a fully submerged, point absorber type wave energy technology. A submerged buoy sits a few meters below the surface of the ocean and moves with the ocean’s waves.

Derecktor Wins Deal to Build Hybrid RVl for University of Vermont

The University of Vermont (UVM) has ordered what is touted as the first hybrid research vessel, a project which brings together Derecktor Shipyards, BAE Systems and Chartwell Marine.The 19-meter catamaran will be designed for low-emission, low-fuel-burn operations and is set for launch in April 2022. Chartwell Marine’s hybrid design, which is powered by two Cummins QSB 6.7m 306hp diesel engines and two BAE AC traction motors…

WMU PhD Candidate Ambrose Wins Goldman Environmental Prize

Kristal Ambrose, a PD candidate at the World Maritime University, is the recipient of the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize 2020. The award is the world’s foremost environmental prize and honors outstanding environmental activism through community and citizen participation on critical sustainability issues facing the planet.Ambrose founded the Bahamas Plastic Movement in 2013 to develop solutions…

Ireland's First: XOCEAN Deploys Uncrewed Vessel for Survey in Irish Waters

XOCEAN last week launched an Uncrewed Surface Vessel (USV) in Ireland to carry out an environmental survey of the seabed in collaboration with Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT). Launched off County Louth coast, off the Mid-East Region of Ireland, this was, per XOCEAN, the first time an uncrewed vessel has operated in Irish waters and "represents a major step forward in reducing the carbon footprint…

New Robot Can Sense Plankton Optically and Acoustically

A team of biological and physical oceanographers and engineers have modified a common physical oceanography instrument to be able to image zooplankton as it glides through the ocean.The robot, a first-of-its-kind sensing instrument dubbed Zooglider by Mark Ohman, a biological oceanographer at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, uses as its platform a Scripps-developed glider known as Spray.

Teledyne Gavia Introduces ASW Training Target Module

Autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) manufacturer Teledyne Gavia said it has recently delivered a Sonar Transponder Module (STM) for ASW training to an undisclosed military customer.The STM module made by Scanmatic AS of Norway and integrated into a Gavia payload module is capable of receiving and retransmitting sonar signals for training sonar operators. The STM consists of a flooded transducer compartment, an electronic compartment and a hydrophone that is towed behind the Gavia AUV.

ECA Group and iXblue Discussing Merger

French autonomous robotics companies ECA Group and iXblue have entered an exclusive negotiations period to bring the two French companies together and merge, and create "a European high-tech industrial champion in the fields of maritime, inertial navigation, space, and photonics.""Long-standing partners, ECA Group and iXblue benefit from strong technological and commercial synergies. Bringing those two companies together will create a world-class player in the civil and defense sectors.

New InmarsatSatellite Reaches Geostationary Orbit, Testing Begins

I-6 F1, Inmarsat's most sophisticated commercial communications satellite\, has reached geostationary orbit and begun on-orbit testing, Carrying both L-band and Ka-band payloads, I-6 F1 will deliver a further enhancement of Inmarsat’s ELERA and Global Xpress networks respectively.The satellite, the size of a London double-decker bus, with a solar array ‘wingspan’ larger than a Boeing 767, was launched by MHI in Japan in December 2021.

Virginia-Class Submarine Montana (SSN 794) Delivered to US Navy

America’s largest shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) on Friday delivered the newest Virginia-class fast-attack submarine to the U.S. Navy. Montana (SSN 794), which successfully completed sea trials last month, is the 10th Virginia-class submarine to be delivered by HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division and the 21st built as part of the teaming agreement with General Dynamics’ Electric Boat.“We continue to be proud of our partnership with the U.S.

A Seismic Shift

Despite oil prices recently edging past $80 a barrel, scars from two recent oil industry downturns in five years have forced offshore seismic surveyors to look at ways to diversify.Marine seismic survey companies provide essential data to offshore oil and gas explorers to make better-informed drilling decisions. However, with every oil industry downturn, seismic players are among the first to feel the pang…

GeoAcoustis Launches New Sub-Bottom Profiler and Software Integration Capabilities

Hydroacoustic sensor technology developer GeoAcoustics has launched the GeoPulse 2 Sub-Bottom Profiler, while also announcing the new integration between GeoPulse Compact and Geo-Suite seismic acquisition software.Designed for diverse applications including pipeline detection, geological surveys, dredging surveys, environmental assessments, and buried object detection, GeoPulse 2 is a highly versatile…

Shearwater and Mondaic Enter Strategic Alliance to Optimize Seismic Surveys

Marine seismic acquisition firm Shearwater Geoservices and Mondaic, a provider of proprietary software and services for high-resolution 3D imaging, have entered a strategic collaboration for development and use of full waveform inversion solutions to enhance high-resolution subsurface imaging and optimize seismic acquisition surveys.As part of the agreement, Shearwater has acquired exclusive and perpetual…

Anduril to Build Extra Large AUVs for Royal Australian Navy

Defense technology company Anduril Industries has entered into commercial negotiations with the  Australian Defence Force for a US$100 million co-funded design, development, and manufacturing program for Extra Large Autonomous Undersea Vehicles (XL-AUVs) for the Royal Australian Navy.According to Anduril, the XL-AUV will be an affordable, autonomous, long-endurance, multi-mission capable AUV. "It is modular…

NEW PRODUCT: EIVA Debuts Entry-level Hydrographic Survey Software

EIVA’s new software variant NaviSuite Kuda Core provides advanced hydrographic survey software capabilities at an entry-level price. Tailored to support hydrographic surveys with a single USV or small survey vessel using multi-beam echosounder (including backscatter), LiDAR and/or camera, this software solution is  priced at €1,998 annually, designed to be simple to configure and run.In addition, it provides advanced hydrographic survey features from NaviSuite Kuda software…

TECH FILE: Acoustic Tech Used to Understand Climate Change in the Arctic

Major changes are occurring in the ocean. Climate change and subsequent melting sea ice are not necessarily good changes. Why are acoustic Doppler current profilers an invaluable tool to get a complete picture of the Arctic’s changing wave conditions in the context of climate change?In the Arctic, the end-of-summer sea ice extent in 2020 was the second-lowest in the last 42 years.“The ice used to melt out in June or July. Now it melts out in May. It used to come back in September or October.

Spanish Navy Ship Sent to Draw Up Maps Loses Its Way

A Spanish Navy ship tasked with updating nautical charts to make navigation safer got stranded on Thursday near the island of Ibiza in the Mediterranean, the Navy said.The vessel Malaspina was exploring an area of shallows to the west of the island and got stuck on one of them. Rescue teams have been sent to help remove the vessel from the ground, the Navy said in a statement."After an initial inspection... no structural damage can be seen," it said.

Portuguese Navy conducts Hydrography Training with EQS Falcon

Training exercises aboard a Portuguese Navy hydrographic vessel have been completed by EQS (Environment Quality Services) using their Saab Seaeye Falcon robot.Teams from the Portuguese Hydrographic Institute and EQS undertook several exercises over three days on board the Portuguese Navy vessel Andrómeda, commanded by First Lieutenant Ribeiro de Carvalho, off the coast of Portugal.The main objective…