Bolton to Lead Unique Systems’ Middle East Oil & Gas Division

Unique System FZE, a Unique Maritime Group company, an integrated turnkey subsea and offshore solution providers, has announced the joining of Martin Bolton as the new Division Head for its Oil & Gas Division for the Middle East Region. Bolton will be based at Unique’s head office in Sharjah in the UAE. Bolton’s main responsibilities will include leading and developing the Oil & Gas Division’s team and to ensure that the high product quality…

All Eyes on Ireland

Dr. Edel O’Connor discusses Ireland’s rapidly expanding subsea industry. Ireland’s ocean economy is a growing and vibrant part of the overall Irish economy, with up to 9 percent blue growth reported over recent years. The vision set out in the Irish Government’s ‘Our Ocean Wealth’ strategy has ambitious targets to increase the turnover from the country’s ocean economy to exceed €6.4 billion by 2020 and to double the value of its ocean wealth to 2.4 percent of GDP by 2030.

EIVA Launches New NaviPac Module

EIVA has launched a new module for the offshore navigation solution NaviPac, developed in close collaboration with Subsea 7. The Bundle Monitor module has already proven its worth, having undergone numerous field tests in connection with the offshore transportation and installation of a pre-assembled six-kilometer pipeline bundle. EIVA has further developed the NaviPac navigation software solution with a module dedicated to the navigation of particularly large structures at sea.

MTR100 '13 Woods Hole Group, Inc.

81 Technology Drive, East Falmouth, Mass., U.S. CEO/President:    Dennis B. Woods Hole Group contributes new technologies related to measuring and modeling the marine environment for a diverse client base. The company has proven the ability to evolve and sustain a business centered on the coastal and ocean zone for more than 25 years. WHG focuses on: Coastal Sciences, Engineering & Planning; Applied Ecology; and Oceanography and Measurement Systems.

European e-Navigation Solutions Tested for Human Factors

The EU funded EfficienSea2 project, which aims to implement innovative and smart solutions to increase efficient, safe and sustainable traffic at sea, has finished a full-scale simulation of a wide variety of e-Navigation solutions. The simulations, which involved 8 navigators and took a total of four days, were conducted at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden and focused on the human factors in e-Navigation.

Rivette Joins C&C’s Geotechnical Division

C & C Technologies Inc. announced that Jill Rivette has joined the Geotechnical Division in Houston as a Senior Geotechnical Engineer. Jill is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Texas and brings with her many years of experience in geotechnical engineering. The C & C geotechnical laboratory has been quite active in 2014 performing standard and advanced soil tests on core samples obtained from offshore East Africa…

Eaton to Exhibit at SMM

Power management company Eaton will demonstrate its expanded ability to deliver electrical, explosion-proof and hydraulic equipment for the marine and offshore industry at the international maritime trade fair SMM 2014 from September 9-12 in Hamburg. Visitors to Eaton’s stand can learn about the company’s offerings that help shipbuilders use electrical, fluid and mechanical power more reliably, efficiently, safely and sustainably.

Rolls-Royce Designs UK's New Polar Research Vessel

Cammell Laird has selected a Rolls-Royce design for the U.K.’s future polar research ship, which, when built, will be one of the most advanced scientific maritime vessels ever constructed. Rolls-Royce will also supply machinery and equipment for the vessel in a deal worth $43.6 million. The 128 meter long ship, which will be named RRS Sir David Attenborough, will be built at the modular construction hall at Cammell Laird’s site in Birkenhead on Merseyside.

USVs and the Future of Subsea Defense

Unmanned Revolution: USVs Set to Conquer the Seas. According to Frost & Sullivan, replacing manned systems with USV is not a question of if but when. Unmanned surface vessels (USV) still lag far behind their aerial equivalents in terms of technical capabilities, technology and deployment. However, new threats, cost-benefit calculations, operational experiences in the past decade and new technological developments are driving rapid growth in the market.

New Heavyweight Torpedo Enters Final Development

A new torpedo design being developed under the Artémis program, which aims to equip all French Navy nuclear submarines with new high-performance heavyweight torpedoes, has propelled into its final development phase with the recent completion of a successful round of test firing off the Mediterranean coast. The F21 torpedo is being developed by European naval defense and marine renewable energies technology company DCNS…

RDSEA International, Inc.

104 32nd Avenue, St. RDSEA International, Inc., St Pete Beach, Florida, founded in 2002 by Rick Cole while a Research Associate at the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science, around the increased need for experience and expertise in “ocean technologies” in the blue-water and coastal regions of our oceans, bays and estuaries (fresh water not to be excluded). RDSEA’s foundation began on federal…

Bluefin Robotics

President: David P. No. Bluefin Robotics, a Battelle Company, develops, builds, and operates Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), subsea batteries, and related technologies for defense, commercial, and scientific customers worldwide. It offers a full range of modular, free-flooded AUV platforms having designed in more than 50 different configurations. The Bluefin team brings a unique set of skills including hard-won expertise in the application of advanced materials…

Melting Sea Ice: A Canary in the Coal Mine

The rapid loss of Arctic sea ice is a sentinel. Most of us will never venture into the Arctic, but it can and does provide us with a forewarning of impacts coming to our parts of the Earth – and some of the most significant impacts will directly affect the maritime industry. In earlier times, coal miners were sometimes overcome by the buildup of odorless carbon monoxide gas. Some died as a consequence. Eventually it was realized that canaries were more susceptible to the gas than were humans.

Johns Hopkins University Orders Second Iver2 Research AUV

OceanServer Technology announced that the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) has agreed to purchase another Iver2 AUV for delivery this summer. This second system provides additional capability for APL’s general research, including the development of underwater sensor systems. Founded in 1942, APL is a not-for-profit center for engineering, research and development, and solves complex problems that present critical challenges to the nation.

Navy-Funded Whale Tagging Study Begins

A Navy-funded study to continue documenting blue and fin whale distribution, occurrence and movement patterns along the U.S. West Coast and throughout the Eastern Pacific has begun, informs U.S. Pacific Fleet Public Affairs. Oregon State University researchers will attempt to locate and attach up to 24 long-term satellite tracking tags to blue and fin whales off Southern California. The researchers will deploy from Santa Barbara or Long Beach…

Underwater Volcano Dubbed World’s Largest

A University of Houston (UH) professor led a team of scientists to uncover the largest single volcano yet documented on Earth. Covering an area roughly equivalent to the British Isles or the state of New Mexico, this volcano, dubbed the Tamu Massif, is nearly as big as the giant volcanoes of Mars, placing it among the largest in the Solar System. William Sager, a professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at UH…

UTEC Survey Completes Apache Infield AUV Inspection

UTEC Survey Australia Pty Ltd announced the successful completion of a major infield inspection of approximately 550 km of pipelines and 20 infield structures off the North West coast of Australia using two of its Gavia autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV). The work was completed on behalf of Apache Energy Limited. Offshore activity commenced in mid-June and saw UTEC provide two of its latest model Gavia AUV systems equipped with a full suite of survey sensors.

Colombia Moves to Salvage Treasure from Spanish Shipwreck

Colombia is making progress towards salvaging a Spanish galleon carrying jewels and coins that sank more than 300 years ago, President Juan Manuel Santos said on Wednesday after receiving a proposal from an investor to bring it to the surface. The ship named San Jose, thought by historians to be carrying one of the largest unsalvaged maritime treasures, sank in 1708 near the historical Caribbean port of Cartagena, and its wreckage was located in 2015.

DNV GL's P&A Guideline Could Save O&G $ 32 bln

The plugging and abandonment (P&A) of offshore wells represents a significant cost to operating companies and national authorities. On the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) alone, the cost is estimated to be USD108bn (NOK1870bn) over the next 40 years. Now a new DNV GL guideline will introduce a risk-based approach instead of the current prescriptive practice. DNV GL estimates that when combined with optimized project execution and new technology, the P&A cost can be reduced by 30-50%.

Dolphin's New 3D Seismic Vessel Fully Operational

Dolphin announced that the newly delivered high-capacity 3D seismic vessel, Polar Empress, is in full production towing 14 streamers on the Maud Extension Multi-Client survey in the Barents Sea. At the end of June, the vessel will mobilize for an exclusive contract with duration in excess of three months. Dolphin claims the special purpose built seismic vessel is one of the most advanced vessel in the industry.