Keppel FELS Sells $210 Million Jackup Rig

Keppel FELS Limited (Keppel FELS) is pleased to announce that PV Drilling Overseas (PVDO) is acquiring from the company a KFELS B Class jackup rig for approximately $210 million. Scheduled for delivery in 1Q 2015, the high specification rig will be the 19th KFELS B Class rig on order at Keppel, with 45 already delivered since 2000. Pham Tien Dung, Chairman of PVDO and CEO of PV Drilling said, "We are…

PlanetSolar Continues Scientific Voyage in North Atlantic

After several days of waiting for favorable weather, the MS Tûranor Planet Solar, the largest solar boat in the world, left the city of Boston, carrying three scientific team members from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), and a researcher from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the largest center of its kind in the world, with whom UNIGE is collaborating for this expedition. This important stopover…

Kraken Debuts New Synthetic Aperture Sonar

A new synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) unveiled this week by Kraken Robotics Inc. is designed to provide ultra high definition seabed mapping with superior area coverage rates, according to the developer."Kraken’s latest development, the AquaPix MINSAS-240 sensor, has been designed to advance the state-of-the-art in seabed mapping for both high-speed towed systems and large diameter unmanned underwater vehicles (LDUUVs)…

Hydroacoustic Package for Norwegian Icebreaker

The new RV Kronprins Haakon, the first Norwegian Icebreaker built for Polar research, and the first purpose built polar research vessel since Roald Amundsen’s Maud launched in 1917, will start regular science cruises in 2017 with a complete hydroacoustic systems package from Kongsberg Maritime. Builder Fincantieri has selected a combined delivery of Kongsberg Maritime survey technology, including a wide range of Simrad scientific research systems for the Kronprins Haakon.

GL Noble Denton Awarded BG Group Offshore Asset Contract

GL Noble Denton has renewed & expanded its contract to provide structural integrity management services to BG Group’s North Sea assets following a competitive tender. The three-year deal will see the independent technical advisor continue its 13-year tenure as structural integrity management provider for BG Group’s North Sea Armada platform. As part of the new contract, GL Noble Denton will also extend its role to support further assets operated by the international gas company in the North Sea.

Klein Marine Systems: Side Scan Sonar Training

Side scan sonar systems manufacturer Klein Marine Systems will host a three-day side scan sonar training course at the Seacoast Science Center in Rye Beach, N.H., with practical sessions on UNH Gulf Challenger, based in Newcastle, N.H. Participants will develop a thorough understanding of sonar image analysis as well as get hands-on experience with single beam sonars such as the dual-frequency Klein 4900 and the high-speed, Multi-Beam Klein 5000 V2.

MacArtney Launches NEXUS MK VII MultiPlexer

At Ocean Business MacArtney launched the NEXUS MK VII multiplexer, while other recent MacArtney developments, such as the LUXUS wide angle LED, will also be on display. Moreover, stand visitors had the chance learn about the MacArtney range of advanced hydrostatic pressure testing vessels and examine a 3D scale model MERMAC foldable A-Frame representing the company’s new series of cutting-edge LARS solutions.

Bluefin, MIT Demonstrate AUV Plug-n-Play Payload Autonomy

Bluefin Robotics, a provider of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), and the Laboratory of Autonomous Marine Sensing Systems (LAMSS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced that the team has demonstrated the MOOS-IvP Payload Autonomy, or Backseat Driver, concept running on a field exchangeable GumstixTM computer on two Bluefin AUVs, a Bluefin-9 and Bluefin-21. The MOOS-IvP autonomy…

GMSL Converts Fleet with MakaiLay Software

Global Marine Systems Ltd. (GMSL)  is in the process of converting six of its cable installation and repair vessels to begin using the latest Makai software technology. With the addition of GMSL to the list of customers, Makai software products are now used by large installers and smaller telecom cable installers throughout the world, accounting for more than 80% of the world’s cable installation fleet, the company said.

Divers Highlight Interoperability in Finding, Neutralizing Mines

Divers from five nations are training together to identify and neutralize mines and other threats in order to ensure the waterways in the Middle East remain safe for commercial shipping. Explosive ordnance disposal teams from Kuwait, France, the Netherlands, Germany and the U.S. are conducting a series of drills to address some of the biggest notional threats to maritime commerce as part of the International Mine Countermeasures Exercise (IMCMEX).

Kongsberg Tech Package for Sweden’s New Subs

The Swedish Navy together with SAAB Kockums AB has selected an active sonar suite and bottom navigation technology from Kongsberg Maritime for installation on two next generation A26 submarines, which are due for delivery no later than 2022. The contract was awarded through a competitive international tender process and follows a 2015 contract win covering similar systems for two Swedish Navy A19 submarines.

New Sonardyne ‘Syrinx’ Doppler Velocity Log

Sonardyne introduced its first ever Doppler Velocity Log, called Syrinx, developed to meet the needs of surface and subsea vehicles that require high integrity, high performance navigation aiding over a wide range of water depths and seabed type. The Syrinx DVL employs full linear signal processing to provide very low noise, high precision velocity measurements over a wide range of seabed bottom types and altitudes.

Italian Maritime Robotics Expert Bags DNV GL Award

Marco Bibuli was announced as the winner of the DNV GL COMPIT Award 2017 for smart underwater robotics, which took place in Cardiff this year. The Italian maritime robotics expert, working at the Italian research center CNR-ISSIA in Genova, was honored for his work on team-capable smart robots. “The jury singled out Marco Bibuli, because his work brought advanced techniques of Artificial Intelligence to practical applications, representing innovative engineering at its finest.

US Offshore Wind Energy: First-Ever Lease Sale

Historic auction leases nearly 165,000 acres offshore Rhode Island and Massachusetts for wind energy development, to advance President’s Climate Action Plan. The provisional winner of the’s lease sale, which auctioned two leases for a Wind Energy Area of 164,750 acres offshore Rhode Island and Massachusetts for wind energy development, is Deepwater Wind New England, LLC. When built, these areas could generate enough combined energy to power more than one million homes.

El Faro’s Voyage Data Recorder Located

The voyage data recorder (VDR) belonging to sunken cargo ship El Faro was found early Tuesday morning in 15,000 feet of water, about 41 miles northeast of Acklins and Crooked Islands, Bahamas, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced. A specialist team comprised of investigators and scientists from the NTSB, the U.S. Coast Guard, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Tote Services…

Paradigm Flow Services Doubles Turnover to £10 Million

Rising demand for offshore blockage removal technologies has boosted turnover at Paradigm Flow Services, as the company announces it has almost doubled its figures. The Aberdeenshire-based firm achieved £10.7 million turnover in 2013, nearly twice the 2012 level of £5.4 million. As the blockage removal experts for the oil and gas sector, Paradigm Flow Services is focused on new technology and has brought two developments to market this year so far.

Ashtead Offering Neptune's Leak Detection

Ashtead Technology has secured a deal with Neptune Oceanographics Limited, adding underwater leak detection products to its rental fleet. Ashtead Technology will now offer Neptune’s leak detection systems and sensors including long range fluorescence and passive acoustics for rent to customers. Neptune Oceanographics products provide subsea pipeline leak detection services. With a major research and development program…

Vsense to Bring MacArtney Underwater Tech to Israel

The MacArtney Group has signed a representative agreement with Vsense Technologies Ltd., a technology company based in Israel. The two companies will team up to offer underwater technology products and solutions to clients within Israeli markets. Operating out of high-tech Kibbutz Einat in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, Vsense Technologies designs, develops and markets video, audio, data surveillance…

Man-made Warming the Main Cause of Glacier Retreat -Study

Man-made greenhouse gas emissions have become the dominant cause of melting in glaciers from the Alps to the Andes that is raising world sea levels, a study said on Thursday. Human emissions accounted for an estimated 69 percent of loss of ice from glaciers from 1991-2010, overtaking natural climate variations that had been the main driver of a retreat since the mid-19th century, researchers wrote in the journal Science.

MTR 100: BIRNS, Inc. - Celebrating 60 Years

BIRNS has supported the deep submergence oceanic community with products that deliver everything from faster, more robust communication to brilliance in the murky depths. The company’s contributions in the marine market began in the 1950s when it was asked to develop subsea systems for the US Navy for the highly classified Polaris underwater missile ejection project and later for Sealab. Today BIRNS is relied upon to provide powerful lighting solutions…