NOC Celebrates 25th Anniversary of First AUV Mission

This year, the National Oceanography Center (NOC) is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its first Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) mission. Over the last quarter of a century, the NOC’s underwater robots have been at the center of countless missions across the world in the most extreme marine environments to support scientific ocean research. As the world gathers in Glasgow at the COP26 summit…

Atlantic Canada’s First Instream Tidal Energy Set for Delivery in Early 2022

Sustainable Marine is set to demonstrate that Nova Scotia can produce vast amounts of clean and predictable energy from its world-famous tidal streams, after completing construction of its substation at Grand Passage.“We are on target to connect the platform to the substation in the first quarter of next year,” said company CEO Jason Hayman while attending the annual Marine Renewables Canada conference in Halifax this week.

Jeff Holtom New Seatronics Middle East Manager

Acteon company, Seatronics Ltd., has appointed Jeff Holtom as regional manager in the Middle East. Based in Abu Dhabi, Holtom’s responsibilities at Seatronics Ltd. will include sales and marketing, overall Quality, Health, Safety and Environment (QHSE) responsibility and general and management of the Seatronics office in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Holtom has a degree in land and hydrographic surveying from North East London Polytechnic, UK.

US Navy Orders Production of Hydroid AUV's

Hydroid littoral battlespace sensing Autonomous Unverwater Vehicles (AUV's) enter full rate production for SPARWAR. Hydroid, Inc., a subsidiary of Kongsberg Maritime and a leading manufacturer of AUV's, announce that its contract to provide Littoral Battlespace Sensing (LBS) AUVs to the U.S. Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) has moved directly from the Engineering Development Model (EDM) phase to full rate production (FRP).

Mooring-free Buoy Launched

Ocean Scientific International Ltd. (OSIL) have teamed up with U.K.-based ASV Ltd. to offer a low-cost, mobile alternative to a permanent moored buoy system for all monitoring applications, but particularly targeted at oil, gas, dredging activities and environmental monitoring. OSIL is a manufacturer of data buoy systems for all applications and locations, including dredge monitoring projects and environmental management schemes.

DOF Subsea Selects Sonardyne Navigation Tech

International subsea services provider DOF Subsea has chosen acoustic and inertial navigation technology from Sonardyne Brasil Ltda. to support its deepwater operations from three vessels offshore Brazil.The three vessels will be equipped with Sonardyne’s SPRINT-Nav all-in-one subsea navigation instrument for underwater vehicles. A remote operated vehicle (ROV) on one of the vessels will also be fitted with a Sonardyne Syrinx Doppler Velocity Log (DVL), in place of its existing system.

JFC Acquires Ortega Submersibles

JFD, a part of James Fisher and Sons plc, acquired all the assets, IP and designs rights of Ortega Submersibles BV, a Netherlands-based submersible boat designer and manufacturer. The acquisition will enable JFD to expand further its offering of advanced Swimmer Delivery Vehicles (SDVs) and to develop new vehicles and capabilities in order to meet increased market demand for specialized small and medium-sized craft.JFD…

Higher Learning & SINTEF’s Existential Rise

Sure, basic (open-ended) research gave us penicillin — but thousands of applied (commercial, finite) research projects carried out for governments and industry yield facts and non-stop innovation. At SINTEF, Norway’s premier research body, the breadth and number of research undertakings are mostly targeted for industrial and national clients, but the results speak of wide-ranging societal impact.Over our decades of SINTEF coverage…

Lifeboat Converted Into Unsinkable Solar-Powered Arctic Excursion Boat

A new solar vessel that can theoretically be submerged and remain unharmed has been produced by repurposing a lifeboat that could originally accommodate 100 people.Two British architects, Guylee Simmonds and David Schnabel, recognized that the craft could be converted into an adventure vessel that could explore the Norwegian Artic while offering its occupants all the comforts of home.“We wanted to experience a range of different cultures…

GoFree Debuts Lake Insight & Nautic Insight Cartography

GoFree – the provider of digital content and services, and part of the Navico family of marine electronics brands including Lowrance, Simrad Yachting and B&G – announced today the release of six updated mapping products for use in both inland and coastal U.S. waters. Greatly improved for 2015, Lake Insight® and Nautic Insight® cartography packages are each available in three versions: PRO, HD East and HD West.

Viridien, TGS and Aquila Holdings Deliver Utsira OBN Reprocessing Project

Viridien and its partners TGS and Aquila Holdings, under its subsidiary Axxis Multi Client, have completed the reprocessing of the Utsira ocean bottom node (OBN) seismic survey in the Norwegian North Sea.Utsira is the largest OBN survey conducted on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and required the deployment of more than 144,000 nodes and over 5.5 million shots.Covering an area of 2077 square kilometers in a mature part of the North Sea…

Greensea IQ Lands $2.8M Contract for US Navy’s ROV Defender Platform Upgrade

Marine robotics specialist Greensea IQ has secured a $2.79 million contract through the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) and Darley of Itasca to improve the capabilities of U.S. Navy’s MK20 Defender Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) platform.Under the contract, Greensea IQ will supply the U.S. Navy with the IQNS system, enhanced with the EOD Edge Upgrade.The IQNS system is being delivered over the next four to six months, providing cutting-edge navigation and autonomy solutions to the U.S.

Viridien, TGS Deliver High-Res Data for Sleipner Area in North Sea

Viridien, in collaboration with joint venture partner TGS, has delivered the final processed data from the multi-client Sleipner Ocean Bottom Node (OBN) project.The Sleipner OBN survey, the second of two dense multi-client OBN surveys acquired in the North Sea in 2023, covers 1,201 square kilometers in a mature region of the North Sea that includes the Sleipner East, Sleipner West, Gina Krog, Volve and Utgard fields…

Seatools Unveils New Deepwater Excavator

Subsea technology company Seatools has introduced the Carrera E 3D motion-controlled precision flow excavation spread. The 630+ kW, all-electric deepwater excavator features Seatools’ advanced ROV DP technology and sets the stage for better accuracy, production and workability in the mass flow excavation (MFE).Seatools developed the Carrera E mass flow excavation spread leveraging its capabilities in heave compensation and ROV control technologies.

Saildrone Closes $100 Million Series C Funding Round

Saildrone in mid-October announced the close of its $100 million Series C round, bringing its total funding to $190 million.Led by BOND, the round includes new investors XN, Standard Investments, Emerson Collective and Crowley Maritime Corporation, as well as participation from previous investors, Capricorn’s Technology Impact Fund, Lux Capital, Social Capital and Tribe Capital. Saildrone said it will…

Teledyne Marine Unveils Multiple New Product launches at Ocean Business

Meet Teledyne Marine at stand no T7 and for dockside demos at HS 02Ocean Business (National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, UK, from April 8–10, 2025) is the launch venue for an exciting range of brand new products from Teledyne Marine. Visitors to Teledyne Marine’s stands in the exhibition hall and dockside will have the opportunity to explore its newest product launches and trusted industry solutions…

Unmanned Vessels Help to Protect Threatened Marine Lives in China

In April 2022, Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs) and passive acoustic monitoring technologies were used in China for the first time to monitor and investigate the population of Chinese White Dolphins that inhabit the National Nature Reserve in Pearl River Estuary of Guangdong.The Chinese White Dolphin, or Sousa Chinensis, is renowned as the "panda of the ocean." It was classed as "vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Saipem's FlatFish Drone to be Deployed for Ultra-deepwater Inspection at Shell and Petrobras Fields in Brazil

Italian oilfield services and technology company Saipem will provide its FlatFish subsea drone for Shell's and Petrobras' ultra-deepwater projects in Brazil.Under the contract, Shell and Petrobras will use Saipem's FlatFish subsea drone in two pilot projects encompassing the inspection campaigns of two ultra-deepwater fields offshore Brazil.These two projects with Shell and Petrobras are pilots and fall within the framework of the research and development program of ANP…

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)…

JDR Wraps Up Type Test Qualification of Next-Gen Offshore Wind Cables

JDR Cable Systems (JDR), part of the TFKable Group, has completed two new type test qualifications at 132kV for static and dynamic array cables, supporting the next generation of fixed and floating offshore wind projects.The successful testing marks a critical step in delivering U.K.-manufactured high-voltage cables, ready to support larger turbines and deliver power over longer distances, enabling…