Will 2020 be the year for Subsea Mining?

Anyone who has been around the Offshore Oil and Gas or the Marine industries for long has heard of plans for mining various minerals located on or just below the seafloor. In fact, when Howard Hughes built the Glomar Explorer in 1972, the cover story for its true mission – recovering a Soviet submarine - was that the rig would be used to mine manganese nodules from the deep ocean floor. This cover…

Unmanned Maritime Systems Development Accelerates

There is little question that world militaries see the value of unmanned systems to complement their manned counterparts. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan accelerated the development of unmanned aerial systems and unmanned ground systems to meet urgent operational needs. Now, there is increasing interest in unmanned surface systems, resulting in their placement on an accelerated development path.Like their air and ground counterparts…

Fleet of Ocean Robots, Buoys, Set for Deployment Off Plymouth

What has been described as a first-of-its-kind multi-million-pound fleet of innovative and interconnected marine technologies is soon set to be deployed off the coast of Plymouth, UK, according to Plymouth Marine Laboratory, a marine research institute.An 8.5-meter-tall Autonomous Data Buoy featuring a set of onboard sensors will soon be deployed offshore as part of Smart Sound Plymouth’s plan to create…

Nauticus Robotics Wins Contract with U.S. DIU for Autonomous Amphibious Robot

Nauticus Robotics, a developer of autonomous ocean robots and associated services, said Wednesday it had secured a second multi-million dollar contract with the U.S. Defense Innovation Unit (“DIU”) for the development of an amphibious unmanned system also utilizing the company’s autonomous command and control software platform, ToolKITT. This development follows Nauticus’ previous DIU award announcement on February 15, 2022, where ToolKITT is being utilized aboard the U.S.

Offshore Energy Outlook for 2020

The “new normal” is a phrase tossed around often in offshore energy circles today as those servicing and operating in the sector grapple with the harsh realities of the prolonged industry downturn. Operators, service companies and equipment suppliers have been forced to adjust to oil selling at prices well below the $100+ per barrel mark seen in years past. As of this writing, Brent oil was hovering around $62 per barrel…

Ashtead Technology Wraps Subsea Installation Monitoring Project Using LUMA Modems

UK-based subsea equipment rental and solutions firm Ashtead Technology said Monday it had recently completed its first significant subsea monitoring project using Hydromea’s LUMA high-speed through-water wireless optical modems since signing the global rental partnership.The rental partnership agreement was signed in June last year with Switzerland-based Hydromea, a subsea wireless access provider…

INTERVIEW: Rutgers University Uses Slocum Glider for Ocean Acidification Study

Grace Saba, Assistant Professor, Center for Ocean Observing Leadership, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University discusses the value of the Slocum glider and pH sensor technology in the study of Ocean Acidification. Grace, to start us off, can you just give us a short introduction of yourself and an overview of your responsibilities?I'm an assistant professor at Rutgers University: I teach…

Subsea 3D Printing Tech Targeted for 2022

Norwegian robotics company Kongsberg Ferrotech has joined forces with Equinor, SINTEF, and Gassco to develop 3D printing technologies for subsea equipment repair and maintenance.The company has already developed a subsea robotic system, Nautilus, that can be used to carry out remotely operated composite repairs on subsea pipelines.Now the Kongsberg Ferrotech wants to add additive printing capability to these systems…

Maritime Robotics and Teledyne Marine Equip Ukrainian Navy with USVs

Maritime Robotics, the Norwegian provider of autonomous technology, and the Danish subsea technology supplier Teledyne Marine, said Friday that they had together delivered a number of Uncrewed Surface Vessels (USVs) to the Ukrainian Navy for advanced sensor data collection.Maritime Robotics' Otter USV, equipped with the Teledyne RESON SeaBAT T51-R multibeam echosounder from Teledyne Marine, is now in use by the Ukrainian Navy.According to the company…

PML: How Climate Change Will Alter European Fish Distribution

A new study, led by Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) in collaboration with marine scientists from across Europe, reveals the extent to which climate change is set to significantly alter the distribution and abundance of commercially important fish species across European seas over the coming decades.The paper "Multiple Models of European Marine Fish Stocks: Regional Winners and Losers in a Future Climate…

Two Injured in RRS Sir David Attenborough Lifeboat Drill

The UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch has opened an investigation into a lifeboat drill accident that injured two crew members from the new polar research ship RRS David Attenborough. The two crewmembers suffered minor injuries after a lifeboat rolled onto its side and fell overboard during a launching drill in Loch Buie, on Scotland's east coast, on March 5, the MAIB said.RRS Sir David Attenborough—still known to some as Boaty McBoatface…

Seabed 2030 Enters Partnership with Terradepth

Terradepth and The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 project have announced a new partnership which will utilize Terradepth's geospatial data portal known as Absolute Ocean. Seabed 2030 will use Absolute Ocean as a data visualization and exploration tool as part of the international effort to map the entire ocean floor.Seabed 2030 is a collaborative project between The Nippon Foundation in Japan…

IKM Subsea's ROV to Sport Nauticus Robotics Olympic Arm

Norwegian ROV operator and subsea services company IKM Subsea has selected the Nauticus Robotics Olympic Arm, a fully electric work-class manipulator, for its subsea resident remotely operated vehicle (ROV) system. The Olympic Arm increases subsea reliability and capability while extending residency dive time. It also boasts the strength, weight, and size characteristics of traditional work-class hydraulic arms without the chronic maintenance needs…

Wave Energy Tech Firm Mocean Energy Secures Major Investment

UK-based wave energy technology company Mocean Energy has said it has secured a major new investment to accelerate the commercial roll-out of its Blue Star wave machine. The new funds will drive the technology's adoption in subsea oil and gas.The Edinburgh firm has raised £730,000 in equity funding from existing funders, led by the angel syndicate Equity Gap, together with Old College Capital, the University of Edinburgh’s in-house venture investment fund…

Decarbonization: Geothermal Study Launched to Repurpose Old North Sea Wells

Petrofac, an international service provider to the energy industry, will be supporting deep geothermal specialist CeraPhi Energy in what has been described as a first-of-a-kind geothermal study looking at the repurposing of oil and gas wells using CeraPhi’s technology.The study, supported by the Net Zero Technology Centre in Aberdeen, will cover the initial phase of a staged process to determine how retrofitted wells can reduce the carbon footprint of an operating platform.

Balmoral's Large-scale Composite Manufacturing Plant in Montrose Port Now Operational

Aberdeen-based Balmoral Comtec has completed the installation of its manufacturing plant at its new advanced composites facility at Montrose Port.The company said it had invested a "seven-figure sum" in the 18,299 sq.ft (1700 sq.m) quayside facility where large scale composite components such as subsea and wellhead protection, wave energy structures, and manifold covers for the offshore energy sector…

US Kicks Off Unmanned & AI Systems Integration Event in Bahrain

U.S. 5th Fleet began a three-week unmanned and artificial intelligence integration event in Bahrain, Nov. 23, that will involve employing new platforms in the region for the first time.The event, called Digital Horizon, will advance the command’s efforts to integrate new unmanned technologies while establishing the world’s first unmanned surface vessel fleet by end of next summer. U.S. 5th Fleet’s efforts are focused on improving what U.S.

MacArtney Develops Advanced Telemetry System for Jasco Underwater Listening Stations

Years of development culminated in a MacArtney telemetry concept measuring and transmitting individual noise profiles for complex acoustic data tracking to help preserve and recover one of Canada's most iconic species - the Southern Resident Killer Whale.Under the Canadian Species at Risk Act, the Southern Resident Killer Whale was recently concluded to be facing an approaching threat to survival and recovery.

GE Researchers Unveil 12 MW Floating Wind Turbine Concept

GE researchers are working on a project to design and develop advanced controls to support a 12-megawatt (MW) floating offshore wind turbine, in an effort to enable larger, more powerful turbines to be installed deeper waters unlocked by floating wind technologies.The $4 million project is being run through ARPA-E’s ATLANTIS (Aerodynamic Turbines Lighter and Afloat with Nautical Technologies and Integrated Servo-control) program…

NUWC Newport Engineer receives 2024 NDIA Medal

Mark Campbell, an engineer in the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport’s Undersea Warfare Weapons, Vehicles, and Defensive Systems Department, recently won a 2024 National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) Bronze Medal, an annual award that recognizes outstanding individual achievements in science or engineering in the field of undersea warfare.Throughout his 34-year career, Campbell…