Shell Starts Second Deepwater Facility in GoM

Production is now underway from the Cardamom development, the second major deepwater facility Shell has brought online in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico this year, following the start-up of Mars B in February. Oil from the Cardamom subsea development (100% Shell) is piped through Shell's Auger platform. When at full production of 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day (boe/d), Auger's total production capacity will increase to 130,000 boe/d.

TGS Continue GofM Seismic 3D Survey

TGS says it is continuing its Explorer Series seismic acquisition program in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Panfilo 3D will add 11,500 km2 to TGS' multi-client library in the Lund and Henderson Central Gulf of Mexico protraction areas. Acquisition will commence in Q4 2014 with the M/V Polarcus Adira towing ten kilometer streamers to image regional stratigraphy and deep basin structures. Data will be available in late 2015. This project is supported by industry funding.

SS260 Series Deep Blue Vector

SIDUS Solutions, LLC, a manufacturer of surveillance equipment, positioning devices and integrated systems, introduced its newest pan and tilt positioner – the SS260 Series Deep Blue Vector. Able to withstand subsea, deep sea and hazardous areas, this electrically driven, high torque two-axis positioning device has a single turn resolution of 0.001° (precision of movement) and the repeatability of position of .01° incorporates superbly machined…

Kraken Finalizes OceanVision Contract

Kraken Robotics Inc. announced its wholly owned subsidiary, Kraken Robotic Systems Inc., has finalized the contract for the OceanVision project with the Ocean Supercluster and industry partners (Petroleum Research Newfoundland and Labrador, Ocean Choice International and Nunavut Fisheries Association).OceanVision is a three-year, $18.8 million project focused on the development of new marine technologies…

TerraSond Wins NOAA Contract

TerraSond reports it has been awarded its seveth consecutive NOAA contract.The five-year IDIQ contract was awarded by the Hydrographic Surveys Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s National Ocean Service, Office of Coast Survey, to provide hydrographic surveying services in the USA.The contract was effective January 1, 2020, with a maximum value of $250 million over five years, subject to appropriation by Congress.

AMAR Mission to VENUS

JASCO Applied Sciences has deployed since early March two of its AMAR underwater sound monitoring systems on the VENUS underwater observatory for a technology demonstration and data gathering mission planned to last several months. VENUS (Victoria Experimental Network Under the Sea) is a cabled ocean observatory, in the Salish Sea coastal waters of British Columbia, operated by Ocean Networks Canada.

ECA, Ifremer Present H-ROV ARIANE at Oceanology

As a result of their long-term partnership and successful collaboration, ECA Group and Ifremer will be presenting at Oceanology International exhibition (March 15-17, London) the hybrid underwater robotic system HROV ARIANE. Designed by Ifremer, the hybrid vehicle also integrates technologies developed by many French companies. ECA Group contributed to the integrative architecture and the electric remote manipulation system of this innovative technology dedicated to underwater missions.

Shipping Industry Signs Up to Pilot XVELA Platform

US-based XVELA, creators of a cloud-based vessel stowage and collaboration platform for ocean carriers and terminal operators, has announced that a wave of new terminal operators and shipping lines have signed on for pilot programs to put the XVELA platform to the test. The first wave of terminal operators and shipping lines have signed on for pilot programs to put the XVELA platform to the test. Organizations…

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.

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…

Oil Spill Response Limited to Use Saipem's FlatFish Drone

Italian oilfield services giant Saipem and Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL) have signed an extension of their existing Services Agreement to include the provision of FlatFish, Saipem’s underwater drone for environmental monitoring and inspection of asset integrity.The existing contract between Saipem and OSRL provides for the storage, maintenance, training of personnel, and readiness including the remote emergency response of the Offset Installation Equipment (OIE).According to Saipem…

Virtual Worlds: Newfoundland and Labrador's Simulator Tech

Through its history, Newfoundland and Labrador has produced generations of seafarers and ocean innovators. Surrounded by the cold, harsh, ice-prone waters of the North Atlantic, at the edge of the Arctic, the people of Canada’s most easterly province have had to embrace the sea and answer its challenges to thrive and make livings. Today, technology ensures that training seafarers and prototyping new technologies does not have to mean risking life and limb, or unnecessary expense.

5,400km Subsea Cable to Connect America, Europe

Aqua Comms Limited, a provider of scalable, subsea capacity-based network solutions, announced that it has brought its contract into force (CIF) with TE SubCom, a TE Connectivity Ltd. company and an industry pioneer in undersea communications technology which has begun manufacturing on the America Europe Connect (AEConnect) subsea cable system. AEConnect is scheduled to be ready for service in December 2015…

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)…

Dive into Norway's Subsea Valley

It took three years for Subsea Valley to carve out a tradeshow and conference in a crowded market and then to proudly declare the existence of a powerful industrial grouping along the highway corridor between Kongsberg — home to the subsea juggernaut of the same name — and Oslo, the forgotten Norwegian capital. Driven mostly by the needs of its larger members, Subsea Valley the multidisciplinary cluster is addressing stated industry needs while growing its member list to 90.

Real-time Mapping, Visualization in CARIS Onboard 2.0

Teledyne CARIS has announced the release of CARIS Onboard 2.0. CARIS Onboard enables users to apply processes automatically to their data in near real-time, resulting in minimized data conversion and processing times. By making the processed products available at the office or on a survey vessel during survey operations, CARIS Onboard helps improve survey efficiency by valuably reducing the turn-around…

BMT Rolls Out New Big Data Product: BMT Deep

BMT has introduced BMT Deep, an advanced interactive asset data platform designed to deliver deeper insights for enhanced offshore asset performance management. “With 20+ years practical experience of working with marine structures, we have developed a platform that can monitor, review or forecast the performance of offshore assets,” said Soma Maroju, Product Development Lead for BMT Deep. “Using AI…

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.

MTR100: Kongsberg Maritime

Kongsberg Maritime’s sonar, multibeam echo sounders, cameras, positioning and underwater communication systems, and AUVs are used in survey and inspection operations worldwide. Working closely with customers to develop technology that pushes the limits in subsea applications, Kongsberg Maritime is also dedicated to developing innovative environmental monitoring solutions. The company mission is maximizing performance by providing The Full Picture.