Lockheed Martin’s Revolutionary AUV

During the OTC Brasil 2013, one of the standout presentations was on the Lockheed Martin Marlin AUV. At first glance it resembles what you’d expect from any top of the line AUV. Yet on closer examination it offers capabilities that may be real game-changers for the industry. After the presentation MTR’s Correspondent in Brazil, Claudio Paschoa spoke to Dan McLeod, Senior Program Manager at Lockheed Martin.

Johan Sverdrup Field Concept Selected

Statoil and the partners in the Johan Sverdrup field have decided on a concept for the first development phase. The partners have agreed on a field center consisting of four installations and power from shore. The partners have decided on power from shore for the Johan Sverdrup field in the first phase, which will reduce total CO2 emissions from the Utsira High area by 60-70%. “This is historic. We have not made a concept selection for a field this size since the 1980s…

HUGIN AUV Chosen for Polish Navy Countermeasures

Remontowa Shipbuilding in Gdansk, Poland, has selected Kongsberg Maritime to supply a HUGIN 1000 MR Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) and associated underwater communications and positioning equipment for mine countermeasures (MCM) applications, as part of a minehunter class vessel delivery for the Polish Navy. The HUGIN 1000 MR AUV has been selected as it is specifically designed for MCM operations and can detect, classify and identify mines in a single mission.

Scientists See Rising Threat of Coral Bleaching

As unusually warm ocean temperatures cover the north Pacific, equatorial Pacific and western Atlantic oceans, NOAA scientists expect greater bleaching of corals on Northern Hemisphere reefs through October, potentially leading to the death of corals over a wide area and affecting the long-term supply of fish and shellfish. While corals can recover from mild bleaching, severe or long-term bleaching kills corals. Even if corals recover, they are more susceptible to disease.

FAU to Develop Use of USVs for Bridge Inspections

The task of inspecting and maintaining Florida’s network of approximately 11,450 bridges is arduous, especially since so many of the state’s bridges span rivers, canals and saltwater areas. Researchers in the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Florida Atlantic University have received a one year, $187,000 grant from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to research and develop the use of unmanned marine vehicles for on-water bridge inspections.

Acoustic Pingers Aid Robosub Contestants

The Robosub competition began 18 years ago to advance the development of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV). Cosponsored by the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) and the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR), the competition’s goal is to challenge a new generation of engineers to accomplish realistic missions in an underwater environment and get young people excited about careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

iXBlue and Septentrio Create ATLANS-C

iXBlue, a leading provider of navigation, positioning, and mapping solutions, today launched its new ATLANS-C position and orientation system, developed in close cooperation with Septentrio Satellite Navigation. The system is designed to provide continuous and accurate positioning in urban environments, where global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals are obscured, intermittent, or possibly distorted by reflective surfaces.

Polar Onyx Readies for Brazilian Depths

The offshore construction vessel Polar Onyx was delivered on March 4, 2014 from Ulstein Verft to GC Rieber Shipping, as the latest addition to their growing investments into the subsea segment. The vessel’s first assignment will be to work for deepwater projects serving as pipelay support vessel for Petrobras offshore Brazil. The 130-meter long and 25-meter wide Polar Onyx is based on ULSTEIN’s SX121 design…

ABB Wins US$60-Million Statoil Offshore Contract

Power and automation technology group, ABB, informs it has won three orders worth $60 million for internal and external telecommunication systems for three Statoil projects on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The three contracts have been signed with leading shipyards in South Korea. ABB will be a system integrator of telecommunications on the offshore installations built for the Aasta Hansteen and…

ONR Researchers Explore a Changing Arctic

As sea ice continues to recede at a record pace in the Arctic, officials at the Office of Naval Research (ONR) on April 14 announced new efforts to determine the pace of change in what some are calling Earth's final frontier. Scientists sponsored by ONR have traveled to the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic Ocean, placing new sensors in the ice and in the frigid waters below, to better understand the processes…

MacArtney Upgrades MMT FOCUS-2 Systems

MacArtney has performed a major upgrade of two FOCUS-2 ROTV systems belonging to Swedish marine survey contractor and specialist, MMT. Both vehicles have been fitted with new state-of-the-art equipment to carry out geophysical survey missions for clients within oil, gas and renewable energy industries. Complementing the side scan sonar and sub bottom profiler already onboard, the MMT FOCUS-2 systems have been fully equipped with a multi beam echo sounder…

MTR100: QPS-US (Quality Positioning Services)

No. QPS are specialists in software solutions for marine spatial data. Software products for efficient data collection, advanced post processing and 4D visualization include QINSy, Qimera and Fledermaus. QINSy is a software suite used for various types of maritime geomatic surveys, ranging from simple single beam surveys up to the very complex offshore construction works.

Seychelles Coast Guard Undergo Enhanced Training

Over the last eight weeks six Seychelles Coast Guard (SCG) divers have been undergoing training conducted by EUCAP Nestor’s experts to enhance their diving and operational capabilities. The course commenced on July 17th and concluded today in Victoria. A closing ceremony for the course was held at the Seychelles Coast Guard base. The focus of activity for this course was the enhancement of the Seychelles…

Are O&G Digital Twins Useful? DNV GL Moves to Find Out

Offshore classification and technology advisory group DNV GL has set out to test and see if Digital Twin technology and data can be trusted and if they deliver value.The Norway-based firm has thus launched an international call to oil and gas operators and the supply chain to pilot a methodology to prove the value of the technology.Companies manufacturing hardware across the oil and gas value chain must prove the safety…

Tiburon Subsea Takes Delivery of OceanServer AUV

Tiburon Subsea takes delivery of Ocean Server IVER3-580 Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), the first of multiple vehicles being offered for rent to third party operators. Tiburon Subsea is implementing extensive vehicle specific AUV training programs and offering full operator support services with all their AUV rentals. “By certifying qualified operators from established companies we are enabling…

Finland-based Pipeline Inspection Firm Rocsole Wins Another OTC Award

Rocsole, a Finland-based developer of offshore pipeline inspection technology, has received an Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) Spotlight on New Technology award for a system that inspects pipelines while allowing production to continue without interruption.The award was given to Rocsole for its Deposition In-Line Inspection (DILI) system. DILI system uses a non-nuclear tomographic technology to inspect pipelines for deposition build-up thickness…

HII Delivers REMUS 100 to the German Navy

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE: HII) delivereda new REMUS 100 Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) to the German Navy. The vehicles will be used to expand the German Navy’s current fleet of REMUS 100 UUVs used for mine countermeasure (MCM) operations.The new REMUS 100 UUVs have advanced core electronics and endurance of up to 12 hours. Built on the REMUS Technology Platform, the vehicles are open…

Spirit Energy Hires Shearwater for CCS Seismic Survey in UK

UK-based oil and gas firm Spirit Energy has awarded a contract to Shearwater Geoservices to conduct a seismic survey in the East Irish Sea, as part of the Morecambe Net Zero (MNZ) carbon capture and storage (CCS) project.The six-week operation is scheduled for the summer of 2024 and will be Shearwater’s fifth CCS survey in the last two years.It relates to Spirit Energy’s recent carbon storage license received from the UK’s North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) in May 2023…

NOAA Orders Two REMUS 620 UUVs

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently ordered two REMUS 620 unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) from HII.The customized, medium-class UUVs will be built by HII’s Mission Technologies division in partnership with W.S. Darley & Co. and delivered in 2024. The vehicles will be customized with a synthetic aperture sonar module, additional energy modules and auxiliary equipment.NOAA…

Case Study: Unmanned Tech Narrows Data Gap on Yellow River ... World’s "Most Sediment-laden River"

With a total length of 5,464 km, the Yellow River is the second-longest river in China. As running through the Loess Plateau during the middle journey and carrying much sand and dust, it is then be-coming the most sediment-laden river in the world. Yellow river runs through nine cities of China and is affecting the daily lives of tens of millions of people live alongside the river.Monitoring the changes…