Riding the Waves and Tides to a Cleaner Energy Future

When one thinks of offshore renewable energy, one usually thinks of offshore wind. For the first time progress is being made in the U.S. to develop offshore wind resources. The first steel foundation jacket has been placed in the ocean floor to support the Deepwater Wind project off the coast of Block Island, Rhode Island. (See www.dwwind.com/press/#/1). But recently, progress is also being made in the development of tidal and wave energy resources closer to shore…

Deck Machinery: Pulling Power

Modern deck machinery is essential to efficient subsea vessel operations. For those on the water conducting experiments, surveys or military exercise, it is impossible if not foolhardy to point to one system or piece of equipment that is head and shoulders above the rest in importance when it comes to conducting a safe and efficient project. But for those who have been present when a winch has jammed…

First Oil From Jack/St. Malo Project in the Gulf of Mexico

Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) announced that crude oil and natural gas production has begun at the Jack/St. Malo project in the Lower Tertiary trend, deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Jack/St. Malo is a key part of Chevron's strong queue of upstream projects and was delivered on time and on budget. The Jack and St. Malo fields are among the largest in the Gulf of Mexico. They were discovered in 2004 and 2003…

Mega Machines Unmanned Systems take Center Stage

On top of the water, underwater and on the seabed, vehicle robotics are quickly proving their value as a game changer. Profiled here are some latest developments. Pharos Offshore acquired an SMD built 1200HP cable burial tool in July 2013, since then the vehicle has undergone extensive modifications at the Tees Offshore Base, in Middlesbrough that have enhanced the configuration to provide a more effective post lay/installation burial vehicle.

Global Maritime Establishes Technical Authority Board

Global Maritime Consultancy & Engineering, a provider of marine warranty, dynamic positioning and engineering services to the offshore sector, has established a Technical Authority Board to be led by Alberto Morandi, formerly head of Global Maritime Americas. Global Maritime said the Technical Authority Board will promote excellence throughout the company, ensuring consistent and high-quality technical standards.

Unmanned Submarine-Hunter Contract Awarded

US Defense Advanced Research Prjoject Agency (DARPA) contracts Science Applications International Corp. to develop an autonomous surface vessel to track and follow enemy subs for months. The growing number of adversaries able to build and operate quiet diesel electric submarines is a national security threat that affects U.S. and friendly naval operations around the world. To address this emerging threat…

US Navy Supports Sustainable Fisheries

“You're probably wondering why the Navy is up here today,” said Rear Adm. Tim Gallaudet, Oceanographer of the U.S. Navy, who moderated a panel regarding the sustainment of fisheries around the world's oceans at a conference at the State Department attended by President Barack Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry and actor Leonardo DiCaprio. “We do much to support this [combating illegal unregulated…

Total Deploy LBL Network in Record Time

Following on from the installation of a Long BaseLine (LBL) acoustic positioning network at the giant Egina oil field off the coast of Nigeria, French oil major Total and its project partners have repeated their success using the same Sonardyne Fusion 6G technology offshore Angola at the even larger, even deeper, Kaombo oil field. The campaign to deploy, calibrate and make ready for work the field-wide array of transponder frames…

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.

Transocean Drilling Rig Fleet Update Summary

Transocean Ltd. has issued a monthly Fleet Update Summary which includes new contracts, significant changes to existing contracts, and changes in estimated planned out-of-service time of 15 or more days since January 16, 2014. The total value of new contracts since the January 16, 2014 Fleet Status Report is approximately $66 million. Estimated 2014 out-of-service time increased by a net 150 days,…

Tendeka to Present at Next SPE Event

Advanced completion technology: past, present and future. Advanced completion technology covers a powerful range of equipment and techniques in the oil and gas industry and is set to be the focus at Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Aberdeen Section evening meeting later this month. Annabel Green, product line director at Tendeka, the provider of completions systems and services to the upstream oil and gas industry…

Construction of Mermaid Ausana Begins

Mermaid Maritime Public Company announced that it has marked the start of its new vessel / rig construction by participating in a steel cutting ceremony for its performance class tender rig ‘MTR-3’ and DP2 multipurpose subsea dive support and construction vessel ‘Mermaid Ausana’. The ceremony took place at the shipyards of China Merchants Heavy Industry in China in Nantong and Shenzhen, respectively.

Rising Tide of Innovation at Davos to Keep Plastic out of the Sea

Technology that could avoid the equivalent of 100 garbage bags of plastic waste being created per second received a funding boost at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday. The five winners of the "Circular Materials Challenge", which focuses on the 30 percent of plastic packaging that is too small or complex to be recycled and often ends up in the ocean, will share the $1 million prize to develop their solutions…

First Images of Historic San Francisco Shipwreck

NOAA and its partners released 3D sonar maps and images of an immigrant steamship lost more than 100 years ago in what many consider the worst maritime disaster in San Francisco history. On Feb. 22, 1901, in a dense morning fog, the SS City of Rio de Janeiro struck jagged rocks near the present site of the Golden Gate Bridge and sank almost immediately, killing 128 of the 210 passengers and crew aboard the ship.

Kongsberg Delivers 50th HAIN System

Kongsberg Maritime has delivered its 50th HAIN (Hydro Acoustic aided Inertial Navigation) Reference System, to long-time HAIN user, Ocean Rig. HAIN significantly improves reference data accuracy and update rate sent to Dynamic Positioning (DP) systems to support safer, more reliable and efficient offshore drilling operation. It is also suitable for applications including offshore loading and specialist operations such as offshore construction.

Images of Historic San Francisco Wreck Revealed

NOAA and partners released three-dimensional sonar maps and images of an immigrant steamship lost more than 100 years ago in what many consider the worst maritime disaster in San Francisco history. On Feb. 22, 1901, in a dense morning fog, the SS City of Rio de Janeiro struck jagged rocks near the Golden Gate Bridge and sank almost immediately, killing 128 of the 210 passengers and crew aboard the ship.

Maersk Drilling Takes Delivery of First of Four Ultra-Deepwater Drillships

Maersk Drilling informs it has taken delivery of its first ultra deepwater drillship, 'Maersk Viking', from the Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) shipyard in Geoje-Si, South Korea. The new vessel has started its voyage to the US Gulf of Mexico where it will commence a three year contract with ExxonMobil. The owners explain that Maersk Viking is the first in a series of four ultra deepwater drillships to enter Maersk Drilling’s fleet.

US Navy to Survey Downed Aircraft in the Philippine Sea

The U.S. Navy said it has contracted a research vessel owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen to survey the location of a downed C-2A Greyhound plane before attempts are made to recover the aircraft from 18,500 feet below the surface in the Philippine Sea. The C-2A Greyhound was transporting 11 crew and passengers when it crashed into the ocean on November 22, 2017, killing three. On December 29…

Fairbank Joins SBG Systems’ Sales Team

MEMS-based inertial motion sensing solutions supplier SBG Systems has hired Chelsea Fairbank as Sales Engineer in North America. She will team up with Jack Mawson, Sales Manager North America at the company’s U.S. office in Huntington Beach, Calif. and will be in charge of the marine and education segments. Fairbank has an extensive background in the hydrographic industry, starting her career as hydrographic surveyor.

GD Mission Systems: Full-throttle Charge toward Autonomy

Carlo Zaffanella is vice president and general manager of Maritime and Strategic Systems (M&SS) for General Dynamics Mission Systems. The M&SS business includes submarine and surface ship electronic systems integration as well as the design, build and support of a broad array of subsurface, surface, air, airport and strategic subsystems, meaning he is perfectly positioned to lead MTR’s ‘vehicles’ edition…