UK Spurs Autonomous Shipping Development

The autonomous and smart shipping industry is set to receive a boost, after the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) and the Department for Transport (DfT), in collaboration with the National Oceanography Center’s (NOC) Marine Robotics Innovation Center, successfully secured £1 million in a bid to accelerate the U.K. into a world-leading position in this area.The funding, awarded by the U.K. Government’s Department for Business…

Greensea IQ Demo Day: Bayonet’s Tech Shines at Cordage Park

On October 17th, the waterfront in Plymouth, MA, was abuzz with innovation and excitement. A demonstration and ribbon-cutting event hosted by Greensea IQ in Cordage Park showcased some remarkable technology by Bayonet, a Greensea IQ company. Other manufacturers, including SeaTrac, Jaia Tech, and MIT SeaGrant, were also on hand to demonstrate their technology.Cordage Park is on Plymouth’s picturesque waterfront, providing a perfect backdrop for this innovative demonstration event.

MainOne Cable System to Extend to Francophone Region

Undersea communications technology company TE SubCom  has secured a contract from connectivity and data center solutions provider MainOne to extend its active submarine cable system into West Africa’s francophone region with two additional branches connecting Senegal (Dakar) and Cote D’Ivoire (Abidjan). These new branches will connect to MainOne’s 7,000km cable system, which extends from Portugal to Nigeria…

Offshore Charging Station for Electrified Offshore Vessels Being Developed in UK

A project has been launched in the UK to explore the viability of developing an offshore charging facility for vessels as part of the industry’s efforts to decarbonize its vessel operations. Funded by the first phase of the UK Government’s Sustainable Innovation Fund, the project - led by Turbulent Simulations, alongside Aluminium Marine Consultants, the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, MJR Power & Automation…

ROV @ Work: Falcon deployed in France for Bridge, Dam Inspection

French dams and bridges inspection specialist, IDCBTP, selected a Saab Seaeye Falcon for detailed infrastructure examination. “We chose the Saab Seaeye Falcon because it's a reliable system that’s simple to use and to upgrade,” said Clément Chaudouet of IDCBTP. “It's also a stable system, which is very important to us as we need perfect control of the ROV during a dam inspection.”For a clear and accurate analysis of the condition of the structures…

Lidar Helps to illuminate the Future of Oceans

The statement that 80% of our world’s oceans remain unexplored is well known—and possibly, overstated. Observance of United Nations World Oceans Day on June 8 underscored the deter-mination to better understand and protect our waters. While limitations in the ocean still inhibit the same level of progress that we’ve achieved on Earth’s terrestrial surface, some of the same technology is playing a role in the game of marine catch-up.Lidar…

DNV to Supply Fleet Management Software for Ocean Infinity's Robotic Vessels

Ocean Infinity, a marine robotics and deep-sea data acquisition company, has tapped DNV for its ShipManager fleet management software for 17 new robotic ships and additional autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Ocean Infinity, which last year launched a program to build a fleet of unmanned surface robots - the Armada - will implement ShipManager’s modules for planned maintenance, procurement, and business intelligence for its advanced fleet of uncrewed…

Hydromea Unveils Underwater Inspection Robot with Proprietary Wireless Communication Technology

Subsea robotics and communications specialist Hydromea is set to introduce a new product at Oceanology International in London on March 12-14, 2024. The event will mark the official commercial launch of EXRAY™ – an advanced underwater inspection robot equipped with state-of-the-art proprietary wireless communication technology LUMA™.The Hydromea team has dedicated significant time and resources to…

KAUST, Ocean Aero to Deploy Solar-powered AUSV in Red Sea

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and Ocean Aero, a manufacturer and service provider of ocean-going Autonomous Underwater and Surface Vehicles (AUSVs) have started a collaboration which will see Ocean Aero's solar and battery-powered AUSV deployed in the Red Sea.Ocean Aero and Shelf Subsea, a service company for the marine industry, will bring the AUSVs into Saudi Arabia,…

Dunstall Named JFD Australia Chairman

JFD, part of James Fisher and Sons plc, announce Harry Dunstall has been appointed as its new non-executive Australian Chairman to oversee its future growth and direction in the local defense sector.Dunstall, a previous Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the then Defense Materiel Organization (DMO) in the Department of Defense and currently the Managing Director of Canberra- based strategic advisory firm…

Satellites Help NOC Track Tidal Change for Safer Port Operations

Scientists at the UK’s National Oceanography Centre (NOC) in Liverpool have used satellite data to create insight into the Mersey River that will help port operators be smarter about managing complex navigation channels. Through a project focused on Liverpool’s famous river and funded by the UK Space Agency, NOC’s scientists showed that changes in areas exposed at low tide can be mapped from space.The project…

CTO in Focus: “Stop, Listen & Think” - One-on-One with Shepard Smith, XOcean

From his nearly three-decade career at NOAA to hiking the Appalachian Trail, Shepard “Shep” Smith brings a broad base of experience and expertise to his new post as Chief Technology Officer of XOcean. We checked in with Smith for his insights on technical drivers in the ocean exploration space, as well as what to expect from XOcean in the coming years.Shep, to start us off, please give an overview of your 28-year career at NOAA.I was with the Commissioned Officer Corp part of NOAA.

USGS, ERDC Install Underwater Asian Carp Deterrent System

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) and partners installed a temporary, experimental underwater acoustic deterrent system (UADS) at Mississippi River Lock 19 between Keokuk, Iowa, and Hamilton, Illinois, Feb. 3. The deployment is part of a study to understand how invasive Asian carp respond to acoustic, or sound, signals.“If this UADS is successful in deterring Asian carp…

Glosten Readies PelaStar for the US Wind Energy Market

Glosten is growing its PelaStar partner network to prepare for Phase 2 of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Floating Offshore Wind ReadINess (FLOWIN) Prize. The expanded team will focus on identifying facilities and the requisite investment to enable U.S.-based platform fabrication and marine logistics capabilities; creating workforce development plans focused on local manufacturing in underserved communities; advancing engineering readiness for ultra-deepwater sites in the U.S.

Simple-to-use eDNA Test Will Help Track Marine Species

New method is fast, cost-effective and designed for non-expertsCan a single bottle of ocean water contain enough scraps of genetic material for researchers to identify virtually all of the fish, plankton, molluscs, marine mammals and other organisms from that location?Sounds like science fiction, but it’s not. The burgeoning field of environmental DNA (eDNA) is very real, and scientists are rapidly…

Brandi Smith Named VP of Newport News' Columbia-Class Program

Global defense and technologies company HII announced Thursday that Brandi Smith has been named vice president of the Columbia-class program at the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding division. Smith will succeed Charles Southall, who will retire July 1 after more than 35 years of distinguished service.The U.S. Navy has identified the Columbia class as its No. 1 acquisition priority. Twelve Columbia…

US Funds New Technology for Fisheries Research

The US government has announced a $147.5 million Inflation Reduction Act investment to strengthen NOAA’s science and management capabilities that support climate-ready fisheries.NOAA Fisheries will use $107.5 million to enhance science and data collection to account for the effects of climate change and improve fish and marine mammal stock assessments.The funding will modernize and transform the agency’s…

Autonomy: Sun, Sail & Subsea – Not a Holiday, but a Hybrid UxV Platform

Ten years ago, Ocean Aero’s unique hybrid sailboat-submarine was a novel idea being developed in a San Diego garage. Today, the company has a growing fleet of vehicles on the water and a $14 million funding injection to take it the next level. Elaine Maslin reports.Earlier this year, a great illustration of the ongoing adoption of marine autonomous systems was made through the International Maritime Exercise (IMX) 2022…

BOEM and NOAA Announce Joint Strategy for Fisheries Surveys

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries will work together to address potential impacts of offshore wind energy development on NOAA Fisheries’ scientific surveys, which help to manage the United States’s fisheries.For 150 years, the NOAA’s scientists have collected survey data that form the basis of the science-based management of America’s federal fisheries…

Oi20: Set for London in March

Oceanology International prepares to mark its half-century in style: Oi London 2020 event builds upon a wealth of previous successes to herald a new chapter in ocean science and technologyMuch has (and hasn’t) changed in the half-century since Oceanology International staged its first, comparatively low-key event in the UK city of Brighton. The inaugural Oi expo attracted a small but dedicated band of 600 exhibitors and visitors…