IHC Merwede to Deliver New AHC System

IHC Merwede has announced that it has signed a new contract for the EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) delivery of an Active Heave Compensation (AHC) system. This equipment will be designed, built and supplied as a reliable solution for the deepwater subsea installation of heavy modules in dynamic sea states. The integration of the active heave compensator and winch system means that this system is unique.

ABS Calls for New Tech in Marine Fuels

ABS Chairman, President and CEO, Christopher J. Wiernicki, mapped out the future of marine fuels, indicating that the 2050 targets will require technology beyond today’s state-of-the-art.“Technology advances of the next decade may entirely change our view of the future, but based on what we see today we can identify three developmental pathways for future fuels distinguished by the onboard technologies they require.

Antarctic ROV to Help Researchers Prepare for Space Missions

The search for life on other planets starts on Earth, of course. In the summer of 2014 a team of scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology headed to Antarctica to deploy Icefin - a 10-foot long, 12-inch diameter, 220 pound, first of its kind ROV - deep beneath the ice shelf. This mission, funded by NASA and supported by the National Science Foundation, was intended to prepare for potential future missions on Jupiter’s moon, Europa.

Project Launched to Deploy Thermoplastic Composite Pipe Flowlines, Risers in Brazil's Pre-Salt Area

Thermoplastic composite pipe technology developer Strohm has entered a joint industry program with Shell and Petrobras with the goal of deploying its Thermoplastic Composite Pipe (TCP) Flowline and Riser technology offshore Brazil.Strohm said that the four-year contract had the potential to revolutionize the deepwater flowline and riser market in Brazil and with a corrosion-free solution that has a 30-year design life.

Construction Begins on UK’s Next Submarines

BAE Systems welcomed the Right Honorable Sir Michael Fallon MP, Secretary of State for Defense to Barrow-in-Furness shipyard to press a button, commencing the first metal-cut for the Successor program. The secretary of State's visit follows a recent U.K. Government commitment of £1.3 billion funding for the Successor Submarine program on October 1. This program will deliver four new submarines for the Royal Navy and will replace the current Vanguard class…

Ocean Discovery XPRIZE Finalists to Compete off Greece

The deep seas off southern Greece will be the field test site for the final phase of the three-year Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE competition, which challenges teams to advance ocean technologies for rapid, unmanned and high-resolution ocean exploration and discovery.In this final field-testing round starting in November and running through December, finalists competing for the $4 million grand prize will put their seafloor mapping technologies to a real-world test off Kalamata…

Greensea Demonstrates Untethered ROV Operation at Sea

Greensea Systems, a marine robotic software solutions provider, recently demonstrated untethered autonomy for ROVs.Using a commercially available Defender ROV from VideoRay, outfitted with batteries, an acoustic modem, and the new OPENSEA Edge system, Greensea says it has successfully proven the untethered operation of an ROV at sea."OPENSEA Edge puts a tremendous amount of processing power at the edge…

Sarcos and VideoRay Partner to Offer Integrated Underwater Robotic Systems

Robotic systems firm Sarcos and subsea robotic systems developer VideoRay have signed an agreement to offer integrated underwater robotic systems combining VideoRay remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) with the Sarcos Guardian Sea Class robotic system including its dexterous arms.Sarcos and VideoRay will each be able to sell an integrated underwater robotic system and their respective products and provide replacement parts…

Tritech Names Hardy Sales and Marketing Director

Tritech International Limited announced it has appointed Bruce Hardy as sales and marketing director, based in the company’s Aberdeen office. Hardy joins Tritech with 35 years maritime experience and was previously managing director at Furuno. His career began in the electronics sector for the fishing industry, working with acoustic positioning products and net sensors. This experience then developed into sonar…

Helping to Keep Waterways Navigable in the Netherlands

Maintaining the narrow navigational channels through the shallow tidal flats of the Wadden Sea in the Netherlands is a constant battle, due to the high rate of sediment deposition. Nortek’s Signature VM instrumentation has proved to be a valuable weapon in this fight, providing vital information on particle density and current flows through the water layers.The Dutch jokingly say that God created Earth…

NOAA and Partners Deploy C-Star USVs to Collect Hurricane Data

NOAA, in partnership with The University of Southern Mississippi and with the robotics company Oshen, launched five small uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) called C-Stars in the waters off the U.S. Virgin Islands on August 31st to collect critical data to better understand hurricane development and activity. The deployment is the latest effort by NOAA to advance data collection to improve hurricane research and forecasting.Two additional C-Stars will be stored in Gulfport…

Self-driving 'Roboats' Ready for Testing on Amsterdam's Canals

Visitors to Amsterdam may soon spot a self-driving watercraft the size of a small car cruising silently through its ancient canals, ferrying passengers or transporting goods or trash.It will be the electric-powered "Roboat", a catchier name than "autonomous floating vehicle" for a project shortly due to start test journeys aimed at improving the crowded city's transport options."We have a lot of road traffic and congestion…

Eye on the Navy: Navy extends Life for Research Ships, but Says Farewell to FLIP

The U.S. Navy’s three Global class oceanographic research ships (AGORs) have received a new lease on life. The ships-- R/V Thomas G. Thompson (AGOR 23), R/V Roger Revelle (AGOR 24) and R/V Atlantis (AGOR 25)-- which entered service between 1991 and 1998--were built with 30-year expected service lives. Thanks to extensive overhauls on all three they have been returned to service with another 15 years of useful service.AGOR 23 is operated by the University of Washington…

Greensea IQ opens new service center in Miami

Greensea IQ expanded its EverClean operations with a new service center in Miami, Florida. The new facility, located in Hialeah, Florida, will house both office and workshop space. The Miami location will accommodate an expanded EverClean support team dedicated to servicing customers in the region. With Miami serving as a global hub for cruise operations, the expansion furthers Greensea IQ's ability…

CSIRO Aims to Create a 'Weather Service' for Water Quality

CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, has launched AquaWatch Australia, a mission to deliver a world first ground-to-space water quality monitoring system for Australia and the globe.AquaWatch will provide near real-time updates and predictive forecasting – a weather service for water quality – once fully operational.Using an extensive network of Earth observation satellites and ground-based water sensors…

Argeo Builds the Tools to Bridge the Data Gap

[As published in the March/April 2023 edition of Marine Technology Reporter]Argeo is an offshore service company, created in 2017 and on the move, driven by its mission to transform the ocean surveying and inspection industry via autonomous surface and underwater robotics solutions. We recently caught up with Argeo CEO Trond Crantz for a far-reaching discussion on the company and its recent innovations in the surface and underwater vessel sector…

Autonomous ANTX: Seismic Survey Tech and Port Security

Geophysical seismic surveys and port security may appear to have little in-common. However, it turns out that managing complex marine seismic operations, where 10km-long seismic streamers have to be deployed harmoniously alongside other offshore marine assets, isn’t that dissimilar to managing – and protecting – port facilities.It's an area that ION Geophysical, more known for seismic data acquisition technology…

New Management in Muir Matheson

Miros AS, a Norwegian leading global producer of oceanographic remote sensing equipment and advanced Met Ocean systems, acquired Aberdeen based Muir Matheson Ltd. on November 1, 2012 to strengthen the company’s presence in the oil and gas Market. Muir Matheson has supplied meteorological and oceanographic monitoring systems to the oil and gas and aviation industries for more than 30 years. A change in leadership of Muir Matheson has now taken place to enhance the integration process with Miros.

Oi '22 Gains Traction for Live Exhibition in March

The organizers of Oceanology International (Oi), RX Global, have confirmed that the Oi 2022 event (ExCel London, March 15-17 2022) is perfectly positioned to capitalize on the opening up of business-to-business events in spring 2022. With bookings on par with the last pre-pandemic Oi in 2018, the eagerly anticipated event is set to put the uncertain times of the last two years behind us.“Bringing the…

Greensea IQ Nets $1.9M NAVSEA Contract to Enhance ROV System

Greensea IQ has secured a Phase II contract from the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) to enhance the capabilities of a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) platform by integrating manipulators and providing one-operator control of the ROV and manipulator system.The contract, including options, is valued at $1.9 million and spans up to three years if all options are exercised.The integration of the systems will allow ROVs to perform increasingly complex tasks in marine environments…