Hyperdynamics' Guinea Consortium Provides Notice of Intent

Hyperdynamics Corporation announced  that Tullow Oil Guinea Ltd. has formally notified the Republic of Guinea, on behalf of the consortium that is exploring for oil offshore Guinea, of its intent to elect to extend the Second Exploration Period for an additional three years, as provided for under the terms of its existing Production Sharing Contract (PSC). During the three-year extension of the Second Exploration Period – which extends through September 21…

NZ Navy Dive Team Receives ROV Training

A team from the Royal New Zealand Navy has recently finished an intensive ROV training course, delivered by The Underwater Center at the Naval Base at Devonport, New Zealand. The nine-day course focused on in-water operation training of the Saab Seaeye Falcon ROV, which is regularly used by the Navy for reconnaissance and security missions. Warships were berthed very close-by, allowing the candidates to work under and around the vessels, carrying out a range of training exercises.

NDT Expert Joins Ashtead Technology

Ashtead Technology appointment Neil Harrap as Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Market Manager. Neil is an experienced NDT specialist having spent 31 years in aerospace engineering with the Ministry of Defense, much of which was spent with the RAF. During this time, Neil’s roles included NDT Equipment Subject Matter Specialist, NDT Field Team Manager, Military Tri-Service NDT School Instructor and Aerospace Engineering Technician.

MTR 100: SeaBotix

No. Sq. Footage:  17,500, Mfg. SeaBotix is a manufacturer of underwater MiniROVs (Little Benthic Vehicles) that perform a multitude of tasks including but not limited to:  maritime security, search and recovery, hull and pipeline inspection, hazardous environment intervention, aquaculture and beyond dive-restriction oceanographic research. Founded on years of research, development and underwater industry experience…

U.K.: Massive Offshore Wind Farm Opens

Greater Gabbard wind farm, which is reportedly the second largest offshore wind farm in the world, costing £1.3 billion and generating enough clean electricity to power over half a million homes, was officially opened off the coast of Suffolk by the Energy and Business Minister Michael Fallon. Greater Gabbard has 140 turbines and will double in size once the Galloper wind farm extension is completed in 2017.

Partners Aim to Advance Methane Harvesting Tech

Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. (MES), one of major heavy industry manufacturers in Japan, has partnered MHWirth, a global provider of drilling solutions and services, to harvest shallow methane hydrates from the seabed of the Japan Sea. Methane hydrates generally are categorized as either shallow-type or pore-filling sand-layer type. For pore-filling sand-layer methane hydrates, the studies for the recovery have been conducted since around FY2001 in Japan.

What Falls Down Must Come Up Again: DARPA Place Contract

Sparton Corporation has been awarded a Phase 1 contract for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Upward Falling Payload (UFP) program. Sparton, under the UFP program, will design a system intended to live on the sea floor and release payloads. This enablement is thought to represent a game changing capability for mission commanders. The company say it is energized by the opportunity and eager for the collaboration to execute on the delivery system module…

Offshore Casualty: Harkand Group Collapses

As the prolonged slump in energy prices continues to drag on a number of oil and gas and maritime players, word has it that Harkand Group has succumbed, according to staff reports and a report on www.bbc.com. The company was a high-flyer building an enviable fleet of advanced tonnage. Established in 2012 and headquartered in London with operations bases in Aberdeen, Houston, Mexico, and Ghana, global…

Sonardyne, NDI Partner for US Maritime Security

As part of its continued business expansion and long-term commitment to the region, underwater technology specialists, Sonardyne International Ltd, U.K., has entered into a nonexclusive agreement with Northern Defense Industries (NDI) to become its strategic partner for maritime security and defense projects in the U.S. Virginia-based NDI supplies integrated security solutions for maritime, energy and critical infrastructure applications both in North America and around the world.

Russian Navy Expands Rescue Fleet

The Russian Navy will receive 10 advanced search and rescue vessels by the end of the year to boost its sea rescue capabilities, a Navy official said Wednesday. According to the Navy, its Baltic fleet will receive four of the new vessels while three will be commissioned in the Black Sea. The new ships are said to enhance the Russian Navy’s capability to rescue submarines and ships in distress. The…

Topaz Secures $75m Investment from SCPE

Topaz Energy and Marine, an offshore support vessel company with primary operations in the Caspian, Middle East, West Africa and Subsea operations in the North Sea and Gulf of Mexico, has  announced a $75 million new equity investment in the business from Standard Chartered Private Equity (SCPE), one of the world’s leading emerging market private equity investors. Under the terms of the investment, SCPE will inject $75 million of equity in return for a 9.8% stake in the business.

BluHaptics, J2 Subsea Forge Sales Partnership

BluHaptics, a Seattle-based software company developing new technology for augmented robotics, and J2 Subsea, an Acteon company and global supplier of subsea tooling and services, have formed a sales and distribution partnership for BluHaptics’ software solution for underwater manipulator arms – its first commercially available product due for launch in July 2017. Traditionally focused on subsea tooling (hardware)…

L3 to Equip Egyptian Minehunting Vssels

L3 Maritime Systems said it has received an $11 million contract from VSE Corporation to upgrade the Machinery Control Systems (MCS) on two minehunting ships for the Egyptian Navy. These ships were formerly U.S. Navy Osprey-class vessels, and L3 supplied the legacy control systems. L3 Maritime Systems’ MCS solutions provide advanced automation and control of the ships’ propulsion, electrical, ventilation and other systems.

Offshore Well Decommissioning: DecomWorld KL Training Workshop

To ensure that the Asia-Pacific Offshore Industry successfully prepares for decommissioning, applies global best-practices and shares latest regional developments, DecomWorld are gathering the leading experts in Kuala Lumpur for three days of intense training and insight. Offshore liability in the Asia-Pacific is at an all-time high, with ageing infrastructure presenting critical challenges for the planning and execution of decommissioning & abandonment projects.

NOAA Finds Lost 19th Century U.S. Coast Survey Steamer

More than 153 years after it was lost in a violent collision at sea, government and university maritime archaeologists have identified the wreck of the ship Robert J. Walker, a steamer that served in the U.S. Coast Survey, a predecessor agency of NOAA. The Walker, while now largely forgotten, served a vital role as a survey ship, charting the Gulf Coast ‒ including Mobile Bay and the Florida Keys ‒ in the decade before the Civil War.

High-speed ROV Accelerates Mapping, Surveys

MMT, specialists in high-resolution marine surveys, has completed offshore integration trials of its new high-speed remotely operated vehicle (ROV) with Sonardyne International’s SPRINT inertial navigation system. The 2,000 meter rated vehicle, named Surveyor Interceptor, has been developed by MMT to improve the speed and efficiency of seabed mapping and pipeline inspections surveys. Its design features…

Seabed Geosolutions Wins Brazil Survey Work

Fugro said its joint venture with CGG has secured a contract from Petrobras for a 3D ocean bottom node (OBN) survey in the Brazilian Santos Basin. The seven month contract awarded to the survey firms’ joint venture Seabed Geosolutions is valued at around $90 million and is scheduled to commence at the end of the fourth quarter of 2017 or early 2018, Fugro said. According to Seabed Geosolutions CEO…

BIW lands Navy Contract of $100 million

The U.S. Navy awarded General Dynamics Bath Iron Works a $100 million contract to provide planning yard services for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program. General Dynamics Bath Iron Works is a business unit of General Dynamics. Bath Iron Works, as the LCS Planning Yard, will provide maintenance and modernization support for all Navy LCS 1 and LCS 2 variant ships.Work to be performed under this contract includes availability advanced planning…

US Navy Seeks Improved Undersea Capabilities

Undersea navigation and positioning system development to begin for U.S. BAE Systems informs it has been selected by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop an undersea navigation system aimed at enhancing the U.S. Navy’s ability to provide precise, global positioning throughout the ocean basins. The contract will support a program called the Positioning System for Deep Ocean Navigation (POSYDON)…

Ocean, Space-themed Missions for MATE ROV Competition

Local students participating in Great Lakes Regional MATE ROV Competition are preparing for journeys to the depths of the Earth’s oceans and the farthest reaches of Europa, one of the moons of the planet Jupiter. On May 21, teams of local elementary, middle school, high school, and after-school clubs will compete in an underwater robotics competition that focuses on the use of technologies used for ocean and space science and exploration.