Makai Offers Advanced Course for Cable Lay Operators

Makai Ocean Engineering is now offering an advanced cable laying course for operators who have managed real cable installations at-sea using MakaiLay. In addition to filling any knowledge gaps that operators might have in basic lay operations, this MakaiLay Level-II training course focuses on more advanced scenarios that might arise at-sea. This course produces graduates who are better equipped to install subsea cable accurately…

Real-time Mapping, Visualization in CARIS Onboard 2.0

Teledyne CARIS has announced the release of CARIS Onboard 2.0. CARIS Onboard enables users to apply processes automatically to their data in near real-time, resulting in minimized data conversion and processing times. By making the processed products available at the office or on a survey vessel during survey operations, CARIS Onboard helps improve survey efficiency by valuably reducing the turn-around…

The Crowley Way

Walk in the front door at Crowley Maritime Corporation HQ in Jacksonville, Fla., and you learn nearly everything you need to know about the company. With your visitor’s badge, you are handed a “Safety and Evacuation” brochure, and the person you are there to meet – in our case Tom Crowley, Jr. – walks down to greet you personally. Safety and People; The Crowley Way. The rest is just details. Crowley Maritime was founded in 1892 by Thomas Crowley in San Francisco.

New Aerial Mapping Drone Launched

The NEXUS 800 UAV is a unique and cutting-edge mapping solution unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by HYPACK, Infinite Jib, SBG Systems and Velodyne. The NEXUS 800 powered by HYPACK is a full end-to-end solution that represents a new paradigm in UAV data collection by seamlessly harmonizing LiDAR data with photogrammetry. The NEXUS 800 is an out of the box turnkey system that tightly integrates hardware and software to provide an advanced and seamless solution for LiDAR survey planning…

HYPACK Automatic Download of ENC Charts

The new HYPACK feature allows U.S.-based users to quickly obtain the most recent charts provided by NOAA and the USACE at no additional charge. U.S.-based users who have an Internet connection will be able to download the charts from the USACE and NOAA web-map servers with the click of a button. Both agencies have made their charts available for download, and HYPACK has made it easy to ensure users have the latest chart data.

Subsea Camera Integrated with ROV

For the first time, Battelle’s HorizonVue undersea camera was integrated with a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) as part of a demo in the Quincy Shipyard, home of Battelle’s Bluefin Robotics. The new camera allowed operators to see the harbor floor, a nearby hull and navigate through submerged pilings using a 360-degree live video feed. The instrument can operate at the ocean’s surface or down to depths of 4,500 meters, withstanding pressure of 6,575 pounds per square inch.

BP Selects McDermott, BHGE for Subsea Contracts

McDermott International and Baker Hughes (BHGE), a GE company  announced the selection of front-end engineering design (FEED) studies in advance of a substantial engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract for BP’s Tortue/Ahmeyim Field Development, a major gas project located on the maritime border of Mauritania and Senegal. During this initial engineering phase, McDermott will work on defining the subsea umbilicals…

Optech’s Dr. Park to Present at OCEANS’14

Optech, a company that develops, manufactures and supports high-accuracy lidar 3D survey systems and productivity-enhancing workflow software, announced that Software Development Manager Dr. Joong Yong Park will present a paper at the OCEANS’14 conference in Taipei, Taiwan, April 7-10 by the Marine Technology Society (MTS) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). Agencies and…

L3 OceanServer Unveils Iver PW AUV

L3 OceanServer announced its new Iver Precision Workhorse (Iver PW) autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). The new Iver PW is the first in a family of highly capable commercial AUVs to address a wide variety of customer missions, including survey research and mapping, sub-surface security, and environmental monitoring. “Undersea missions are evolving, and L3 is uniquely positioned to develop military and commercial solutions using next-generation processing…

New Survey Catamaran for Indian Navy

The Indian navy is operating a stable research platform built around a steel-hulled catamaran. The 53.15 by 16-meter (174.4 X 52.5-foot) INS Makar has a molded depth of 4.5 meters (15 feet). Designed by the Australian naval architecture firm Sea Transport Solutions, the INS Makar, first in a series of up to six vessels, was delivered from the Alcock Ashdown (Gujarat) Ltd form from its Bhavnagar shipyard.

Education and Training the Theme for World Maritime Day

International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu has launched this year’s World Maritime Day theme, “Maritime education and training”, telling students and staff at the World Maritime University (WMU) that maritime education and training was essential for the long-term sustainability of the sector, both at sea and on-shore. The World Maritime Day theme provides a focus for…

Statoil Farms Down in Angolan Pre-salt

Statoil has signed an agreement to farm down a 15% interest to WRG Angola Block 39 Limited in the Statoil-operated block 39 offshore Angola in the Kwanza pre-salt basin. WRG is a 50/50 joint venture comprising White Rose Energy Ventures and Genel Energy plc. “This is part of Statoil's active portfolio management. The farm-down reflects the attractiveness of Statoil’s acreage in Angola and having WRG onboard allows us to share exploration risk, while retaining a significant working interest.

CGG Begins Deepwater Survey Offshore Brazil

CGG said it has commenced acquisition of a large broadband 3D multi-client survey in the pre-salt area of the deepwater Santos Basin. Santos VIII is the most recent survey in CGG’s vast ongoing pre-salt program that delivers ultramodern seismic data, enabling exploration companies to better evaluate pre-salt opportunities in advance of Brazil’s pre-salt licensing rounds. Santos VIII covers an area of over 8,000 km2 adjacent to the Peroba, Pau Brasil and Boumerangue fields.

EuroROV Selects ROV Supplier for Training School

Spanish ROV training and engineering company EuroROV has taken delivery of a Forum Sub-Atlantic Mojave vehicle for its newly-launched ROV pilot training facility. The electric ROV, which was manufactured by Sub-Atlantic’s parent company Forum, is one of the most powerful observation vehicles of its size. Its compact, ergonomic design and lightweight construction allows rapid set up and deployment using any domestic power supply.

New Ships Join the US Research Fleet

The nation’s newest oceanographic research vessel, the R/V Neil Armstrong (AGOR 27), has completed acceptance trials, and the U.S. Navy turned the ship over to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) on Sept. 23, which will operate the vessel as part of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet (ARF). “The U.S. Navy is proud to support the national research fleet by delivering state-of-the-art research vessels like the R/V Neil Armstrong,” said Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm.

SUPR-REMUS: The Next Generation of Plankton Sampling

A vast number of marine animals live a sedentary existence or with limited mobility as adults. For these individuals, it is the dispersal of larvae that determines the settlement of future populations and the structure of ecological communities. Plankton research is hindered by observational difficulties, as traditional sampling methods fail to identify fine-scale distributions while accounting for changes in environmental gradients.

Expanded Underwater Robotics Ready for Oil Spills

Javier Gilabert1, João Sousa2, Zoran Vukić3, Georgios Georgiou4, Laura de la Torre5, David McMyler6, Mark Inall6, Juhan Ernits8, Martin Ludvigsen9, Marc Carreras10, Gabriel Oliver11, Maria João Costa2, António Sérgio Ferreira2, Dan Hayes4, Nadir Kapetanović3, Francisco López-Castejón1, Milan Marković3, Miguel Massot11, Dula Nad3, Petter Norgren9, João Luís Pereira2, Núria Pujol12, Manuel António Ribeiro2…

Offshore Survey Conference Program Launched

The Offshore Survey Committee revealed what it is calling one of the most impressive programs yet for its fifth conference which takes place from April 15-16, 2015, alongside Ocean Business at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, U.K. After an overwhelming response to the call for papers, the technical committee has developed a program which covers timely issues for the offshore industry.

IKM Subsea Secures PTTEP Drilling Contract

IKM Subsea Singapore signed a contract with PTTEPI for their appraisal campaign offshore in Myanmar. IKM Subsea will be providing a Merlin WR200 electrical propulsion system together with a BOP intervention tool and an IKM Technology designed and built diamond wire cutter for this project onboard the rig. This marks as IKM’s second deepest dive in South East Asia as the water depth ranges from 200mtrs to 2000mtrs. “This award definitely boosts IKM’s ROV utilization for 2018/19.

Three NOAA scientists honored by White House

The White House yesterday awarded three NOAA scientists with Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers. The award is the highest honor given by the federal government to outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their careers. Laboratory. The NOAA scientists are part of a group of 102 scientists from across federal agencies that received the prestigious award.