One-on-One: Chris Gibson, VideoRay

Chris Gibson is VP of Sales & Marketing at VideoRay, a leader in portable, inspection-class remotely operated vehicles (ROV). Gibson is a ubiquitous figure around the globe representing the VideoRay brand, and has been with the company since its inception in 1999. MTR spoke with Gibson recently for his insights on market and tech drivers.The familiar family of VideoRay ROVs are found globally in a wide range of industries and missions…

Wärtsilä Inert Gas Unit for Statoil N. Sea Platform

The enormous new offshore spar platform being built for Statoil's Aasta Hansteen field off the coast of Norway will feature Wärtsilä's Inert Gas and Nitrogen Generator systems, which will utilise titanium in their construction, the first time ever that this material has been used in such a system. The contract was issued in the first quarter 2014 by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) of South Korea, the yard building the platform.

SMD Introduces New Work Class ROV

A new work class remotely operated underwater vehicle from SMD introduces electric drive technology to the subsea sector in a modular packageThe new Quantum EV ROV prototype, showcased at Offshore Europe in Aberdeen this week, is equipped with a new 25kW high power electric thrust system, a new long-distance DC transmission solution and locally managed DC power system. The new platform also features advanced flight processing for super stability…

Balmoral Launches Scour Protection System

Aberdeen-based Balmoral has unveiled a new scour protection system that integrates seabed protection and flow reduction to minimize operational costs and potential cable failure in the offshore wind industry.The new HexDefence structure eliminates the requirement to dump rock, instead providing a non-invasive approach to protecting the monopile and the immediate surrounding area, Balmoral said. The…

HMM, DSME Join Forces for Smart-ship Tech

South Korea’s container shipping giant Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) and compatriot shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) have joined forces on the research, development and innovation in the field of smart ship technologies.Under a Memorandum of Understanding, the parties would conduct research on real-time service system based on IoT (Internet of Things), design on-shore platforms for optimized fleet operation, develop automated warehousing systems for ship materials an

Trimble Marine Construction Software for Positioning

The new Trimble Marine Construction Software for Positioning provides contractors with the ability to perform their own pre-/post-construction hydrographic survey.The system consists of Trimble Marine Construction software and a single beam echo sounder (SBES) for data acquisition, editing, plotting and dredge volume calculations. According to the developer, Contractors can reduce rework, increase…

MTR100: InterMoor

InterMoorHouston, Texas, President/CEO: Mark Jones, CEONo. of Employees: 300www.intermoor.comIn the past 12 months, InterMoor was chosen by operators and large contractors to secure some of the largest floating assets on the planet. During this time frame, it completed tow and permanent mooring engineering and offshore operations for the Ailsa FPSO in the North Sea, the Benchamas FSO 2 in Asia, and mooring line replacement on two FPSOs in West Africa, amongst others.

CGG Kicks off OBN Survey in US Gulf

CGG announced Tuesday it has commenced its first multi-client ocean bottom node (OBN) survey.Located in the north-central region of the Gulf of Mexico, this dense OBN survey will provide well-sampled, full azimuthal coverage with long offsets, to deliver exceptional data for imaging the geologically complex structures in Mississippi Canyon, the company said.According to Seabed Geosolutions, a joint venture between CGG and Fugro…

General Dynamics Launches New Bluefin-12

General Dynamics Mission Systems released the new Bluefin-12 autonomous unmanned underwater vehicle at Defense and Security Equipment International (DSEI) 2019.This new vehicle builds upon the proven Bluefin autonomy and uses shared Bluefin Robotics’ core capabilities, increased mission modularity and embedded intelligence to complete users’ long endurance, high-consequence and changing missions.The…

NOAA Partners with University of Southern Mississippi on Uncrewed Systems

A 10-year agreement signed Thursday between NOAA and the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) aims to improve how uncrewed systems (UxS) are used to collect ocean observation data and augment NOAA’s operational capabilities. The deal provides a framework for collaborating with NOAA scientists and UxS operators on projects to further UxS research, development and operations.“Mississippi is poised to become a major hub for ocean research and innovation…

US Navy Helps Small Companies Engage with Experimentation

The United States' Department of Navy (DoN) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Experimentation Cell (DoN SEC) connects SBIR innovators with the DoN experimentation community to deliver innovative solutions for the warfighter.“Our mission is to support the SBIR community from the first idea to experiment execution by offering beginning-to-end facilitation, mentoring, and training in all aspects of experimentation…

Preston Joins Global Diving & Salvage as Director of Marine Technology

Global Diving & Salvage, Inc. has appointed Alisa Preston, P. Eng., as Director of Marine Technology to lead the growth of the marine services company’s underwater technology resources.Preston will be responsible for advancing the development of sustainable and innovative marine technology and remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) services as part of the overall business strategies for both Seattle…

U. of Plymouth, Sonardyne Collaborate on Marine MonitoringTech

The University of Plymouth and Sonardyne have agreed a strategic partnership to drive innovation within the UK’s growing marine robotic and autonomous systems sector. The partnership will advance ocean data gathering technologies and platforms by leveraging the University’s academic resources and research facilities, Sonardyne’s leading acoustic and inertial navigation technologies, and the marine proving area Smart Sound Plymouth.Under the new agreement…

Japan, Scotland Invest $25.6m for 'Blue Economy'

A joint initiative between Japan and Scotland, formed two years ago, will see almost $25.6 million invested into underwater technology projects to promote economic growth opportunities in the Blue Economy. Industry body Subsea UK and its technology arm, NSRI, has (9th October 2019) announced that, through a close working relationship between Scottish Enterprise and the Nippon Foundation, $25.5 million…

Hydromea's Wireless ROV Tested at TotalEnergies’ FPSO Ballast Water Tank

Switzerland-based subsea wireless access provider Hydromea has said it has recently successfully trialed EXRAY, its wireless underwater ROV system, in a full ballast water tank on one of TotalEnergies’ North Sea FPSOs.EXRAY was deployed to collect visual inspection data, validating system performance including wireless navigation and wireless communication, Hydromea said.According to Hydromea, the pilot was able to command and control the vehicle and receive real-time 1080p video feedback…

Nigeria Pledges Improved Information Sharing

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigeria Navy are set for a regime of improved information sharing as arrangements to integrate the Command, Control, Computer Communication and Information (C4i) Cente of the Deep Blue Project along with the Falcon Eye of the Nigerian Navy.The Director General of NIMASA Dr. Bashir Jamoh said, “Just like we did by ensuring that our Special Mission Vessels are manned by men of the Nigerian Navy…

WHOI Names Murray Deputy Director & VP for Research

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) announced that Dr. Richard W. Murray has accepted the position of the Deputy Director & Vice President for Research of the institution. He will assume the office on September 1, 2019.A geochemist whose research focuses on interpreting chemical records of climate change and volcanism in marine sediments, Murray joins WHOI from Boston University, where he has been since 1992 and is currently a professor of Earth and Environment.

A New USV for Ocean Surveying

A new unmanned surface vehicle (USV) designed for the Chinese market offers an open and low-cost platform to measure water current and direction. Nortek China has integrated Doppler instrumentation on the vehicle to help better meet user requirements for ocean surveying.The new USV has an IPC (Industrial Personal Computer) as the main operation platform and uses Remote Desktop, a remote control technique, to communicate with all the instruments installed.

Greensea Expands, Again

Greensea recently added key personnel to its engineering team in its Plymouth, Mass., office to support their hull robotics program. James Truman, Senior Robotics Engineer, is leading the development of Greensea’s latest technology, a hull crawling robot with precise hull-relative navigation and autonomy capabilities. Assisting James on the hull robotics program is Sam Fladung, Robotics Engineer.“James is one of the best engineers I know.

FET Inks Deal to Expand Shallow Water Ops

Forum Energy Technologies' (FET) Subsea Product Line has signed a contract for the sale of an electric Sub Atlantic Super Mohawk II remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and Dynacon Launch and Recovery (LARS) system to a North American subsea organization. The ROV will be used for shallow water operations in the Northeastern United States, marking the company’s first sale for river bed assessments alongside…