First Major US Offshore Wind Farm Reaches Permitting Milestone

The first major U.S. offshore wind farm, planned for the Massachusetts coast, reached a key permitting milestone on Tuesday with the release of a long-awaited federal environmental study that considers the project's impacts on fisheries and navigation.Publication of the document marks a step forward for the Vineyard Wind project, which has experienced delays over concerns that its wind turbines will hurt commercial fishing. The supplemental review by the U.S.

ISE Ink RCN Mine Detection Equipment Contract

International Submarine Engineering (ISE) awarded the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) contract by MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA). ISE will provide two commercial off-the-shelf, high speed Aurora Towfish, which will be used to support mine detection missions and route survey operations for the Royal Canadian Navy’s Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels. The Aurora towfish will include modifications to integrate new sensors and navigation equipment…

CMRE to Host AUV and Robotics Competitions

From September 20 to October 3, 2014 the NATO Center for Maritime Research and Experimentation will host the Student Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Challenge - Europe (SAUC-E) for the fifth year in a row, and for the first time the euRathlon sea robotic competition. The NATO Center for Maritime Research and Experimentation (part of the NATO Science and Technology Organization) confirms and increases its commitment to foster a new generation of robotic engineers.

Offshore Wind: Fugro Starts Site Survey in the Baltic

Fugro has commenced a marine site characterization program at Iberdrola’s Baltic Eagle Offshore Wind Farm, in German waters of the Baltic Sea.Under a contract worth over €10 million ($11 million), Fugro will undertake a UXO survey to clear the investigation sites, followed by a geotechnical seabed investigation and borehole drilling. The workscope also includes a program of standard and advanced laboratory…

Road Show Scouts Female Submariners

Capt. Rod Hutton, deputy commander for the Enlisted Women in Submarines Task Force, led the Enlisted Women in Submarines Road Show to different military bases in the San Diego area Feb. 9-11. The road show is spreading the word that the submarine force is now open to female enlisted Sailors from E-1 to E-8. Speakers discussed how junior female Sailors could convert to rates in the submarine force and the type of candidates the force is seeking.

BG Group & the FlatFish AUV

The development of AUVs capable of being launched from FPSOs or actually being docked at the seafloor next to the subsea systems has been an industry goal for some years and offers a solution to two major problems: making deepwater subsea inspection become a simple task and decreasing the related costs. MTR’s correspondent in Brazil spoke to Rosane Zagatti, BG Group’s Subsea Technology Manager, about its FlatFish AUV project…

Royal IHC, Tompkins UK Launch TI Geosciences

Royal IHC (IHC) has joined forces with Tompkins UK to enter the deep and ultra-deep water, oil and gas geotechnical survey and site investigation market under the banner of TI Geosciences. TI Geosciences will initially provide cone penetration test (CPT)/gravity coring services. These will be based on Tompkins’ deep-push, buoyancy stabilized, deep-water CPT system – equipped with AP van den Berg’s…

Autonomy Takes Off Underwater

When it comes to autonomous operations, the underwater environment is arguably the most hazardous on the planet. To begin, there is simply a dearth of information regarding the world’s oceans, a factor which naturally raises risk prospects. In addition, the effects of exposure of equipment to the harsh saltwater environment, varying pressures and uncertain weather raises the peril level even further.

ROVCO Partners with Drexel

Remotely operated vehicle (ROV) survey and inspection company Rovco said it has expanded its international reach after forming a local partnership with Drexel Marine Petroleum Services in Egypt.The deal will see the Bristol-headquartered firm offer its range of advanced subsea services to companies in Egypt, as part of a plan to increase business in the region over the next five years.Through the strategic alliance with services company Drexel Marine…

VOS Sweet Named at Oranjewerf Shiprepair Amsterdam

Vroon Offshore Services (VOS) new Subsea Support Vessel was named at Oranjewerf Shiprepair Amsterdam, part of Damen Shipyards Group, on February 8th, 2013. The vessel called at Oranjewerf early January after a voyage from China to The Netherlands to undergo a series of modifications at the shipyard. The new vessel is named after a Rolling Stones song. Among the various modifications Oranjewerf executed are the installation of a 24 tonnes crane and a fully equipped workplace in the aft.

4Subsea Acquires Astori

Engineering firm 4Subsea said it has acquired Astori, a Norwegian provider of subsea control systems for well intervention operations.Astori delivers subsea control systems for simplified XT installations that can operate all types of XTs from all main vendors, simplifying and reducing costs of subsea well intervention. 4Subsea said the firm's automation and control technology will tie into its own…

Pioneering Spirit Gets a Scrub Down

The world's largest vessel, Pioneering Spirit, received a robotic hull cleaning during a recent port call in Rotterdam.The Allseas owned multipurpose vessel, which is on a temporary break from Nord Stream 2 pipelaying activities, made a stop in Rotterdam to prepare for upcoming topsides lift works at the giant Johan Sverdrup project offshore Norway. While in port, a robotic Fleet Cleaner vehicle cleaned the 382-meter-long vessel's hull despite stormy weather…

#Oi2020 History

By the beginning of the 1970s came new advances within subsea technology, specifically a higher level of appreciation of technologies such as acoustics and sensors. This also included manned submersibles, which at the time, “were believed to be the answer to deep underwater exploration, taking humans beyond safe diver depth,” according to the book Advances in Marine Technology, as published by the Marine Technology Society.

Royal IHC wins multiple contracts for Dredgers

In the last two months of 2016, IHC saw a substantial increase in the sale of its vessels, equipment and engineering packages. Almost half of the total order intake over 2016 was secured in this period. “We see market recovery in the dredging and renewables industry, and are positive that this will continue in 2017,” says IHC CEO Dave Vander Heyde. One of the highlights of the year end includes the sale of a trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) Easydredge 2700 from stock.

Ichthys Completes Subsea Installation

INPEX has announced the successful installation completion of the complex network of subsea infrastructure and equipment to safely and efficiently extract gas and condensate from the Ichthys Field for the Ichthys LNG Project. The final laying of 49 kilometres of umbilicals and flying leads yesterday, marked the last placement of an intricate subsea network, spread across a 400 square kilometre area  of the Ichthys Field, in the Browse Basin, about 220 kilometres offshore Western Australia.

Oceaneering to Relocate in Aberdeen

Oceaneering announced it will combine seven Aberdeen properties into one office location and a new, purpose-built workshop, in a move to streamline operations and drive cost efficiencies.The 50,000-square-foot office in Aberdeen International Business Park will provide a work environment for more than 300 office-based employees. The site will benefit from excellent transport connections and is within close proximity to the city’s new exhibition center…

ROBOATS: MIT's Shape-Shifting Autonomous Boats

New capabilities allow “roboats” to change configurations to form pop-up bridges, stages, and other structures.MIT’s fleet of robotic boats has been updated with new capabilities to “shapeshift,” by autonomously disconnecting and reassembling into a variety of configurations, to form floating structures in Amsterdam’s many canals.The autonomous boats — rectangular hulls equipped with sensors, thrusters…

New Autonomous Vehicle for Offshore Wind Surveys

A new autonomous sailing platform aims make the collection of offshore wind energy data easier, faster, cleaner and more cost efficient.The 16-foot wind- and solar-powered Datamaran, launched recently by Norwegian energy company Equinor and US technology firm Autonomous Marine Systems Inc. (AMS), carries a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging, a well-established technology used to record wind characteristics…

First Building Complete at HII's New Unmanned Systems Campus

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) said Monday it has completed the first phase of its Unmanned Systems Center of Excellence with the construction of a 22,000-square-foot facility.The first of two planned buildings on the 20-acre campus in Hampton, Va. will be used to assemble hull structures for Boeing’s Orca Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV) program for the U.S. Navy.“We are thrilled to reach this critical milestone with the development of our Center of Excellence campus…

GD Electric Boat Scores $1B for Submarine Modifications

General Dynamics Electric Boat, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), was awarded a $1.076 billion contract modification from the U.S. Navy to provide long-lead-time material and advanced construction for Virginia-class fast-attack submarines.Electric Boat is presently under contract for construction of submarines in Block V of the class. The $1,075,896,000 in advance procurement funds from…