GE Oil & Gas Sign GofM Deepwater Contracts

GE Oil & Gas has signed an $84-million agreement with PEMEX Exploration and Production to supply and install subsea wellheads for PEMEX’s deepwater and ultra-deepwater drilling projects in the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf of Mexico is a strategic zone for the hydrocarbon industry, since it is estimated to hold more than 50 percent of Mexico’s potential or prospective resources. However, such reserves are located in deepwater and ultra-deepwater sites…

Mine Hunting Sonar Deployed in the Mediterranean

Klein Marine Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitcham Industries, Inc. teamed with Elbit Systems, Ltd. to conduct structured mine countermeasure exercises in the Mediterranean Sea. Klein’s 5900 mine hunting side scan sonar, integrated onboard Elbit’s Seagull Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) detected and classified all detectable moored and bottom Mine Like Objects (MLO) in one-third the allotted time period for each exercise.

FarSounder Updates Navigation Sonars

The release of SonaSoft 3.0 represents an upgrade to its real-time forward-looking sonar capabilities. New in SonaSoft 3.0, FarSounder has improved its 3D sonar display, the developer said. According to FarSounder, improvements include target persistence via new image stabilization techniques, updated color mapping fusing depth and signal level information, improved Auto Squelch mode, expanded chart overlay including full 3D image and one-to-one scaling of 3D images.

Ocean Science and Exploration Focus on Capitol Hill

Explorer and director James Cameron will be on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, June 11, with Dr. Susan Avery, president and director of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for a series of public events and a Senate hearing. Central to their visit is the display of the Deepsea Challenger, the only human-occupied vehicle currently able to access the deepest parts the ocean. Cameron developed the vehicle over seven years and used it in March 2012 to dive to the deepest spot in the ocean…

History Meets Technology in Shipwreck Alley

The vast stretches of cold, fresh water in the Great Lakes hide the stories of thousands of ships that wrecked in our nation’s inland seas. Historical records indicate more than a hundred shipwrecks have yet to be discovered in Lake Huron’s Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and research teams hope to discover more this summer. From April through August, Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary will…

Atlantic Towing and Jaya Seal Second Offshore Deal

Offshore energy services provider Jaya Holdings Ltd. reached an agreement to sell a second new state-of-the-art anchor handling tug supply vessel Jaya Sovereign to Canadian buyers, Atlantic Towing Ltd. The vessel’s delivery is expected by the end of 2013. The Jaya Sovereign is a sister ship of the Jaya Supreme which was delivered to Atlantic Towing in November of last year. Both vessels are among the most sophisticated anchor handlers ever built at a Singapore shipyard.

Soo Locks Open for 2016

At 12:01 a.m. today, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officially opened the Soo Locks for the start of the 2016 shipping season. The locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan are among 16 locks that form the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway navigation system which extends from Duluth, Minnesota to the Atlantic Ocean. Together these 16 locks lift or lower ships 600 feet – the height of a 60 story building.

Ocean Server, SeeByte Collaborate for Environmental Assessment

A group of marine industry technology providers gathered in San Diego, using OceanServer Technology's Iver2 AUVs as the payload platform, to demonstrate improvements for both Sonar and Magnetic Sensor data collection and subsequent "in-stride" and post-mission data analysis methods. These methods are emerging through cooperative developments in commercial and military survey operations. Participating for this five day exercise in the waters off Coronado…

C&C Technologies Wins NOAA Survey Contract

C & C Technologies has been awarded a new five-year contract by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to perform hydrographic surveys throughout U.S. coastal waters. “Our work with NOAA began in 1998 surveying San Francisco Bay near Alcatraz Island and the Oakland Bay Bridge,” stated Thomas Chance, President of C & C Technologies, Inc. This is now the third five-year survey contract NOAA has awarded to C & C.

SIDMAR Delivers AXYS WatchMate ODAS Buoy to Spain

AXYS Technologies' agent in Spain, SIDMAR has recently deployed an AXYS WatchMate™1.8DM buoy for weather monitoring off the port of La Coruña. The WatchMate oceanographic buoy strengthens the weather monitoring program operated by Puertos del Estado (PdE) in the Galicia region. The WatchMate buoy system monitors additional strategic environmental parameters over the existing REDCOS TRIAXYS buoys for operation of the port and to improve the local marine weather forecasting models.

Teledyne Seeks Speakers for AiA Conference

Teledyne RDI said it would like to implement three lightning round sessions at this year’s ADCPs in Action (AiA) Users’ Conference, which is scheduled to take place in San Diego, Calif. on September 29-October 2, 2013. Lightning Rounds refer to a 30 minute sessions comprised of five-minute succinct and tightly timed customer presentations detailing one of three preselected categories. Lightning rounds will be conducted for all three Teledyne RDI product lines: Marine Measurements…

2G Robotics Laser Scanner Now Interfaced with QINSy

2G Robotics announced that the ULS-500 underwater laser scanner is now compatible with the QPS hydrographic data acquisition, navigation and processing software, QINSy. The QINSy suite can be used for various types of surveys, ranging from simple single beam surveys up to complex offshore construction works. According to 2G Robotics, QINSy has a reputation for producing fully corrected and geo-referenced multibeam point clouds in real-time.

AWS Wave Power Generator Deployed

AWS Ocean Energy developing its wave power technology for use in fish farms, harbor breakwaters through to major utility-scale offshore wave farms. Inverness-based AWS Ocean Energy has taken a step forward with the successful deployment and initial testing of a half-scale AWS-III wave power generator. The test program took place at Lyness in Orkney, Scotland, and will help the company develop its energy…

US Ports Dredging FY2014: Record Grant Recommended

Following on the heels of House Committee's recommendation, U.S. Senate Subcommittee recommends record US$1-billion for FY2014 maintenance dredging. The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development completed its mark up of the fiscal 2014 appropriation bill for the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which includes a record $1 billion draw…

TE SubCom Introduces Open Cables, Ocean Gateway

TE SubCom introduced today “Open Cables,” a new flexible business model that allows customers to select preferred Submarine Line Terminating Equipment (SLTE) line card supplier to create an interoperable and complementary dry and wet plant. SubCom will continue to offer and invest in its advanced SLTE product line, in addition to the new Open Cables alternative, to provide customers with ultimate flexibility.

SeeByte Sells Additional SeeTrack CoPilot Units to Seatronics

SeeByte, a creator of smart software for unmanned maritime systems, announced the sale of a further five SeeTrack CoPilot licenses to Seatronics. This market-leading software will be integrated into Seatronics’ Predator ROV, allowing the system to benefit from improved capabilities. Adil Ali, International Product Sales Manager at Seatronics, said, “We are committed to offering our customers a more capable platform and our relationship with SeeByte allows us to do that.

Damen Delivers Reservoir Dredge Package

The Damen Field Service crew has just returned from commissioning the Barracuda cutter suction dredger in Algeria. The customised Damen Cutter Suction Dredger (CSD) 500 has been delivered with a complete dredging package including a booster station and dredge piping enabling immediate start up. The CSD500 will perform maintenance dredging in a reservoir. As reservoir dredging can be quite a challenge, the standard dismountable CSD500 has been customised.

China Hosts Deep-Sea Exploration Contractors Meet

The third annual meeting between the International Seabed Authority (ISA) Secretariat and the contractors with deep-sea exploration contracts in the international deep-seabed (the Area) concluded in Changsa, China on Sunday.Delegates gathered at the three-day meeting hosted by China Minmetals from October 11-13 to discuss areas of common interest, and the next steps in moving from exploration to the sustainable development of deep-sea mineral resources.In his remarks at the opening ceremony…

INVENTION: Pitching a Tent Underwater

Divers are one step closer to being able to camp underwater. A pair of innovators have developed an underwater habitat – a subsea ‘basecamp’ if you will – that  provides a portable deep-sea space for divers, a habitat and dedicated life support system that provides creates a breathable environment. Developed by NYU Meyers professor Winslow Burleson and diving pioneer and explorer Michael Lombardi,…

Sonar Assists Deepest Solo Sub Dive

In December 2018, Victor Vescovo became the first person to reach the deepest part of the Atlantic, piloting his private submersible the Limiting Factor 8,376 meters below the ocean's surface to the bottom of the Puerto Rico Trench -- the deepest solo human submersible dive ever.It goes without saying that state-of-the-art subsea technology was key to the mission's success. The submersible, a Triton 36000/2…