Eight Scientists Named 2025 Schmidt Polymaths to Pursue Research in New Disciplines

A global cohort of eight scientists and engineers working in a variety of disciplines were named Schmidt Polymaths and will each receive up to $2.5 million over five years to pursue research in new disciplines or using new methodologies, Schmidt Sciences announced.As Schmidt Polymaths, the researchers pursue new approaches compared to previous work. The new cohort of polymaths will answer questions like how to expand access to healthcare with low-cost technologies…

KATFISH Towed Sonar find niche in Defense, Offshore Energy

The war in the Ukraine, and the recent sabotage of the Nordstream underwater pipelines in the Baltic Sea, is bringing increased focus on the growing demand for underwater technologies capable of providing seabed intelligence, when and where it is most needed. Kraken Robotics is squarely focused on this market, with a suite of technologies designed to enhance image quality and reduce the time of traditional seabed surveys…

Blue Logic and Hydromea to Accelerate Subsea WLAN Deployments

Hydromea, a leader in high-speed wireless subsea optical communication, and Blue Logic, a pioneer in underwater inductive power and data transfer, have announced a strategic partnership they say will revolutionize wireless subsea communications.They aim to enable enabling humans in the loop remotely piloting an underwater drone without an umbilical.The collaboration integrates Blue Logic’s advanced inductive technology with Hydromea’s free-space optical (FSO) solutions…

General Atomics Wins Naval Propulsor Contract

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) said it has been awarded a developmental contract by Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division (NSWCCD) to provide manufacturing design drawings, engineering, fabrication, inspection, and assembly of prototype propulsor, shafting and bearing components as well as the equipment needed to support propulsor research and development, testing and evaluation.GA…

EIVA Launches ROV Steering Software

NaviSuite Mobula is a new software product from EIVA offering advanced steering capabilities to remotely operated vehicle (ROV) owners.The market for the micro- and mini-ROV is under drastic change, with more suppliers entering the market, and prices for the ROVs dropping significantly. The performance of the entry-level ROVs makes them useful for professional use – provided you have the right software capabilities.This is now possible through a NaviSuite product dedicated to ROV steering…

Columbia Class Subs Take Shape in Virginia

A plasma-burning machine cut the first steel plate that will be used to build Columbia (SSBN 826), the lead ballistic missile submarine. As Newport News continues its digital transformation, the event also marked the first class of submarines that will be built using fully digital blueprints.“Today is a historic day,” said Jason Ward, Newport News’ vice president for Columbia-class construction. “It has been a half century since Newport News Shipbuilding has constructed a ballistic submarine.

UK Hydrographic Office Names Chief Executive

The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) has appointment of Rear Admiral Tim Lowe CBE as its new Chief Executive and Accounting Officer.Lowe joined the UKHO as National Hydrographer and Deputy Chief Executive in 2015. In January 2019, he was made Acting Chief Executive, leading the UKHO’s transformation to become a modern marine geospatial information agency and hydrographic office.This included overseeing…

TGS, Schlumberger Partner for Ocean-bottom Node Project

TGS and Schlumberger’s geophysical services product line WesternGeco will work together to develop opportunities to co-invest in additional multiclient ocean-bottom node projects in the deepwater  U.S. Gulf of Mexico under a new collaboration agreement announced Wednesday.This collaboration includes the previously-announced 2,350 square kilometer Amendment Phase 1 project in the Mississippi Canyon and Atwater Valley protraction areas.

Kraken Tallies $2.1 Million KATFISH Order

Canadian based marine technolgy firm Kraken Robotics said its Kraken Robotic Systems subsidiary has received a purchase order from ThayerMahan, for a KATFISH 180 towfish system. The contract value is $2.1 million, and delivery is expected in the third quarter of 2019.ThayerMahan, a US-based company specializing in the design, integration, and operation of autonomous maritime systems, will deploy Kraken’s…

Scientists Find New Hydrothermal Field

Scientists aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor recently discovered and explored a hydrothermal field at 2,000 meters depth in the Gulf of California where towering mineral structures serve as biological hotspots for life. These newly discovered geological formations feature upside down ‘mirror-like flanges’ that act as pooling sites for discharged fluids.While exploring hydrothermal vent and cold seep environments, Dr.

L3 ASV to Conduct UK Autonomous Navigation Study

L3 ASV has announced that it has received U.K. government funding for a pioneering project on autonomous navigation of maritime vessels. The company will conduct a study with its partners in the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) and United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO), focusing on the future of marine navigational data and charts. The project is funded by the Department for Transport’s Transport Technology Research Innovation Grant (T-TRIG) and aims to promote early-stage science…

Trump Requests $200.5 Mln for BSEE, $193.4 for BOEM

U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed fiscal year (FY) 2020 budget submitted to Congress on Monday includes $200.5 million for the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and $193.4 million for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), up from the respective $199.9 million and $179.3 million requests for FY 2019.The requested BSEE budget includes $129.9 million of appropriated funds and $70.6 million in offsetting collections of revenue from rental receipts…

New Research on Gulf of Mexico Loop Current

More than $10 million in grant funding has been awarded for a group of new projects that aim to fill research gaps in order to help improve understanding and prediction of the Gulf of Mexico Loop Current System (LCS).As the Gulf of Mexico's dominant ocean circulation feature, the LCS has far-reaching implications for a wide range of human and natural systems, including oil and gas operations, yet knowledge…

Alucia2 Installing FarSounder 3D FLS

The FarSounder-1000 Forward Looking Sonar (FLS), has been selected by the OceanX exploration team to help provide safe passage for Alucia2, its new 85.3m research and exploration yacht. Admarel BV, a member of the Alewijnse Group, is the FarSounder dealer in the Netherlands instrumental in securing this sale.With the inclusion of a FarSounder-1000, operators of the vessel will be able to view a true underwater 3D image ahead of the ship up to 1000 meters range.

UKHO Conducts Seabed Mapping in St Lucia

The U.K. Hydrographic Office (UKHO) said it has deployed a motorboat to survey the waters of St Lucia as part of the Commonwealth Marine Economies (CME) Program.Following a stakeholder meeting with the St Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority (SLASPA) and wider government earlier this year, priority areas will be surveyed, capturing sonar data of St Lucia’s main ports and approaches. These include Castries to Marigot Harbor, Rodney Bay, Vieux Fort Bay and Soufriere Bay.

Schmidt Ocean Institute Seeking Communications Interns

Schmidt Ocean Institute is seeking applicants for the 2021 Science Communications Internship.The Science Communications Internship aims to provide educational and practical support to graduate students studying marine science, communications, journalism or a related field. Interns will work with Schmidt Ocean Institute’s communications team supporting outreach programs, with the goal of engaging, influencing…

U.S. Revives Cold War Submarine Spy Program to Counter China

On a windswept island 50 miles north of Seattle sits a U.S. Navy monitoring station. For years, it was kept busy tracking whale movements and measuring rising sea temperatures. Last October, the Navy gave the unit a new name that better reflects its current mission: Theater Undersea Surveillance Command.The renaming of the spy station at the Whidbey Island naval base is a nod to a much larger U.S.

NOAA’s PORTS® System Expands Operations to Include Pearl Harbor-Honolulu

NOAA’s first Physical Oceanographic Real-time System, or PORTS®, at Pearl Harbor-Honolulu, Hawaii, is now operational. Installed by NOAA's National Ocean Service, data from the new publicly available observation system advances NOAA’s ability to better serve Hawaii’s coastal communities and secure maritime safety in the Pacific Islands.Pearl Harbor-Honolulu PORTS is NOAA’s 40th system in this national network of precision marine navigation sensors concentrated in busy U.S.

NOAA & US Power Squadrons Sign Agreement

NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey & US Power Squadrons sign a Memorandum of Agreement to improve cooperative charting program. Rear Adm. Gerd Glang, director of NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey, recently sat down with John Alter, chief commander of the U.S. Power Squadrons (USPS) to sign up to a collaboration that began fifty years ago. The USPS is a nonprofit organization dedicated to safe boating through instruction in seamanship, navigation, and related subjects.

Keppel Earn Bonuses For Early Rig Completions

Keppel FELS complete two rigs early for Transocean and Asia Offshore Drilling, earning a combined US$1.5-milliion bonus. Over two consecutive days Keppel FELS held naming ceremonies for twin jackup rigs built for Transocean, and another jackup rig built for Asia Offshore Drilling (AOD), which is majority owned and managed by Seadrill Limited. Transocean named twin Super B Class Bigfoot jackup rigs…