Marine Electronics – Sonar 3D Imaging Resolution Improved

Northstar Electronics, Inc. which previously signed a Letter of Intent to acquire Echotec Sonar, is announcing improvements in Echotec's sonar image quality. Echotec Sonar, through new techniques in sonar engineering, has recently made breakthroughs which have improved sonar image resolution levels by a measurable amount. The company has found a way to bring quality to a level where it is significantly better than the diffraction limit would normally allow.

Partnership Seeks New Tidal Sensor Technologies

Canadian and British researchers will join forces to collaborate on two projects in developing new sensing technologies for tidal energy applications. The two projects, with a combined value of $1.43 million, were selected for funding through a joint research competition managed and funded by the Offshore Energy Research Association, a Nova Scotia Based not-for-profit research group, and Innovate UK, a government funded business and innovation accelerator out of the UK.

Smarter Ocean Robotics

It is evident by now that we are in a robotics revolution. In almost every industry, from healthcare to hospitality, robots are emerging that can successfully complete a task without the human element. Artificial intelligence (AI) is also advancing at phenomenal rates beyond what some imagined possible this decade. The marine sectors have embraced robotics in data collection and exploration, but the…

New Wave Generators for Indonesian Hydrodynamic Lab

Bosch Rexroth said it has been awarded a contract to install two electrical wave generator systems for Indonesian Hydrodynamic Laboratory (IHL), an advanced research laboratory of BPPT (The Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology). The new systems will replace the original hydraulic system supplied by Rexroth 25 years ago. IHL has sophisticated facilities, including experimental tanks, for testing many types of ocean vessels.

Boston Engineering Opens UUV Office at UMass

Boston Engineering Corporation has opened an office at the ATMC of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 151 Martine Street, Fall River, MA, where it will incubate projects emphasizing maritime activities, such as its ground-breaking technology with unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). The site is adjacent to South Watuppa Pond and very close to the ocean, making it ideal for conducting UUV tests.

Saab Gets Swedish Navy Ten-unit ROV Order

Saaab says it has received an order from the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) for ten ROV systems (Remotely Operated Vehicle), which will be deployed operationally for seabed surveys, inspections, light underwater operations and recovery of objects. Saab will fulfil the deliveries using the Seaeye Falcon system, which is being adapted to meet FMV's specifications. The systems, which will be delivered as stand-alone systems…

The Island of Gold, the Leopard and the Falcon

Marco Polo described Japan as the Island of Gold for its vast natural gold deposits, long since mined out. But in the oceans offshore the seabed still holds a wealth of gold and other valuable mineral reserves created by hydrothermal activity from hot water venting at 300°C which contains dissolved metals that form ore deposits when cooled. Seeing the potential for extracting these minerals, Tokyo University has engaged Kaiyo Engineering…

Hager Appointed Mechanical Design Engineer, BIRNS

BIRNS, Inc., an ISO 9001:2008 certified global leader in the design and manufacture of unique lines of high performance lights, connectors, penetrators and custom cable assemblies, has appointed Jeff Hager as its new Mechanical Design Engineer. In answer to exponential sales increase and customer demand, and as part of BIRNS’ ongoing investment in its Engineering Department expansion, Hager was recruited…

IHC Takes Majority Stakes in Tompkins

Royal IHC and Tompkins UK Limited are strengthening their strategic cooperation with IHC’s acquisition of a majority stake in Tompkins, the parent company of Modus Seabed Intervention and a partner in the TI Geosciences joint venture (that IHC and Tompkins created in 2015). Modus is a specialist provider of remote and autonomous technologies for subsea and seabed intervention. It has industry-leading…

The ROV that Explored USS Indianapolis

The wreckage of the USS Indianapolis was found by Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul G. Allen and his team on August 19, 2017. A state-of-the-art remotely operated vehicle (ROV) was deployed to confirm and document the shipwreck in its resting place some 5,500 meters below the surface in the Philippine Sea. For the design, manufacture and commissioning of the specialty ROV, Allen and his company Vulcan Inc.

Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Design Passes ABS Review

The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has completed the design review of the Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) documentation for the VolturnUS, a floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT), developed by the University of Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center. “UMaine is pleased that its innovative design became the first floating wind turbine concrete semisubmersible hull to be reviewed by ABS, and found to meet the ABS requirements,” said Dr. Habib J.

Seagull Maritime AS debuts STA 4.0

Seagull Maritime AS has launched Seagull Training Administrator 4.0, an updated version of the shipping industry’s most widely used training administrator, in a move the company says makes computer-based packages even easier to use. Norway-based Seagull Maritime has built on customer feedback gathered over a number of years to extend and improve STA 4.0’s user workflow and functionality, and to add new functions, with the entire overhaul neatly presented via a new user interface.

FAU to Develop Use of USVs for Bridge Inspections

The task of inspecting and maintaining Florida’s network of approximately 11,450 bridges is arduous, especially since so many of the state’s bridges span rivers, canals and saltwater areas. Researchers in the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Florida Atlantic University have received a one year, $187,000 grant from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to research and develop the use of unmanned marine vehicles for on-water bridge inspections.

NAS, BOEM Committee Meeting to Set Research Priorities

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS) will hold the third meeting of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Standing Committee on Offshore Science and Assessment on July 11 and 12, 2016, in Washington, D.C. The agenda will cover strategic research priorities from the BOEM regional perspective and how they fit into BOEM’s mission and goals; defining metrics for meeting strategic priorities and research goals…

CMS-Geotech Launches Vibrocore Monitoring Acquisition System

Vibrocoring is an established fundamental phase of marine seabed investigations, but its importance is often underestimated and much vibrocoring is carried out somewhat blindly, ie lowering the unit to the seabed, vibrating for a set time and recovering to the surface in the hope that an adequate sample has been obtained. CMS-Geotech is a U.K. specialist in vibrocoring and CPT site investigation and over the last 12 months has developed a new monitoring system…

OceanServer Wins US Navy Subsea Deal

OceanServer Technology, Inc. has recently been awarded a contract for one Iver3 AUV by the US Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) in Newport, RI. This system will include several Iver3 options just released including the Rowe Technologies, Inc. (RTI) SeaPILOT 600 kHz Doppler Velocity Log with ADCP. The RTI’s SeaPILOT family of Doppler Velocity Logs (DVLs) represents some of the industry’s acoustic Doppler technology.

Two Offshore Industry Contracts for Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce will supply Petrobras with advanced maintenance and repair services to support fifteen Rolls-Royce RB211-G62 industrial gas turbine power generation units which are installed on four Petrobras oil platforms operating in the petroleum rich, pre-salt Campos Basin. The four Petrobras platforms, which together can produce over 500,000 barrels of oil per day, or 25 per cent of Brazil's entire output…

Security Check List for Internet Access at Sea

An increase in internet access at sea will lead to an increased risk of suffering a cyber-attack, says a research report by Protection Vessels International. However, if addressed correctly, this risk can be lowered to sit comfortably within the acceptable risk tolerance levels of an organisation. Britain is a maritime nation. We depend on the sea to trade with others. Over 90% of the world’s trade goes by sea – this figure is 95% for the United Kingdom.

Rovco Joins NVIDIA Inception Program

UK-based subsea company Rovco has announced plans to take artificial intelligence (AI) to new depths after being selected to join the NVIDIA Inception Program. Designed to nurture start-ups that are revolutionizing industries with advances in AI and data science, the virtual incubator program supports members overcome critical stages of product development, prototyping, and deployment. Being selected by NVIDIA will see Rovco benefit from hardware grants…

Research Vessels: The Fleet is In

A wave of new and innovative research vessels are set to help scientists enhance their understanding of the oceans. MTR profiles several of these ships currently in designe and construction across the globe. The U.K.’s new polar research ship rose to fame when Boaty McBoatface took the internet by storm as the leading vote getter in an online naming contest. The U.K.’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) eventually chose to call the ship RRS Sir David Attenborough…