Schlumberger Launches Industry-first GoM Survey

Schlumberger expanded its Gulf of Mexico multiclient wide-azimuth seismic data portfolio by launching a new survey in the Campeche Basin. The acquisition of the industry’s first multiclient wide-azimuth survey offshore Mexico will cover 80,000 sq km using two fleets of WesternGeco vessels, including Amazon Class, the world’s first purpose-designed 3D seismic vessels. “Building on our experience in the U.S.

Twenty Teams Vie for Wave Energy Prize

Qualified teams to continue pursuit to win U.S. Twenty teams have successfully navigated the first technology gate of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Wave Energy Prize to become official qualified teams. The 20 qualified teams, selected from the field of 92 official registered teams announced on July 6, will continue their quest to double the energy captured from ocean waves and win a prize purse totaling more than $2 million.

IMCA Publishes Peripheral Survey Sensors Guidelines

The newly published "Guidelines for the management of peripheral survey sensors" (IMCA S 021) has been developed under the direction of the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) Offshore Survey Division management committee. Since the 1970s technology has been developed and applied in the offshore surveying industry to provide better and improved accuracy, quality, reliability and resolution of data and results.

New NOAA Chart Adds to Arctic Shipping Safety

NOAA formally presented today to Alaska officials a new nautical chart for Kotzebue Sound in the Alaskan Arctic, a sparsely charted region that is seeing increased vessel traffic because of the significant loss of summer sea ice. The new chart depicts the full range of depth measurements and object detection acquired during a full ocean bottom survey last summer by the NOAA hydrographic survey ship Fairweather.

MTR100: QPS-US (Quality Positioning Services)

No. QPS are specialists in software solutions for marine spatial data. Software products for efficient data collection, advanced post processing and 4D visualization include QINSy, Qimera and Fledermaus. QINSy is a software suite used for various types of maritime geomatic surveys, ranging from simple single beam surveys up to the very complex offshore construction works.

Boskalis Expanding Subsea

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) is set to expand its market position in the area of subsea services, according to its Corporate Business Plan 2017-2019. "In a persistently challenging market there tend to be interesting opportunities for anti-cyclical investments in companies or equipment that will result in Boskalis being well-positioned when end-markets recover again," it says. In mid-August Boskalis acquired subsea survey specialist Gardline…

Film Examines Cutthroat World of Shrimp Trade

A second documentary film, “Raising Shrimp,” from executive producer Ted Caplow at Fish Navy Films and featuring aquatic ecologist Andy Danylchuk of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has been named an official selection of the Blue Ocean Film Festival this year, where it will be screened on Thursday, Nov. 6 in St. Petersburg, Fla. Their first film, “Fish Meat,” won an honorable mention at Blue Ocean in 2012 in Monterey, Calif.

SMD Tests Subsea Mining Vehicle Prototype

A new robotic underwater mining vehicle prototype has completed first stage testing in a project set to uncover valuable European underwater mineral resources. U.K.-based subsea engineering specialist Soil Machine Dynamics Ltd (SMD) is technical lead on the VAMOS (viable alternative mine operating system) project, a 42-month international research and development venture, which is part-funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program.

New Research Ship Sally Ride Sails for Home

On August 26, 2016, R/V Sally Ride will arrive from its shipyard birthplace in Anacortes, Wash., via a stop in San Francisco, to its home port at the Scripps Nimitz Marine Facility in Point Loma. The ship is owned by the U.S. Navy and operated by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego—one of the world’s most renowned ocean, atmosphere, and earth system research centers. R/V Sally Ride…

SEA Installs New Tech for Biscay Marine Energy Park

Cohort plc subsidiary SEA has utilized its advanced power connection technology to install a 13.2kV cable connection in support of the Oceantec wave energy device located at the Biscay Marine Energy Park (Bimep) test site in Northern Spain. Bimep tests prototype devices for generating wave energy in advance of commercial production to ensure economic and technological readiness and that they are reliable and safe for commercial deployment.

MTR100: Engineered Syntactic Systems

Engineered Syntactic Systems (ESS) is exclusively focused on the formulation, engineering and manufacturing of superior quality syntactic foam, a class of material created using pre-formed hollow spheres (commonly made of glass, ceramic, polymer or even metal) bound together with a polymer. Thanks to its unique properties of high strength at low density, syntactic foam is widely used in subsea buoyancy applications.

Project Launched to Better Detect Ocean Ice Hazards

There is an increasing need for fine scale detection and characterization of hazardous ice conditions in the Arctic. ASL Environmental Sciences Inc. has recently received funding from the Canadian Space Agency to address this need under the Earth Observation Applications Development Program. The project will develop improved techniques, tools and data products that will enhance the detection and characterization of hazardous ice conditions at fine scales…

Wärtsilä Introduces its Smart Marine Ecosystem Vision

The smart technology group Wärtsilä is at the forefront of harnessing the changes taking place in the shipping industry to deliver value and optimisation for its customers. By orchestrating these developments through the use of high levels of connectivity and digitalisation, Wärtsilä intends to lead the industry’s transformation towards a Smart Marine Ecosystem. “The world is moving towards a future that is more and more connected, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the shipping sector.

K-MATE Autonomy Controller Put to the Test

Supported by KONGSBERG experts and technology, the GEBCO-NF Alumni Team, one of 19 semi-finalist teams competing in the $7 million Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE competition, has completed technology readiness tests of its unique unmanned surface vessel (USV) / autonomous underwater vessel (AUV) concept and associated combination of communications hardware and software to process and transmit data remotely.

Vectron Measures Tide Speeds

The Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy (FORCE), in partnership with Nortek Scientific, announced the construction of what is touted as the world’s first instrument to provide high-resolution, real time measurements of turbulent water flow at turbine hub height, called the Vectron. Vectron is designed to capture accurate measurements of turbulence at a specific height above the sea over long periods of time, beneficial to understanding turbine performance.

WASSP Goes Wireless with New Remote Mapping System

Award winning multi-beam sonar manufacturer WASSP Ltd. debuted its latest system – now for super yacht applications. WASSP-Wireless has been designed to address superyacht captains’ concerns about underwater obstacle avoidance, hull damage or grounding the vessel. Suited for use when navigating in unknown waters or where marine charts lack sufficient detail, WASSP-Wireless aims to take the risk out of the equation for the captains of these very large and very expensive vessels.

Australian Navy to Upgrade Survey Vessels

FarSounder, Inc. said it has been awarded a contract to provide four complete FarSounder-1000 systems plus spare parts for the upgrade of four Paluma class hydrographic Survey Motor Launches operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Seismic Asia Pacific Pty. Ltd. of Salisbury, Australia will be responsible for the purchase of the equipment and assist with the systems integration. Seismic Asia Pacific is the FarSounder dealer for this project with BAE Systems as the prime contractor.

Coastal Mapping Tech in Focus at Shallow Survey

Teledyne Optech said it will attend the Shallow Survey 2015 conference September 14-18 at Plymouth University in England, where a current user of the Optech CZMIL Coastal Zone Mapping and Imaging Lidar will make a presentation comparing various lidar bathymeters. With the conference focusing on high-resolution surveys in shallow waters, Teledyne Optech said it expects CZMIL Nova to draw attention for its ability to detect objects as small as one cubic meter in water up to 25 meters deep.

Ashtead Bolsters US Team

Global subsea equipment specialists, Ashtead Technology, has strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of Steven Thrasher as regional vice president for the Americas. Bringing almost 20 years’ experience in the subsea industry, Thrasher, who will be based in Houston, Texas, will head up Ashtead’s US operation as it gears up for further growth in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) and neighbouring markets.

Klein Names Kane Director of Operations/Manufacturing

Joe Kane has joined Klein Marine Systems, Inc. as the company’s new director of operations and manufacturing. He will be  responsible for supply chain management, manufacturing and customer service for Klein's side scan sonar, bathymetry products and maritime security and surveillance systems. Kane brings a broad range of manufacturing leadership experience to Klein, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitcham Industries, Inc., having worked in various roles at leading electronic manufacturers.