Military, Government Agencies Utilize Side Scan Sonars

Many fire and police departments consider side scan sonar an essential piece of dive team equipment as it produces detailed images of the underwater environment regardless of water clarity. In addition, the sonar is able to search large areas quickly, scanning several hundred feet of ocean, lake, or river bottom with each pass of the boat. The acoustic beam reflects off any objects lying there and the data is sent topside where vivid color images are displayed and stored on a laptop computer.

AXSUB, Darkwater Vision Partner

AXSUB and Darkwater Vision have agreed to partner on research and development activities for a underwater vision product line developed using UVAS Technology (underwater vision augmentation system), a patented technology. AXSUB will also act as a manufacturing agent for products dedicated to the commercial diving sector, and the agreement provides for the sharing of distribution channels. “With AXSUB…

NOAA Awards $9.3 Mln for Aquaculture Research

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced 32 research grants totaling $9.3 million for projects around the U.S. to further develop the nation’s marine and coastal aquaculture industry. “This country, with its abundant coastline, should not have to import billions of pounds of seafood each year,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. The grants were awarded through two competitions…

Klein Plans 2018 Side Scan Sonar Training

Side scan sonar manufacturer Klein Marine Systems will host three days of side scan sonar training, including a one day on-water practical training, from January 29-31, in Pensacola, Fla. The training, organized with the support of Higgs Hydrographic Tek, will help participants to develop a thorough understanding of sonar image analysis as well as hands-on experience with single beam sonar such as the dual-frequency Klein 4900. Guest instructor Vincent Capone, M.Sc.

Ecuador Adds TRIAXYS Wave Buoys to Coastal Network

AXYS Technologies Inc. has recently delivered three more TRIAXYS Next Wave Directional Wave Buoys to Instituto Oceanográfico De La Armada (INOCAR) of Ecuador. These TRIAXYS buoys will be added to the existing coastal wave monitoring network of TRIAXYS buoys owned by INOCAR and deployed along the Ecuador coastline. The AXYS Services Team traveled to Guayaquil to provide instruction to INOCAR personnel on managing and operating the network and will visit again for continued system training.

When It Comes to Inspiring Innovation, 'X' Marks the Spot

The XPrize is seeking to incentivize innovation to spur a new era of ocean discovery, as Jyotika I. Virmani, Ph.D. explains. We are living in an age of rapid innovation. Over the past 150,000 years we have evolved primarily in a local and linear world where most of our activities happened within a day’s walk. Life was relatively constant, millennium to millennium. The Industrial Revolution and the advent of the Steam Engine saw a shift from this predominantly arable and local lifestyle…

How Many Red Snapper Are in the Gulf of Mexico?

How many red snapper are in the U.S. waters of the Gulf of Mexico? A two-year, $12 million independent study led by a team of university and government scientists aims to come up with an estimate. Several stakeholder groups have expressed concerns that there are more red snapper in the Gulf than currently accounted for in the stock assessment. In 2016, Congress directed the National Sea Grant College Program and NOAA Fisheries to fund independent red snapper data collections…

Rolls Royce to Lead Canadian Naval Research Project

An award of $3 million from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) funds the project. The development of Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) and Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) is a rapidly expanding part of naval marine technology, and Rolls-Royce has extensive capability in the handling systems that enable these advanced craft to be launched, refuelled and recovered from the sea. Rolls…

Containerships Figure in Disaster Relief Plan

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's  (DARPA)  Tactically Expandable Maritime Platform (TEMP) program has completed the design of innovative technologies to transform commercial container ships into self-contained floating supply bases during disaster relief operations, without needing port infrastructure. The program envisions a container ship anchoring offshore of a disaster area, and the ship’s crew delivering supplies ashore using DARPA-developed…

Hydroid Names Rogers VP of Engineering

Dr. Andrew K. Rogers has joined Hydroid Inc. as vice president of engineering, responsible for leading all engineering and program management activities at the Massachusetts based Kongsber Maritime subsidiary, including research and development, new product development, program planning and execution and product support. Dr. Rogers brings to the role more than 28 years of experience that spans a broad range of technologies and markets.

Researchers to Visit ‘Battle of the Atlantic’ Wreckage

Researchers from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its partners are set to visit what remains of two ships—a German U-boat and a Nicaraguan freighter – which sank off Cape Hatteras during World War II’s “Battle of the Atlantic,” which pitted the U-boats of the German navy against combined Canadian, British, and American forces defending Allied merchant ships. By July 1942…

ROV Operations Market Facing Near-term Challenges

Energy industry analyst and consultancy Douglas-Westwood (DW) forecast the market for the operation of work-class remotely operated vehicles (ROV) to total $14.2 billion over the period to 2019, in its seventh edition of the World ROV Operations Market Forecast. The report's author, Antoine Paillat, commented, "This represents a 19 percent increase on the previous five-year period, however, near-term…

Swedish Navy Orders 10 Falcon ROVS

FMV, the Swedish Defence Material Administration, has ordered 10 Falcon ROVs, the biggest single order placed for the Saab Seaeye model. The ROV was chosen by FMV for the Swedish Navy as the best underwater vehicle of its class for performance and price, the manufacturer said, adding that the contract follows orders from several other navies around the world this year. Defence and security forces in many countries deploy the Falcon…

Contact Rationalizing and Map Corrections Software

Chesapeake Technology Inc. (CTI), a producer of real-time sonar acquisition and GIS based processing software for seafloor mapping, announced two new capabilities that it claims will allow users to better organize sonar contacts and improve sonar mosaic accuracy. New Contact Rationalizing, available on SonarWiz version 05.06.0052, is designed to allow a user to combine contacts into a single merged target with an average position.

New Underwater Cutting Rod from Broco

Broco Underwater announces its latest advancement in underwater cutting, the new advanced design Broco Ultrathermic Cutting Rod PLUS. Based on a new patent-pending design, Broco said its new underwater cutting rod delivers 20% more cutting and burn time than the same size prior generation rod, and burns more evenly than any rod on the market. According to the manufacturer, the new Broco Ultrathermic Cutting Rod PLUS increases burn time 20%, on average, for a 3/8” diameter by 18” long rod.

Ashtead Boosts Rental Fleet with Subsea Navigation Technology

Ashtead Technology, a leader in marine technology and subsea services has expanded its equipment rental pool following a significant investment in a state-of-the-art subsea navigation system which has been proven to deliver faster, more accurate results in the toughest environments. The iXblue RAMSES is an acoustic synthetic baseline positioning tool with self-contained computing, for simple, efficient, real-time underwater navigation.

Hibernia Express Ready for Service

Press release - Hibernia Networks, a provider of high speed global telecommunications services, announced that Hibernia Express, its new 4,600-kilometer ultra low latency submarine cable connecting Halifax, Nova Scotia to Slough, England and Cork, Ireland, is ready for service (RFS). The first transatlantic cable built in over 12 years, the Hibernia Express launch marks a milestone for global communications, addressing the strong demand for fast, high-performing global network services.

Study: Offshore Ambient Vibration Monitoring

Two State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College professors have received a $65,000 grant from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) to develop a program for inspecting underwater drilling equipment and gathering and maintaining information about its structural well being, all while the equipment remains in service and fully operational. Dr. Daniel Fridline, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Dr.

Autonomous Robot Maps Ship Hulls for Mines

Algorithms enable robot to navigate and view propellers and other complex structures. For years, the U.S. Navy has employed human divers, equipped with sonar cameras, to search for underwater mines attached to ship hulls. The Navy has also trained dolphins and sea lions to search for bombs on and around vessels. While animals can cover a large area in a short amount of time, they are costly to train and care for, and don’t always perform as expected.

MTR100: Kongsberg Maritime

Kongsberg Maritime is a marine technology company with a portfolio of innovative solutions designed to overcome challenges in all marine industry sectors, including merchant, offshore, subsea, naval and fisheries. Kongsberg says it offers the largest portfolio of technology available from any single supplier, thus maximizing performance by providing “The Full Picture.” The company delivers a wide range of systems for subsea survey and construction…