Kraken Signs CRADA on Pressure Tolerant Batteries with US Navy

Canadian subsea technology company Kraken Robotics has signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division (NSWCCD). Under the CRADA, the Battery Certification and Integration Branch, Code 636 of NSWC Carderock, will test Kraken’s pressure tolerant lithium-ion batteries. The testing is expected to take four months to complete and is…

Kraken to Equip New AUV Customer with AquaPix Sonar and SeaPower Batteries

Canadian marine technology company Kraken Robotics Inc. announced new purchase orders for a 6,000-meter rated AquaPix MINSAS 120 sonar and SeaPower batteries totaling over $1.2 million from a new autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) customer. Due to customer confidentiality, Kraken cannot provide more details at this time. The company expects to fulfill these orders in 2021.Kraken’s batteries and sensors…

REMUS 300 Unmanned Underwater Vehicle Launched

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced the commercial release of its REMUS 300, a new open architecture, small-class unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) that can dive to depths of 305 meters (1,000 feet) and has endurance options up to 30 hours.“The REMUS 300 is the most advanced small-class UUV on the market,” said Duane Fotheringham, president of the Unmanned Systems business group in HII’s Technical Solutions division.

Kraken Achieves ISO 9001:2015 Certification for Quality Management System

Canadian-based marine technology company Kraken Robotics Inc. announced that its subsidiary, Kraken Robotic Systems Inc., has earned ISO 9001:2015 certification for its Quality Management System (QMS), including manufacturing sites located in Mount Pearl, NL and Dartmouth, NS.ISO 9001:2015 is a globally recognized quality management standard developed and published by the International Organization…

Tech File: COBRA Battery System Receives Class Certification

With DNV GL certification obtained in February 2021, the COBRA battery system from Becker Marine Systems can be used for a wide range of inland waterway and maritime shipping applications, and due to demand, Becker is expanding COBRA production at its Winsen (Luhe) location.Tailor-made for maritime, the COBRA system now has full certification including IEC 62619 and IEC 62620 and can now be installed on board inland waterway and ocean-going vessels.

Norway Eyes Sea Change in Deep Dive for Metals Instead of Oil

Norway's oil and gas reserves have made it one of the world's wealthiest countries but its dreams for deep-sea discovery now center on something different.This time, Oslo is looking for a leading role in mining copper, zinc, and other metals found on the seabed and in hot demand in green technologies.Norway could license companies for deep-sea mining as early as 2023, its oil and energy ministry told Reuters…

Autonomous Offshore Power Trials Get Underway off Hawaii

With the advent of autonomy on and under the water, part of the value proposition is the ability to stay at sea, on station, to exponentially increase efficiencies. Have the ability to repower at sea is central to this effort, as an increasing number of companies work to solve the inherent technical and logistic problems.Columbia Power Technologies (C-Power) is commencing a six-month sea trial to test and validate its SeaRAY autonomous offshore power system (AOPS)…

Subsea Technology and the New Routes to Residency

Efforts to increase remote capability often go hand in hand with increasing ROV residency. But exactly what form residency takes is diverging. Elaine Maslin takes a look.Dial back the clock five years and there was a movement towards an idea dubbed subsea resident remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). The idea, in simple terms, is that you increase ROV availability and reduce cost and carbon emissions by having the vehicle permanently based subsea in underwater garages.

Charting Terradepth's Big Ambitions in the Unmanned Vehicle Space

Ocean mapping at scale is the target of a new unmanned systems player started by two ex-US Navy SEALS. They have big ambitions, from new building unmanned vehicles to creating the intelligence that will drive them to changing how accessible ocean data is. Elaine Maslin learned more. The pace of change in the ocean mapping space has been fast in recent years. New entrants have come into the scene offering…

Subsea Mining: The Race is On, But Effects are Unclear

Mining the ocean floor for submerged minerals is a little-known, experimental industry. But soon it will take place on the deep seabed, which belongs to everyone, according to international law.Seabed mining for valuable materials like copper, zinc and lithium already takes place within countries’ marine territories. As soon as 2025, larger projects could start in international waters – areas more than 200 nautical miles from shore…

OPT Launches Subsea Battery

U.S. based ocean energy technology developer Ocean Power Technologies has launched a tech called the Subsea Battery solution for offshore installations.OPT said that the lithium-iron-phosphate battery system with a nominal storage capacity of 132 kilowatt-hours provides uninterruptable power for offshore installations requiring electric power, backup, or emergency power for short term missions.The subsea battery…

Tech File: Hybrid-Electric Propulsion for Crew-less Vessels

The move to autonomy on the world's waterways is undeniable, with the direction clear, the pace hazy. What is clear is the need for reliable, fuel efficient propulsion, and last month Torqueedo announced a deal to provide hybrid-electric propulsion systems to power XOCEAN’s XO-450 USV, a custom-designed composite wave-piercing catamaran about the length of a typical automobile.XOCEAN is embarked on a mission to to transform the way subsea data is collected…

Deep Sea Mining Could Destroy Undiscovered Species, Says Ocean Panel

Mining on the sea floor should not begin before a full assessment of likely environmental impacts can be made, a report commissioned by the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (Ocean Panel) said on Wednesday.Environmentalists including Britain's David Attenborough have called for a ban on deep-seabed mining that would extract resources including copper, cobalt, nickel, zinc, lithium, and rare earth elements from nodules on the ocean floor.The International Seabed Authority (ISA)…

Kawasaki Heavy Orders Corvus' Blue Marlin Energy Storage System

Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) has ordered the first commercial unit of a new Corvus Energy high-density lithium-ion capacitor energy storage system (ESS) Blue Marlin.According to Corvus, which plans to market the system to the offshore energy market, the Blue Marlin uses lithium-ion capacitor (LiC) cells that sustain very high charge/discharge rates of 550 C peak and 200 C continuous, enabling both energy recapture and fast discharge for high-power load handling.

Hybrid Hydrographic Boat Delivered in France

French builder Alumarine Shipyard has delivered a new hydrographic survey boat to the Port of La Rochelle.The eight-meter aluminum vessel, dubbed Cassiopée, is powered by a dual electric/diesel propulsion system. The newbuild is designed to transit at 20-25 knots under diesel power between the home port and the acquisition area, then shift to the electric outboards while performing scans of the seafloor.Electric…

Ocean Aero to Supply Vehicles for Homeland Security

Ocean Aero, Inc. announced it signed a multimillion-dollar agreement to deliver a variety of the company’s autonomous underwater and surface vehicles (AUSV) models to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) for a research, evaluation and testing program.Ocean Aero will deliver a mix of its Navigator and Discovery models and working closely with DHS and other program participants—the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), U.S.

Kraken Gives Ocean Infinity AUVs an Energy Boost

Ocean Infinity's Kongsberg Hugin autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) have achieved significant endurance milestones during testing thanks to new pressure tolerant batteries from Kraken Robotics. The vehicles performed several missions to greater than 5,000 meters and an unprecedented mission of over 100 hours without recharging, while running a full survey payload. As a result, using Kraken batteries…

Ocean Cleanup Expands to Rivers

The Dutch non-profit The Ocean Cleanup has just announced a new device to catch plastic before if flows into the ocean.The organization that develops advanced technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic, unveiled its invention to prevent the unrelenting flow of plastic pollution into the world’s oceans.The Interceptor, under development by The Ocean Cleanup since 2015, complements the organization’s founding mission by attacking the flow of plastic garbage at its source…

First Hybrid Fish Farm Boat On the Water

Danfoss Editron has delivered two 105kW motors that will help power Edel, the first hybrid vessel built for the aquaculture sector by Norwegian shipyard Moen Marin. Edel is also the first diesel-electric vessel in the fleet of NRS Farming, Norway’s leading producer of sustainable salmon.The 13.5 by 7.5m vessel will become part of NRS Farming’s fleet and be used for sustainable fishing in salmon farms located in Norway’s fjords.

V.Ships Manages REV Ocean Expedition Ship

Norwegian ocean research organization REV Ocean has appointed V.Ships Leisure as ship management partner for the world’s largest research and expedition vessel.V.Ships Leisure, part of V.Group, will provide a tailored suite of ship management services for the new vessel, which is scheduled for completion in 2021. The ship will be equipped for conducting research that covering the whole of the marine…