AeroVironment Launches Mission Specialist Wraith UUV

AeroVironment Inc., a leading provider of all domain autonomous systems, announced the launch of the Mission Specialist Wraith, the newest addition to the Mission Specialist Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) series developed by its wholly owned subsidiary, VideoRay. Designed for demanding subsea operations, Wraith delivers a new level of agility, power, and control in a compact, expeditionary-ready platform.Engineered for extreme agility and precision in challenging subsea environments…

Fincantieri Launches Italian Navy’s Hydro-Oceanographic Ship

Fincantieri has launched Italian Navy’s newly built hydro-oceanographic ship (N.I.O.M.) Quirinale at its integrated shipyard in Riva Trigoso, marking a milestone in Italy’s maritime research and monitoring capabilities.The vessel, designated N.I.O.M. Quirinale, has been designed to support scientific mapping and monitoring activities and will operate in support of the Italian Navy Hydrographic Institute…

Eco Wave Power Moves Forward with 1MW Porto Wave Energy Project

Eco Wave Power has completed a key technical assessment and submitted its execution plan for a 1 MW wave energy project in Portugal’s Porto, as the company moves the project from planning toward construction.The company said a wave and loads assessment for the Barra do Douro breakwater was completed in cooperation with Netherlands-based consultancy MetOcean Consult, confirming favorable wave conditions…

URI Computer Simulations Show How Strong Ocean Currents Reduce Size of Surface Waves

Using advanced computer simulations, researchers from the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO) have concluded how and why strong ocean currents modify surface waves.“Our primary finding is that hurricane-generated ocean currents can substantially reduce both the height and the dominant period of hurricane waves,” said Isaac Ginis, URI professor of oceanography. “The magnitude of wave reduction depends strongly on how accurately ocean currents are predicted.

Submarine Group Two Commander Visits NUWC Newport

Rear Adm. Melvin R. Smith, commander of Submarine Group Two, visited the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport on Dec. 11, delivering a message of gratitude to the workforce during the command’s holiday cookie party before receiving a series of briefings on emerging undersea technologies.Smith oversees the U.S. Navy’s Undersea Hybrid Fleet Executive Steering Group — a group focused…

Kraken Robotics Appoints New Executives

Kraken Robotics has appointed Kim Butler, CPA, ICD.D, to its Board of Directors and hired of Bernard Mills as Executive Vice President, Defence.Butler brings more than 35 years of executive experience in financial, operational, and governance roles with Canadian and multinational organizations, both publicly traded and private. She has served as a board member and Chair of Audit and Special Committees for leading companies in technology…

Ocean Infinity Takes Delivery of Final Armada Fleet Vessel

Ocean Infinity has reached a significant milestone with the delivery of the final vessel in its 14-vessel Armada fleet, featuring advanced underwater robotic systems capable of a wide range of data collection tasks.Over the past five years, Ocean Infinity has built and deployed a fleet of cutting-edge lean crewed vessels unlike anything the industry has seen before.This latest delivery completes the 86-meter class of Armada ships…

TADEK Celebrates 15th Anniversary with Leadership Restructure

TADEK Ocean Engineering, a UK offshore engineering consultancy delivering front-end advisory, through-project delivery solutions and naval architecture analysis, announced its new look leadership team and strategic new senior appointments as the company prepares for further growth.TADEK integrates advanced hydrodynamic analysis and design with practical project execution, delivering end-to-end solutions…

Staying Vigilant On and Beneath the Waterline

The ocean is a very large and increasingly congested place. More and more shipping and industry is using it. But the risks hidden below the waterline, that established navigational tools don’t always detect, remain.But what if the trend for new surface-based sensor technology, the likes of which enable cars to detect potential collision hazards, could be available for shipping to detect underwater obstacles?That’s just what Sonardyne International Ltd.

Using High Res 3D Meshes for improved Shape Reconstuction of Marine Survey Data

When using dense, high-precision survey data, the method for management and visualization of the data can have a large impact on the final decision making process. This is an important factor when accurate shape reconstruction is required, as there are significant trade-offs with traditional approaches. For applications where it is critical to know exactly the shape and size of surveyed objects, a high-resolution 3D mesh is likely the best option.Gridded surfaces…

Greensea, 3D Spatial Solutions to Partner

Greensea Systems announced its sales partnership with 3D Spatial Solutions, LLC.Located in Houston,  3D Spatial Solutions will provide sales support throughout the US for Greensea’s open architecture navigation, control, autonomy and human-machine interface technology. 3D Spatial Solutions will represent Greensea in sales of its core products, including its new hull inspection technology, and securing new OEM relationships.

Inside the Subsea Cable Firm Secretly Helping America Take on China

On Feb. 10 last year, the cable ship CS Dependable appeared off the coast of the island of Diego Garcia, an Indian Ocean atoll that’s home to a discreet U.S. naval base.Over the next month, the ship’s crew covertly laid an underwater fiber-optic cable to the military base, an operation code-named “Big Wave,” according to four people with direct knowledge of the mission, as well as a Reuters analysis of satellite imagery and ship tracking data.The new super-fast internet link to Diego Garcia…

Scientists Find Rare Window Where Carbon Sinks Quickly Into the Deep Ocean

Looking out across the Southern Ocean near Antarctica, I can see whales and seabirds diving in and out of the water as they feed on sea life in the lower levels of the food web. At the base of this food web are tiny phytoplankton – algae that grow at the ocean surface, taking up carbon from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, just as plants on land do.Because of their small size, phytoplankton are at the mercy of the ocean’s swirling motions.

Exail Launches SWaP-C AUV Inertial Nav System

Exail launched its latest product, the Phins 9 Compact, an inertial navigation system (INS) designed for all unmanned underwater vehicles.The Phins 9 Compact is built around a Fiber-Optic Gyroscope (FOG)-based Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) with advanced accelerometers. With compact dimensions, a DVL-aided position accuracy of 0.1% TD, and a power consumption of less than 7 W, it is particularly suited…

Exploring the Subsea Cable Market

Sales Director, Graham Wilkie of Hydro Group plc, a global design and manufacturer of underwater cables and connectors for subsea, topside and harsh environment applications, details how it has stayed ahead in the rapidly changing subsea cable market. Thanks to the low oil price, the subsea sector is enduring a challenging period. Operators are being forced to venture into more remote and harsher locations, requiring top tier equipment to meet demanding and dynamic environments.

UK Royal Navy Buys More Remus UUVs

HII, a manufacturer of underwater unmanned vehicles (UUV), announced the recent sale of three REMUS 100s and five REMUS 300s to the U.K. Royal Navy for underwater exploration, countermine and surveillance programs.Over the past 20 years, the U.K.’s Ministry of Defense has acquired a mix of REMUS 100s, Remus 300s and REMUS 600s for mine countermeasure operations. The Ministry’s first two REMUS 100s…

Odfjell Technology Boosts Asia Pacific Presence with New Contracts in Malaysia

Odfjell Technology, an integrated supplier of well services technology and engineering solutions, has been awarded three well services contracts in Malaysia, increasing its market share in the Asia Pacific region.The company has won two contracts in the region to deliver wellbore clean up equipment and services to operators.Odfjell Technology will provide its DrillRdillo tool, which is said to increase well productivity…

US Invests $3.9 Million for Ocean-based Climate Resilience Accelerators

The United States is investing in new and emerging technology that aims to bolster NOAA’s efforts to support climate resilience.The Department of Commerce and NOAA on Tuesday announced $3.9 million in awards to help small businesses improve climate resilience in communities across the nation through the Ocean-based Climate Resilience Accelerators program.This investment, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act…

Subsea Vehicles: Diving into the Autosub Program

In our last MTR, to mark 25 years of the UK’s National Oceanography Centre (NOC) working with AUVs, we talked with Dr. Maaten Furlong, Head of the Marine Autonomous & Robotic Systems Group at NOC, about the organization’s history and future plans. Now we take a deep dive into the Autosub program.The UK’s National Oceanography Center (NOC) has a long history, going back to the National Institute of Oceanography…

To Harness the North Sea Winds, We Must Understand its Complicated Seabed Geology

For any country blessed with easy access to the shallow and windy North Sea, offshore wind will be key to meeting net zero targets. Developing these wind farms is partly a challenge for engineers, but it but also depends on the geology beneath the seabed – and that’s where geoscientists like us come in. As the industry collects more data, the seabed geology is proving to be far more complicated, and revealing…