Kongsberg Establishes Separate Ocean Mapping Business Area

Kongsberg has established a new business area, Kongsberg Discovery, for its advanced robotics and sensor technology designed to map, monitor and understand the ocean space.The new business area has more than thousand employees located in Horten, Trondheim and Oslo in Norway, in addition to offices in Spain, the UK, the US, Canada, Singapore and Malaysia. Previously Sensors and Robotics was a division under Kongsberg Maritime."Ocean covers 70 % of the earth's surface.

NOAA Cuts Ribbon on Renovated Ketchikan Port Facility

Federal, tribal, state and local officials joined NOAA leadership to cut the ribbon on the agency’s newly renovated port facility in Ketchikan, Alaska. The celebration was held to dedicate the facility and recognize the important partnerships in the area.The facility will provide vessel support for NOAA research ships. The facility will also support NOAA Ship Fairweather, which is homeported in Ketchikan.“Having a home base for NOAA to operate from in Alaska is integral to our science…

New USGS National Map Data Reveals the Potomac River’s Submerged Topography

The U.S. Geological Survey recently published a new topobathymetric lidar dataset for the Potomac River as part of its 3D Elevation Program (3DEP).Topobathymetric lidar provides 3D maps of the submerged riverine topography. The maps were produced in two phases for more than 120 river miles of the Potomac River through a data-acquisition contract with Dewberry. The study area began near Hancock, Md.…

First Underwater Drone Crossing of the English Channel

Earlier this year, the YUCO became the first micro–Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) to successfully cross the English Channel from Folkestone, England, to Wissant, France. The crossing, a partnership between RS Aqua and SEABER, took less than 8 hours.The AUV measures just under one meter long and weighs 10 kg, small but mighty enough to battle its way through the highly variable weather conditions…

TDI-Brooks Develops Tool for Enhanced Soil Testing

TDI-Brooks, a company specializing in geotechnical and offshore survey projects, said Wednesday it had developed and tested a new instrument called the Auto-Minivane. "The Auto-Minivane instrument is a self-contained, stand-alone miniature vane shear testing device that can be used in a 0.5 m vertical-stroke format by an onshore or offshore laboratory. The 1-m-stroke format can be mounted onto a box corer at sea to measure soil strength deep into the box core soil sample…

TDI-Brooks Finalizes Report for Deepwater Atlantic Habitats II

TDI-Brooks International completed the final report for Contract M17PC00009, issued by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management [BOEM]), titled “Deepwater Atlantic Habitats II: Continued Atlantic Research and Exploration in Deepwater Ecosystems with Focus on Coral, Canyon and Seep Communities.” This report is the final deliverable of the BOEM contract called Deep SEARCH, conducted in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey.

Robots as Clever as an Octopus

Octopuses have nine brains, one donut-shaped one in their head plus a small one in each of their eight arms. They can use tools, solve puzzles, and recognize human faces.Take Otto, an octopus that once lived in the SeaStar Aquarium in Germany. He was known to squirt water onto an annoying light above his tank, short-circuiting the lights in the entire building. Employees said he got bored when the aquarium was closed and would rearrange the tank…

HAV Group Acquires DP Specialist Undheim Systems

Norway's HAV Group has completed the acquisition of Undheim Systems AS, a provider of dynamic positioning (DP) systems for vessels. The consideration for the purchase includes a non-material cash amount and 250,000 shares in HAV Group ASA, valued at NOK 14.0 per share."The technology acquisition is a strategic move that accelerates HAV Group's plans to offer digital functionality that meets the global maritime market's needs for autonomous ship operations…

BladeBUG and FORCE Technology Partner to Revolutionize Wind Turbine Blade Inspections

BladeBUG, a UK-based robotics company which designs and develops spider-like repair robots for the wind industry, has has announced collaboration with non-destructive testing (NDT) specialist, FORCE Technology. The joint project will see FORCE Technology produce custom NDT solutions for integration within BladeBUG's innovative crawler robot, which is specifically designed to maintain and inspect wind turbine blades.FORCE Technology is providing its P-scan ultrasonic composite scanning system…

Carderock Hosts International Submarine Race

Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division welcomed the return of the International Submarine Race (ISR) to its David Taylor Model Basin in West Bethesda, Maryland, June 26-30, for the first time since before the COVID-19 Pandemic.Teams from across the United States, Poland, the United Kingdom and Canada arrived at Carderock with their eyes set on one mission: be the fastest human-powered submarine in the competition.The biennial science…

Fugro Gets Offshore Wind Job in Taiwan

Fugro has secured a contract from Shinfox Energy for geotechnical services to support the development of its 700 MW Youde offshore wind farm off the west coast of Taiwan.Fugro will use its Taiwan-flagged vessel, Pacific Hornbill, an IOVTEC-managed DP2 vessel, is equipped with an advanced C30 marine geotechnical drilling rig and Fugro’s proprietary specialist WISON MkV EcoDrive downhole in situ testing and sampling system.It also features specialised seabed geotechnical equipment…

Tiburon Subsea Inc Granted Patent for AUV Propulsion System

Tiburon Subsea Inc. has been granted a Patent for their JETTE propulsion system for autonomous underwater vehicles.The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has allowed the company’s application, U.S. Patent No. 12,365,432, foreign patents pending, for the JETTE “Vector Control Assemblies for Underwater Vehicles, clearing the way for advanced retrofit kits that make existing autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) and similar subsea drones far nimbler and more reliable.Using only two custom thrusters…

Offshore Oil Drilling Market to Suffer through 2015

A sluggish offshore drilling market could deteriorate further next year due to weak demand and a flood of new vessels, even though a few places such as Mexico and Brazil remain promising for exploration, industry executives said on Wednesday. Rig rates have fallen sharply over the past 18 months as oil companies cut capital spending, saving cash for dividends, just as dozens of brand new offshore rigs ordered during the boom times hit the seas, creating overcapacity.

MTR 100: SEA CON

The Case: SEA CON's 46 year journey has taken yet another significantly positive turn; not only has SEA CON (europe) Ltd. been awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International trade, but the SEA CON Group has been acquired by TE Connectivity (TE); joining their world-class portfolio which includes Rochester Wire & Cable, DEUTSCH connectors as well as TE’s other connectivity products. The SEA…

MTR100: Underwater Cameras, Lights and Ocean Landers

Observation is the first step of the Scientific Method. “What’s that?”, leads to research, hypothesis, and then all the rest that ends in “discovery”. When we can’t send humans to look, we send the robots.Scripps Professor John Issacs developed his first deep sea “Monster Camera” in the 1960’s from surplus WWII aircraft nose cameras. His observations lead him to realize that photographs identify species, while film shows behaviors.

BIRNS, JOWO Partner

BIRNS, Inc., a leader in the design and manufacturing of high performance subsea connectors, custom cable assemblies and lighting systems, has announced an Authorized Dealer partnership with JOWO Systemtechnik AG. Based in Germany, JOWO specializes in electrical and fiber optic connectors and systems for marine and underwater applications, offshore and defense technology, broadcast solutions, aerospace engineering and hazardous areas.

Hiring Event in Norfolk for NOAA Research Ship Jobs

NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations will hold a hiring event in Norfolk, Virginia to recruit professional mariners to work aboard NOAA’s ocean research ships. The event will be held on Nov. 15 at the NOAA Marine Operations Center - Atlantic. NOAA operates a fleet of 15 hydrographic survey, oceanographic research and fisheries survey vessels. NOAA ships operate in the U.S. and around the world. The ships are run by a combination of NOAA commissioned officers and civilian professional mariners.

Greensea IQ Demo Day: Bayonet’s Tech Shines at Cordage Park

On October 17th, the waterfront in Plymouth, MA, was abuzz with innovation and excitement. A demonstration and ribbon-cutting event hosted by Greensea IQ in Cordage Park showcased some remarkable technology by Bayonet, a Greensea IQ company. Other manufacturers, including SeaTrac, Jaia Tech, and MIT SeaGrant, were also on hand to demonstrate their technology.Cordage Park is on Plymouth’s picturesque waterfront, providing a perfect backdrop for this innovative demonstration event.

Ørsted to Deploy Rutter's Wave Prediction Tech on CTVs

Offshore wind developer Ørsted is deploying Rutter’s wave prediction technology on board selected crew transfer vessels (CTV) worldwide within its contracted fleet to improve the safe transfer of personnel to offshore wind turbines.Roots of the initiative stretch back to 2018, when the two companies launched a project to investigate wave prediction applications for improving safety during transfers from CTVs to offshore wind turbines…

VideoRay Acquires Blue Ring Imaging

VideoRay has acquired Blue Ring Imaging, a St. Petersburg, FL-based innovator in 3D visualization, multi-view perception, and simulation for unmanned systems.Blue Ring Imaging, known for its OctoView mixed reality software and OctoCAM multi-view 360°camera, will improve situational awareness and object detection capabilities of VideoRay's Defender. Blue Ring Imaging already boasts an impressive client list…