Subsea IMR Moves Robotic

Unmanned maritime systems (UMS), especially autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), are no stranger to commercial applications. Survey of the seafloor by AUVs and subsequently unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) is now an accepted practice. UMS technology is moving into new commercial domains, notably inspection maintenance and repair (IMR). While there are no perfect definitions these tasks can be viewed as follows:Inspection is the task of examining a structure…

Vard, Inkfish Sign Shipbuilding Contract for New Research Vessel

Vard, the Norwegian subsidiary of the Group and one of the world's leading builders of specialized vessels, has signed a new contract with the US research organization Inkfish for the design and construction of an advanced research vessel. The deal is valued at over USD$233 million (€200 million).The custom-built research vessel, designated Project RV6000, is specifically designed for scientific exploration.

Saipem, Curtiss-Wright Advance Tech Set to Extend Lifecyle of Subsea Fields

Saipem and Curtiss-Wright Corporation have reached a new milestone for the subsea applications industry, having completed the qualification process of an all-electric seabed barrier fluid-less pump.Developed based on proprietary solutions inherited from the nuclear sector, the technology will enable the subsea injection of treated sea water into a reservoir, thus extending the lifecycle of subsea fields.While the conventional pumping system features a barrier fluid which serves as coolant…

VIDEO: New Marine Survey Firm Nicola Offshore Open for Business

A new company called Nicola Offshore specializing in marine survey campaigns and on-demand missions has started operations from its headquarters in Hamburg, Germany on Monday.According to the company's press statement, Nicola Offshore was established to service the more complex and specialist aspects of marine surveying, including underwater object detection, unexploded ordnance (UXO), and subsea cable investigations, as well as pre- and post-dredging reports.

Electric Trash Skimmers Installed in Port of Long Beach

California's Port of Long Beach is working with one of its tenants to remove surface pollution from the water.Marathon Pipe Line (MPL), part of Marathon Petroleum’s midstream segment, MPLX, recently installed two electric trash skimmers at its dock in Terminal 2, and the port agreed to pick up the trash for disposal at a reduced cost.“The skimmers are attached to the dock. They float and go up and down with the tide…

Hairston Named GM of Austal USA Advanced Technologies

Don Hairston has been named General Manager of Austal USA Advanced Technologies in Charlottesville, Va. Hairston comes to Austal from L3Harris Technologies where he was vice president and general manager of the C5 Systems Division. He was responsible for leading a $400 million organization that designs and delivers unmanned surface vessels, integrated C5ISR, and maritime controls and cyber solutions to support…

Simulation Training Profile: Chris Hearn, Memorial University

Memorial University in St. Johns, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada, is a microcosm of how this unique regional cluster has parlayed its geographic locale and harsh, unique operating conditions into world leadership in the maritime, offshore energy and subsea tech spaces. An alumni, a professional mariner and now the Director of the Center for Marine Simulation, the Fisheries & Marine Institute at Memorial University…

US Navy Taps Into Sofar Ocean's Data Buoy Network for Weather Forecasting

Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (Naval Oceanography) and technology startup Sofar Ocean announced the signing of a five-year Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to advance the U.S. Navy’s ocean weather forecasting and data collection capabilities. The organizations launched their strategic partnership at a joint knowledge sharing event on July 17-18 at Naval Oceanography’s…

Getting to the Bottom of the Navies' Mine Warfare Challenges

To find the mine warfare challenge with the highest degree of difficulty, start at the bottom.Lurking unseen below the surface, naval mines pose a serious problem. They’re cheap, relatively easy to deploy and can inflict heavy damage against even the most sophisticated warships. They can be hard to detect and difficult to counter. What you can’t see can hurt you. And the most difficult mines to find and eliminate are bottom and buried mines.

US Coast Guard Cutter Healy, Scientists Deploy Ice Stations

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB 20) crew and embarked researchers ventured onto a floe of multi-year ice for the first of three multi-instrument ice stations in the Arctic Ocean Basin late July and early August.As the Healy carefully approached and maintained position alongside an ice floe above 77 degrees north, the crew and a team of scientists, working in cooperation with the Office of Naval Research…

Subsea Vehicles: A Journey to the Under – and Outer – Worlds

It’s often remarked upon that we know more about the surface of the moon than we do the depths of our ocean. Scientists are now shooting for both – and beyond. Work by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), developed for exploring Mars, is now being leveraged by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) to help tap Earth’s deepest water secrets. In turn, WHOI’s work will help NASA explore oceans…

HMI to Provide Arms for Triumph's ROV Fleet

Houston Mechatronics Inc. (HMI) said Wednesday that Triumph Subsea Services will be the first to commercialize its all-electric Olympic arms.The U.S. ocean robotics firm said it reached an agreement with Triumph to provide 26 all-electric Olympic arms for the new Croatian subsea services firm's growing fleet of work class remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROV).The new manipulator arms derive from…

Inertial Navigation System to Boost Wind Turbine Installation Precision

Manufacturer of advanced inertial navigation systems (INS), Exail, has secured a contract to supply three Hydrins INS to Pliant Offshore, an offshore measurement specialist.The units will be integrated into Pliant Offshore’s installation measurement system to improve the accuracy and efficiency of wind turbine installations. Pliant’s technology is designed to provide real-time measurements of the inclination and position of structures, such as monopiles, during installation.

Ocean Tech Test Site Opens in Singapore

Singapore’s first ocean basin facility officially opened at the Technology Centre for Offshore and Marine, Singapore (TCOMS), strengthening research and development (R&D) capabilities for future ocean systems and solutions.The next-generation facility, equipped with state-of-the-art wave and current generation systems, is capable of simulating challenging real-world scenarios for offshore and coastal environments in deep, intermediate and shallow waters.

Simulation: Cutting the Corner on Machine Learning

As the offshore oil and gas industry becomes more competitive, it actively pursues increased efficiency through innovative approaches while streamlining production, reducing costs, and improving safety. Many companies are looking at digitization to insulate themselves from market shocks, remain profitable at lower oil prices, and generate competitive advantage during recovery. The path forward lies…

Sonardyne’s Sonar on SubSea Craft's New Diver Delivery System

Underwater obstacle avoidance technology from Sonardyne International Ltd. has been chosen for a new design diver delivery unit (DDU) being built by SubSea Craft.Sonardyne’s Vigilant forward looking sonar (FLS) will provide a critical hazard avoidance capability for the crew and embarked divers of the VICTA Class DDU when navigating on or below the surface.Using a compact and sophisticated bow-mounted transducer arrangement…

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…

OPT PowerBuoy Tested at DeepStar's 'Zero Carbon Power for Electric Subsea Operations' Project

Ocean energy technology developer Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) has received a DeepStar project award to study the use of its PB3 PowerBuoy to provide remotely controllable zero-carbon power for deepwater subsea oil production applications.OPT's moored floating buoys - such as OPT PB3 PowerBuoy - harvests wave energy and converts it to electricity.The conversion of wave energy into electric power…

Mocean's Wave Energy Device to Power Subsea Oil & Gas Ops

Edinburgh-based wave energy technology firm Mocean Energy has raised £850,000 (USD 1,1 million) to speed up the commercialization of its wave energy converter and deploy it to power subsea oil and gas equipment.The Scottish start-up has raised £612,000 equity seed funding plus £250,000 from Innovate UK to advance the design of its Blue Star wave device and drive its adoption in subsea oil and gas.The funding includes investment by Old College Capital…

Shrinking Sea Meadows Store More Carbon Than Forests. Scientists Race to Track What’s Left

Hundreds of miles from the nearest shore, ribbon-like fronds flutter in the ocean currents sweeping across an underwater mountain plateau the size of Switzerland.A remote-powered camera glides through the sunlit, turquoise waters of this corner of the western Indian Ocean, capturing rare footage of what scientists believe is the world’s largest seagrass meadow.Human activity is helping destroy the equivalent of a soccer field of these seagrasses every 30 minutes around the world…