Fugawi Announces Android Support Via Pathaway

Northport Systems Inc., creators of Fugawi X-Traverse, and Muskoka Tech Inc., developers of PathAway GPS navigational, mapping and tracking software for mobile smartphones and tablets, announced today greatly expanded chart support for Android mobile devices. With the latest version of PathAway for Android, users with a Fugawi X-Traverse Cloud Passport now have access to 82 different product offerings including the latest in marine charts, weather information, and topographic maps.

NSWC Team Honored for Robotics Work

Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division's (NSWC IHEODTD) Advance EOD Robotic System (AEODRS) team received a 2014 Defense Standardization Program (DSP) Outstanding Achievement Award during a ceremony held at the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes, March 25. This annual award recognizes individuals and teams that through standardization have made significant improvements in quality, reliability, readiness, cost reduction and interoperability.

Marine Industry Employs Boat Towed Detectors

Many marine service companies are acquiring boat-towed metal detectors and magnetometers to assist in salvage operations and geophysical surveys. These devices can locate a variety of targets including sunken vessels, ship anchors and propellers, pipelines, cables and metal debris which must be removed from an area before dredging. The two primary pieces of equipment used in these operations are a magnetometer and the pulse induction (PI) metal detector.

Coast Guard Helps Deploy Seismic Sensors in Southeast Alaska

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Maple worked with scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey to deploy 12 seismic sensors along the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather Fault, northwest of Craig, Alaska. The team placed the ocean-bottom seismometers along a 28-mile section of the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather Fault to improve understanding of recent earthquake activity and associated seismic and tsunami hazards in Southeast Alaska coastal communities.

Why Did the El Faro Sink?

On October 1, 2015, the 790-foot cargo ship El Faro sank near the Bahamas during Hurricane Joaquin. All 33 crew members died in the tragedy. The ship was equipped with a voyage data recorder, or VDR, that could reveal clues to understand what happened, but it was lost in the depths. The VDR was mounted on the mast on the ship’s navigation bridge. A search expedition mounted in October located the wreck and discovered that the bridge had separated from the hull.

Deepwater Technology Integration Key Says Petrobas

Petrobas's Solange da Silva Guedes stresses importance of integrating companies that operate in deepwater oil & gas fields with universities and suppliers. The Petrobas executive manager for production engineering highlighted this aspect in a presentation to more than 250 at the first day of the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston. "The collaboration with universities from around the world…

Singapore's Triyards Introduce New HPHT Jack-up Design

Triyards Holdings now able to design & build its own proprietary drilling jack-up rigs and self-elevating units (SEUs). The new design is for the Premium Class 400 HPHT (High Pressure, High Temperature) drilling jack-up rig, the TDU-400. The TDU-400 is designed to withstand up to 100-knot winds while satisfying wave criteria for global deployment. Able to provide accommodation for up to 220 personnel…

Mariscope Introduces New ROV to South America and Europe

In cooperation with the Kentucky-based company Acamar Maritime Solutions, LLC, Mariscope has developed the new McClean ROV cleaning system. The McClean is the first ROV with rotational heads using cavitation jetting technology to clean many types of underwater structures. During the official presentation carried out in March, 2013, in the city of Puerto Montt, Chile, Chuck Phillippe from ACAMAR and Christian Haag from Mariscope demonstrated the potentials of the system.

US to Deploy Unmanned 'Ghost Ships' to Track Submarines

To keep track of increasingly stealthy Russian, Chinese, and Iranian submarines, the U.S. is building a robotic ghost ship - an unmanned, autonomous patrol ship - to follow them around the high seas. Called the Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV), the ships will detect and track diesel-powered subs, trailing from an observable distance, reports the Sputnik. Set to drift in the high seas, the robotic Sea Hunter will silently follow potentially hostile submarines.

Ulstein Delivers Fourth PSV in PX121 Series

Ulstein Verft delivered Blue Thunder, the fourth of six medium-sized platform supply vessels of the PX121 design from Ulsteinto Blue Ship Invest, on Monday, May 13, 2013. Owned by Blue Ship Invest, a wholly-owned company in Ulstein Group, the platform supply vessel (PSV) is commercially and technically under the management of Atlantic Offshore. Blue Thunder will enter a four-month contract with Statoil, with four monthly options.

Statoil Opens Research Center in Norway

Tord Lien, Minister of petroleum and energy, opened Statoil’s new research center for improved oil recovery (IOR) at Rotvoll in Trondheim, Norway. Lien and the mayor of Trondheim officially opened the IOR center. Lien commented, “The NCS is a workplace for the future, the resources are utilized in a sustainable manner and the recovery rate is record high, which benefit the employees and the financing of the Norwegian welfare state.

Keppel FELS Delivers Second Jackup Rig to Oro Negro

Keppel FELS delivered a second KFELS B Class jackup rig to offshore Mexican oil field services company, Integradora de Servicios Petroleros Oro Negro. Named Laurus at Keppel FELS today, the rig was delivered eleven days early and with a perfect safety record, Keppel noted. Laurus is the second of two high-specification jackup rigs that Keppel FELS has built for Oro Negro which will be chartered to PEMEX, Mexico's national oil company, for deployment in offshore Mexico.

Kraken, Fraunhofer Ink Tech Licensing Deal

Kraken Sonar Inc. said it has signed an exclusive licensing agreement for underwater robotics technology with Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation (IOSB) in a strategic move to further strengthen its IP portfolio. Fraunhofer is the largest organization for applied research in Europe with 69 institutes, over 24,500 employees and a €2.1 billion annual budget.

Typhoon Appoints Willis as UK Sales Manager

Typhoon International, a manufacturer of drysuits, and a major player in the diving and watersports markets, has appointed Ben Willis as UK Commercial Sales Manager. Willis joins the company at an exciting time as Typhoon aligns its activities with those of its sister companies Ocean Safety and ISP, each providing a wide range of safety products. In his role Willis will focus on the Emergency sector…

Mapping the Abyss with AUV Photography

Despite being one of the largest habitats on Earth occupying around 60% of the surface, the deep-sea environment remains largely enigmatic. It was only in the late 1960’s that the abyssal plains were recognized to contain rich, complex habitats and play an important role in global carbon cycling. The technological and operational challenges that come with studying deep-sea environments have previously restricted research into the inhabiting species and ecosystem structure.

Insights: NOAA's Dr. Holly A. Bamford

Last month Marine Technology Reporter had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Holly A. Bamford, acting Assistant Secretary for Conservation and Management for the US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in her office to discuss a wide range of topics covering all that is subsea, with a focus on government and industry working in stride to mutual benefit. To start, can you share with the readers of MTR how you became involved in your chosen field?

Kongsberg Position Refrence System Integrates GNSS Services

Kongsberg Maritime has expanded its established satellite position reference system portfolio with the introduction of a new system that integrates all available Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and all possible correction services. The new DPS 432 combines full decimetre accuracy with high integrity and availability of GNSS data, supporting the safety and efficiency of offshore operations that rely on advanced Dynamic Positioning (DP) systems.

New SubConn 13 Pin Low Profile Power and Ethernet Connector

The MacArtney Group introduced its new 13 Pin SubConn Low Profile Power and Ethernet Connector. Building on the SubConn Ethernet Connector program, the new SubConn Low Profile 13 Pin Power and Ethernet Connector offers a unique set of benefits for operators of underwater systems and equipment. In a world where underwater industry operators and developers are continuously pushing the boundaries of what…

SoCal Tech Focus: BIRNS

Oxnard, Calif. based BIRNS, Inc. opened in 1954, and has been serving the global marine industry ever since with high performance lighting and connector products.The technological advancements in the field of cable assembly development have been rapid and exciting in the last decade in particular. BIRNS has been creating new connectivity solutions that provide immense performance characteristics in relatively small packages.

iXBlue Launches the Fifth-Generation OCTANS

iXBlue is unveiling the fifth-generation OCTANS, the trusted reference in survey-grade navigation. The new OCTANS is an all-in-one gyrocompass and motion sensor (attitude and heading reference system, AHRS) and brings in new and enhanced features, including IMO/ IMO-HSC certification and inertial navigation system (INS) product upgrade-path. The fifth-generation OCTANS gives marine customers more product variant choices…