Glosten to Design Floating Offshore Wind Platform

The Glosten Associates, Inc. announced it has been awarded a contract from the U.K.–based Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) for the engineering phase of the floating offshore wind turbine demonstrator using the PelaStar tension leg platform (TLP) foundation system. The $6 million (U.S.), 12-month contract will complete the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) in advance of construction and deployment of a 6 MW demonstration unit off the south coast of the U.K. as early as 2015.

AMAR Mission to VENUS

JASCO Applied Sciences has deployed since early March two of its AMAR underwater sound monitoring systems on the VENUS underwater observatory for a technology demonstration and data gathering mission planned to last several months. VENUS (Victoria Experimental Network Under the Sea) is a cabled ocean observatory, in the Salish Sea coastal waters of British Columbia, operated by Ocean Networks Canada.

Tasmania's Underwater Centre Delivers Commercial Diver Training

The Underwater Centre in Tasmania is working with Kuala Lumpur-based Samsian Solution & Services to train and qualify 21 candidates as on- and offshore commercial divers. The three-month Standard Commercial Diving Training Package includes the required Australian Diving Accreditation Scheme (ADAS) Parts 1, 2 and 3 certifications, providing them with the necessary accreditation to work legally as divers.

BMT Oceanica Is Lead Consultant for Australia Aquaculture Development Zone

Marine and coastal environment specialists, BMT Oceanica (BMT), a subsidiary of BMT Group Ltd, announced today its appointment as Lead Consultant for the Western Australia Department of Fisheries (DoF) in a project to establish an aquaculture development zone. BMT Oceanica, in partnership with BMT WBM and the University of Western Australia, will play a key role in the strategic assessment of the proposed Mid West aquaculture development zone in the southern Abrolhos Islands…

OTC Announces 2013 “Spotlight on New Technology” Award Recipients

The Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), which takes place May 6– 9, in Houston, has announced 15 technologies that will receive the 2013 Spotlight on New Technology Award recognizing innovative new products that provide significant impact for offshore exploration and production. The awards will be presented May 6, in Reliant Center. The Spotlight on New Technology Awards, which are for OTC exhibitors…

Sustainable Ocean Summit Final Program Available

The SOS 2013 program will take on the issues that are challenging access to ocean areas and resources by responsible industry operators. Click here to see the program. This global gathering of the diverse ocean business community is not a conference to discuss the issues, enjoy some networking and hope someone else will do something. The SOS is a working meeting to advance industry leadership and collaboration on shared ocean sustainability risks and opportunities through WOC programs.

All Hands on Deck: ROVs and AUVs Aid Search for Franklin

Marine and subsea unmanned vehicle technology is playing an increasingly greater role in underwater archaeology, including the search for the historic shipwreck Franklin. For centuries, the ever-changing sea ice of the Northwest Passage made the route through the Arctic Ocean unpredictable and, on occasions, virtually impassable. Yet, since the 1500s the promise of connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans…

Innova Selects Sonardyne INS, DVL for Resident ROVs

Norwegian subsea engineering and technology company Innova AS has selected acoustic and inertial navigation technology from Sonardyne International Ltd. for two new in-field resident remotely operated vehicles (ROV) being built in the country. Each ROV will be installed with a co-housed Sonardyne SPRINT Inertial Navigation System (INS) and Syrinx Doppler Velocity Log (DVL) to provide tightly coupled…

Offshore Brazil Contract for PLSV 'Kommandor 3000'

Subsea 7 S.A. has been awarded a contract by Petrobras worth in excess of U$350 million for operation of the Pipe Lay Support Vessel (PLSV). The contract is on a day rate basis for five years. Kommandor 3000 will start operations under the contract in 2013 (Subsea 7 note that during the year this vessel will spend approximately 90 days in dry-dock for maintenance). The work scope is similar to the current contract…

NOC Buys Two Ocean Robot Boats

The National Oceanography Center (NOC) is to purchase two oceangoing unmanned surface vehicles designed for long endurance scientific research. The unmanned surface vehicles, one produced by MOST Ltd, of Chichester, and the other by ASV Ltd, based in Portchester were developed as part of a £1million initiative to produce rugged and reliable marine autonomous systems to gather data from the open ocean over periods of several months in support of U.K. marine scientific research.

Black Laser Learning Contracted to Update Navy Training Programs

Black Laser Learning, Inc. is set to provide critical training updates through live seminars and training DVDs to Navy sonar operators with the latest techniques required for the Navy’s newly-upgraded UUV systems. Changes and modifications to the U.S. Navy’s UUV (unmanned underwater vehicles) system sonars require updated training programs for Navy operators. Black Laser Learning Inc., (BLL) a company that has provided sonar training to the Navy for over 10 years…

STR Appoints Elliott as General Manager

Subsea Technology & Rentals Ltd (STR); global specialists in the design, production and rental of advanced subsea technology for the offshore industry has announced the appointment of Paul Elliott as General Manager for the Asia Pacific Region.   Elliott will be responsible for working with STR’s existing customers and agents within the Asia Pacific region to support business and develop new opportunities and relationships.

Furuno's Multi-Beam Sonar reaches new depths

Furuno is proud to announce that it is bringing side-scanning capabilities to its flagship NavNet TZtouch and TZtouch2 MFDs with its latest network sensor called the DFF3D. This multi-beam Sonar takes the highly-desired capability to scan port to starboard under the vessel and adds Furuno’s commercial fisheries spin on it. This deep-water Sonar delivers a sidebar detection range of an unprecedented 650+ feet, while being able to see down to over 1,000 feet.

Wärtsilä to Supply FSU, Shuttle Tanker, Inert Gas Systems

Wärtsilä is to supply inert gas systems for a Floating Storage Unit (FSU) on Norway's Heidrun offshore oil & gas field, and for two supporting shuttle tankers. The FSU is owned by Statoil, the Norwegian state owned energy company, and the tankers by AET Tanker Holdings, the Singapore based petroleum transportation company. All three vessels are being built by Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) in South Korea. The Wärtsilä contract with SHI was signed in February 2013.

CTruk Names Latest Vessel at Seawork

The latest offshore wind support vessel to leave the CTruk production line in Essex made straight for Southampton and is currently on show at berth V25 at annual commercial marine exhibition and forum, Seawork. Ocean Warrior, a brand new 18.5m advanced composite twin-hull CTruk 20T MPC was officially named during an informal ceremony at the event yesterday. Ocean Warrior is the second CTruk 20T MPC for owner Scott Wharton of Ocean Transit Services.

US Accounts for $7 Bln in Ocean Data Activity Annually

New U.S. IOOS Ocean Enterprise Industry Study: Report details $7 billion in U.S. economic activities related to collection, use of ocean data. The NOAA-led U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), in partnership with The Maritime Alliance and ERISS Corporation, issued the first national-level assessment of the scale and scope of the "ocean enterprise." The study shows that the ocean enterprise…

SailBuoy Unmanned Surface Vehicle for Ocean Monitoring

(1) Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN). PO Box 413, Telde. Spain; (2) Christian Michelsen Research (CMR). PO Box 6031, Bergen, Norway; (3) Instituto Canario de Ciencias Marinas (ICCM). PO Box 56, Telde. Ocean observatories play a crucial role in relevant aspects of the climate system on longer time-scales, including among others, global heat budget, sea level rise, potential variations in the meridional overturning circulation…

Applied Acoustics Scores Contract Down Under

Western Advance Pty. Ltd., the exclusive distributor for Applied Acoustic Engineering (AAE) in Australia, has recently completed a contract for the supply of one of AAE’s Nexus USBL systems to Neptune Marine Services headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. The provision of this system marks the 450th USBL system that AAE has supplied to the subsea industry.

T&T Salvage Strengthens Singapore Team

T&T Salvage recruited three salvage professionals, Lee Hiok Liang, Alex Ang Yew Boon, and Hussain Shah, for its Singapore base. Lee Hiok Liang joins as a naval architect from a diverse background of twenty years of experience in the marine industry. Lee joins from Royal Boskalis, where he was a Senior Project Engineer. In this role he was actively involved in the construction of new dredging vessels, modification and upgrade supervision to ensure compliance with technical and quality standards.

Offshore Wind: Seajacks Scylla Ready to Roll

Gibdock was selected for the afloat mobilization of Seajacks Scylla, the largest and most advanced windfarm installation jack-up ever built. Following delivery to Seajacks by Samsung Heavy Industries at the end of 2015, Scylla was discharged to Gibraltar waters from the heavylift transporter Osprey before being towed into Gibdock for reactivation works at the yard’s South Mole. Seajacks Scylla completed…