TCarta Opens Canadian Affiliate Office

TCarta Marin announced the formation of TCarta Canada based in Ottawa, Ontario. Offering the complete line of TCarta satellite-derived bathymetry (SDB) services and Trident SDB Toolbox software, the affiliate office is a partnership between TCarta Marine and Prof. Anders Knudby, a well-known marine geospatial researcher and consultant in Canada.Simultaneously, TCarta Canada announced its first contract…

CTO in Focus: “Stop, Listen & Think” - One-on-One with Shepard Smith, XOcean

From his nearly three-decade career at NOAA to hiking the Appalachian Trail, Shepard “Shep” Smith brings a broad base of experience and expertise to his new post as Chief Technology Officer of XOcean. We checked in with Smith for his insights on technical drivers in the ocean exploration space, as well as what to expect from XOcean in the coming years.Shep, to start us off, please give an overview of your 28-year career at NOAA.I was with the Commissioned Officer Corp part of NOAA.

Army Corps, Maryland DOT to Commence $4 Billion Chesapeake Bay Restoration Project

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Baltimore District, and the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) signed a Project Partnership Agreement (PPA) for the $4 billion Mid-Chesapeake Bay ecosystem restoration project at MDOT Headquarters, August 23, 2022.The PPA – signed by Col. Estee Pinchasin, Baltimore District commander, and MDOT Secretary James F. Ports, Jr. – outlines the roles, responsibilities…

New Under-ice Observing Capabilities Could Lead to New Discoveries in the Great Lakes

During the dog days of summer here in the Great Lakes, scientists at NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) are already thinking about the ice that will form on the lakes this winter.This year, NOAA GLERL and a team of federal, university, and industry partners are conducting test deployments of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) in Lake Michigan, with the ultimate goal of using it under lake ice during winter to collect ecological and water quality data.

First in Middle East: Aramco’s Survey Vessel Gets ABS' Infectious Disease Mitigation Notation

Aramco’s hydrographic survey vessel, KARAN 8, has become the first in the Middle East region and second worldwide to be awarded an ABS Infectious Disease Mitigation (IDM) notation.ABS' IDM-A notation is offered to vessels that meet the arrangement requirements addressing the configuration of spaces that can be used for the isolation and segregation of crew, passengers, and onshore visitors, as well…

Kraken Sets out to Advance Offshore Digitalization

Oil and gas companies are no stranger to big data, technology and digital innovation, but Canada based marine technology company Kraken Robotics Inc. believes the industry has yet to take full advantage of the opportunities that derive from using big data and robotic technology in a meaningful way. A single drilling rig can generate terabytes of data every day, yet only a small fraction of it is used for decision-making, it said.

Hydroid Unveils Subsea Hyperbaric Testing System

Manufacturer of marine robotic systems Hydroid, Inc. has installed a new subsea Hyperbaric Testing System (HTS) at its manufacturing facility in Pocasset, Mass. in order to assess and ensure rated depth integrity of its autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and other marine robotics products. Hydroid, a subsidiary of Kongsberg Maritime, said this testing was previously performed at third party facilities…

Arctic Explorer AUV Ordered in Australia

International Submarine Engineering Ltd. has signed a contract to build a 5,000 meter depth Explorer class autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) for the University of Tasmania (UTAS) and the Australian Research Council (ARC) Antarctic Gateway Partnership project. This Explorer will be ISE’s fourth under-ice capable AUV that builds on the success of Theseus and the two Arctic Explorer vehicles owned and operated by Natural Resources Canada.

ABS Advances Landmark Standardization JIP

ABS convened industry partners in Houston to sign an agreement that outlines objectives for the second stage of a pioneering unified joint industry project (JIP) for standardization. The goal of the JIP, which includes participants from Korean shipyards, operators, drilling contractors, engineering companies and classification societies, is to develop offshore design standards that will help to improve safety, reduce costs and increase efficiency for offshore projects.

Construction of Mermaid Ausana Begins

Mermaid Maritime Public Company announced that it has marked the start of its new vessel / rig construction by participating in a steel cutting ceremony for its performance class tender rig ‘MTR-3’ and DP2 multipurpose subsea dive support and construction vessel ‘Mermaid Ausana’. The ceremony took place at the shipyards of China Merchants Heavy Industry in China in Nantong and Shenzhen, respectively.

First Images of Historic San Francisco Shipwreck

NOAA and its partners released 3D sonar maps and images of an immigrant steamship lost more than 100 years ago in what many consider the worst maritime disaster in San Francisco history. On Feb. 22, 1901, in a dense morning fog, the SS City of Rio de Janeiro struck jagged rocks near the present site of the Golden Gate Bridge and sank almost immediately, killing 128 of the 210 passengers and crew aboard the ship.

HYPACK Holds Hydrographic Training Event

The HYPACK 2015 USA Training Event will be held in San Antonio, Texas, January 5 to 8, 2015. The Hyatt Regency San Antonio River Walk will be providing accommodations and hosting the annual event. Revealed at the event will be the newest software version, HYPACK 2015. Significant changes in HYPACK 2015 will be the new 3D real-time point cloud, water column integration, and a new anchor-handling routine. updated DREDGEPACK interface for cranes.

MacArtney Opens Fifth North American Location

The MacArtney Underwater Technology Group has innaugurated its fifth dedicated business unit in North America. Located in Jupiter, Florida, just north of West Palm Beach, the new MacArtney Southeast Operations will cover a six-state area including Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Headed by General Manager, Lou Dennis, the new operations will supply cutting edge underwater technology products and solutions to clients and operators within the region.

Offshore Survey Conference Program Launched

The Offshore Survey Committee revealed what it is calling one of the most impressive programs yet for its fifth conference which takes place from April 15-16, 2015, alongside Ocean Business at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, U.K. After an overwhelming response to the call for papers, the technical committee has developed a program which covers timely issues for the offshore industry.

Regulatory Crewing Challenges for Offshore Wind Vessels

Every day we see more and more news about how the planning for new offshore wind projects continues to expand with the increasing investment from both domestic and foreign interests in these projects. This is resulting in both developers and contractors making logistics plans to secure vessels and crew for the purposes of meeting the demands necessary to crew and operate vessels in support of future wind farm operations.

#Oi2020 History

By the beginning of the 1970s came new advances within subsea technology, specifically a higher level of appreciation of technologies such as acoustics and sensors. This also included manned submersibles, which at the time, “were believed to be the answer to deep underwater exploration, taking humans beyond safe diver depth,” according to the book Advances in Marine Technology, as published by the Marine Technology Society.

General Dynamics Launches New Bluefin-12

General Dynamics Mission Systems released the new Bluefin-12 autonomous unmanned underwater vehicle at Defense and Security Equipment International (DSEI) 2019.This new vehicle builds upon the proven Bluefin autonomy and uses shared Bluefin Robotics’ core capabilities, increased mission modularity and embedded intelligence to complete users’ long endurance, high-consequence and changing missions.The…

Newly Found Seafloor Rise Named Engineer’s Ridge

The newly discovered seafloor rise Engineer’s Ridge has been officially documented through the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, Schmidt Ocean Institute announced. Less than three months after announcing Falkor Seamount, an underwater mountain discovered and named by the crew aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor, the team has found and named another underwater feature. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names unanimously approved Engineer’s Ridge on January 19, 2016.

Offshore Wind Challenge Accepting Applications

Greentown Labs and Vineyard Wind are now accepting applications for the Offshore Wind Challenge. Greentown Labs and Vineyard Wind are seeking submissions from startups that are innovating in marine mammal monitoring, either surrounding data collection and real-time transmission or data analysis.The Offshore Wind Challenge is a six-month accelerator program housed at Greentown Labs in Somerville, Mass.…

Nido Robotics Debuts Two Underwater Drones

Nido Robotics has launched Sibiu Pro and Sibiu Nano underwater drones. Sibiu Pro and Sibiu Nano underwater drones offer a new degree of precision, flexibility and convenience to sectors ranging from aquaculture to search & rescue. Nido Robotics' CEO and co-founder Roy Torgersen was engaged on a dive in 2012 in Papua New Guinea to locate the wreckage of a downed USS Dakota plane. The thought occurred to him that deep-sea missions of that nature…