China Reef Work Could Lead to New Exclusion Zone

China could eventually deploy radar and missile systems on outposts it is building in the South China Sea that could be used to enforce an exclusion zone over the disputed territory, the U.S. military commander for Asia said on Wednesday. Admiral Samuel Locklear, speaking at a congressional hearing in Washington, described as "aggressive" the land reclamation and construction projects China has been conducting at eight military outposts in the South China Sea.

Energy Industry Funds Tropical Cyclone Research

Global energy companies have joined forces to fund new research aimed at advancing tropical cyclone forecasting in Northern Australia to further improve offshore safety and mitigate costly disruptions to operations. Results from the industry-driven research are expected to enhance tropical cyclone response planning and public weather forecasting services for the wider community. The Industry Technology…

NATO Science Mission Employs ‘Double Muscle’

Commencing on her first NATO sea trial of the year, the NATO research vessel (NRV) Alliance has sailed out with new assets on board that aim to enhance collaborative robotics for MCM applications, including a new vehicle, which only apparently duplicates the CMRE MUSCLE prototype. On the aft deck of the NRV Alliance, sailing for the first CMRE (Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation) scientific campaign of 2017, there are two very similar robots.

Maersk Triple-E Ships Upgrade with Hull Performance Solutions

Jotun, the global leader in marine antifouling coatings, has signed a landmark agreement with Maersk Line to supply Hull Performance Solutions with SeaQuantumX200 for the Triple-E new build project. The Triple-Es are the world’s largest ships - renowned as much for their energy efficiency as their size. By upgrading to HPS with Jotun’s top-of-the-line SeaQuantum X200 antifouling coating, the Triple-E ships are expected to reinforce their energy efficiency advantage.

Vard Holdings acquires STX Canada Marine Inc

Vard Holdings Limited (“VARD”), one of the major global designers and shipbuilders of offshore and specialized vessels, has acquired STX Canada Marine Inc., a leading marine engineering and design company with more than 30 years history in North America, for approx. NOK 65 million. Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, with branch offices in Ottawa and Houston and a workforce of over 75 employees, the new acquisition will be fully integrated with Vard Marine Inc.

SeeByte Target Tracking for Tritech

SeeByteand Tritech International Limited [Tritech], a Moog Inc. Company, have integrated SeeByte’s target tracking capabilities into Tritech’s Gemini 720is multibeam imaging sonar software. This agreement sees the integration of Tritech’s Gemini 720is sonar with SeeByte’s advanced tracking analytics; providing users with enhanced target tracking capabilities. In realtime, users are able to track and follow objects within a wide 120deg view.

ECA, Ifremer Present H-ROV ARIANE at Oceanology

As a result of their long-term partnership and successful collaboration, ECA Group and Ifremer will be presenting at Oceanology International exhibition (March 15-17, London) the hybrid underwater robotic system HROV ARIANE. Designed by Ifremer, the hybrid vehicle also integrates technologies developed by many French companies. ECA Group contributed to the integrative architecture and the electric remote manipulation system of this innovative technology dedicated to underwater missions.

GE Oil & Gas Sign GofM Deepwater Contracts

GE Oil & Gas has signed an $84-million agreement with PEMEX Exploration and Production to supply and install subsea wellheads for PEMEX’s deepwater and ultra-deepwater drilling projects in the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf of Mexico is a strategic zone for the hydrocarbon industry, since it is estimated to hold more than 50 percent of Mexico’s potential or prospective resources. However, such reserves are located in deepwater and ultra-deepwater sites…

Mine Hunting Sonar Deployed in the Mediterranean

Klein Marine Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitcham Industries, Inc. teamed with Elbit Systems, Ltd. to conduct structured mine countermeasure exercises in the Mediterranean Sea. Klein’s 5900 mine hunting side scan sonar, integrated onboard Elbit’s Seagull Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) detected and classified all detectable moored and bottom Mine Like Objects (MLO) in one-third the allotted time period for each exercise.

FarSounder Updates Navigation Sonars

The release of SonaSoft 3.0 represents an upgrade to its real-time forward-looking sonar capabilities. New in SonaSoft 3.0, FarSounder has improved its 3D sonar display, the developer said. According to FarSounder, improvements include target persistence via new image stabilization techniques, updated color mapping fusing depth and signal level information, improved Auto Squelch mode, expanded chart overlay including full 3D image and one-to-one scaling of 3D images.

Ocean Science and Exploration Focus on Capitol Hill

Explorer and director James Cameron will be on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, June 11, with Dr. Susan Avery, president and director of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for a series of public events and a Senate hearing. Central to their visit is the display of the Deepsea Challenger, the only human-occupied vehicle currently able to access the deepest parts the ocean. Cameron developed the vehicle over seven years and used it in March 2012 to dive to the deepest spot in the ocean…

History Meets Technology in Shipwreck Alley

The vast stretches of cold, fresh water in the Great Lakes hide the stories of thousands of ships that wrecked in our nation’s inland seas. Historical records indicate more than a hundred shipwrecks have yet to be discovered in Lake Huron’s Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and research teams hope to discover more this summer. From April through August, Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary will…

Atlantic Towing and Jaya Seal Second Offshore Deal

Offshore energy services provider Jaya Holdings Ltd. reached an agreement to sell a second new state-of-the-art anchor handling tug supply vessel Jaya Sovereign to Canadian buyers, Atlantic Towing Ltd. The vessel’s delivery is expected by the end of 2013. The Jaya Sovereign is a sister ship of the Jaya Supreme which was delivered to Atlantic Towing in November of last year. Both vessels are among the most sophisticated anchor handlers ever built at a Singapore shipyard.

Soo Locks Open for 2016

At 12:01 a.m. today, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officially opened the Soo Locks for the start of the 2016 shipping season. The locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan are among 16 locks that form the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway navigation system which extends from Duluth, Minnesota to the Atlantic Ocean. Together these 16 locks lift or lower ships 600 feet – the height of a 60 story building.

Ocean Server, SeeByte Collaborate for Environmental Assessment

A group of marine industry technology providers gathered in San Diego, using OceanServer Technology's Iver2 AUVs as the payload platform, to demonstrate improvements for both Sonar and Magnetic Sensor data collection and subsequent "in-stride" and post-mission data analysis methods. These methods are emerging through cooperative developments in commercial and military survey operations. Participating for this five day exercise in the waters off Coronado…

C&C Technologies Wins NOAA Survey Contract

C & C Technologies has been awarded a new five-year contract by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to perform hydrographic surveys throughout U.S. coastal waters. “Our work with NOAA began in 1998 surveying San Francisco Bay near Alcatraz Island and the Oakland Bay Bridge,” stated Thomas Chance, President of C & C Technologies, Inc. This is now the third five-year survey contract NOAA has awarded to C & C.

SIDMAR Delivers AXYS WatchMate ODAS Buoy to Spain

AXYS Technologies' agent in Spain, SIDMAR has recently deployed an AXYS WatchMate™1.8DM buoy for weather monitoring off the port of La Coruña. The WatchMate oceanographic buoy strengthens the weather monitoring program operated by Puertos del Estado (PdE) in the Galicia region. The WatchMate buoy system monitors additional strategic environmental parameters over the existing REDCOS TRIAXYS buoys for operation of the port and to improve the local marine weather forecasting models.

Teledyne Seeks Speakers for AiA Conference

Teledyne RDI said it would like to implement three lightning round sessions at this year’s ADCPs in Action (AiA) Users’ Conference, which is scheduled to take place in San Diego, Calif. on September 29-October 2, 2013. Lightning Rounds refer to a 30 minute sessions comprised of five-minute succinct and tightly timed customer presentations detailing one of three preselected categories. Lightning rounds will be conducted for all three Teledyne RDI product lines: Marine Measurements…

2G Robotics Laser Scanner Now Interfaced with QINSy

2G Robotics announced that the ULS-500 underwater laser scanner is now compatible with the QPS hydrographic data acquisition, navigation and processing software, QINSy. The QINSy suite can be used for various types of surveys, ranging from simple single beam surveys up to complex offshore construction works. According to 2G Robotics, QINSy has a reputation for producing fully corrected and geo-referenced multibeam point clouds in real-time.

AWS Wave Power Generator Deployed

AWS Ocean Energy developing its wave power technology for use in fish farms, harbor breakwaters through to major utility-scale offshore wave farms. Inverness-based AWS Ocean Energy has taken a step forward with the successful deployment and initial testing of a half-scale AWS-III wave power generator. The test program took place at Lyness in Orkney, Scotland, and will help the company develop its energy…