USVs and the Future of Subsea Defense

Unmanned Revolution: USVs Set to Conquer the Seas. According to Frost & Sullivan, replacing manned systems with USV is not a question of if but when. Unmanned surface vessels (USV) still lag far behind their aerial equivalents in terms of technical capabilities, technology and deployment. However, new threats, cost-benefit calculations, operational experiences in the past decade and new technological developments are driving rapid growth in the market.

New Heavyweight Torpedo Enters Final Development

A new torpedo design being developed under the Artémis program, which aims to equip all French Navy nuclear submarines with new high-performance heavyweight torpedoes, has propelled into its final development phase with the recent completion of a successful round of test firing off the Mediterranean coast. The F21 torpedo is being developed by European naval defense and marine renewable energies technology company DCNS…

RDSEA International, Inc.

104 32nd Avenue, St. RDSEA International, Inc., St Pete Beach, Florida, founded in 2002 by Rick Cole while a Research Associate at the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science, around the increased need for experience and expertise in “ocean technologies” in the blue-water and coastal regions of our oceans, bays and estuaries (fresh water not to be excluded). RDSEA’s foundation began on federal…

Bluefin Robotics

President: David P. No. Bluefin Robotics, a Battelle Company, develops, builds, and operates Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), subsea batteries, and related technologies for defense, commercial, and scientific customers worldwide. It offers a full range of modular, free-flooded AUV platforms having designed in more than 50 different configurations. The Bluefin team brings a unique set of skills including hard-won expertise in the application of advanced materials…

Melting Sea Ice: A Canary in the Coal Mine

The rapid loss of Arctic sea ice is a sentinel. Most of us will never venture into the Arctic, but it can and does provide us with a forewarning of impacts coming to our parts of the Earth – and some of the most significant impacts will directly affect the maritime industry. In earlier times, coal miners were sometimes overcome by the buildup of odorless carbon monoxide gas. Some died as a consequence. Eventually it was realized that canaries were more susceptible to the gas than were humans.

Johns Hopkins University Orders Second Iver2 Research AUV

OceanServer Technology announced that the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) has agreed to purchase another Iver2 AUV for delivery this summer. This second system provides additional capability for APL’s general research, including the development of underwater sensor systems. Founded in 1942, APL is a not-for-profit center for engineering, research and development, and solves complex problems that present critical challenges to the nation.

Navy-Funded Whale Tagging Study Begins

A Navy-funded study to continue documenting blue and fin whale distribution, occurrence and movement patterns along the U.S. West Coast and throughout the Eastern Pacific has begun, informs U.S. Pacific Fleet Public Affairs. Oregon State University researchers will attempt to locate and attach up to 24 long-term satellite tracking tags to blue and fin whales off Southern California. The researchers will deploy from Santa Barbara or Long Beach…

Underwater Volcano Dubbed World’s Largest

A University of Houston (UH) professor led a team of scientists to uncover the largest single volcano yet documented on Earth. Covering an area roughly equivalent to the British Isles or the state of New Mexico, this volcano, dubbed the Tamu Massif, is nearly as big as the giant volcanoes of Mars, placing it among the largest in the Solar System. William Sager, a professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at UH…

UTEC Survey Completes Apache Infield AUV Inspection

UTEC Survey Australia Pty Ltd announced the successful completion of a major infield inspection of approximately 550 km of pipelines and 20 infield structures off the North West coast of Australia using two of its Gavia autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV). The work was completed on behalf of Apache Energy Limited. Offshore activity commenced in mid-June and saw UTEC provide two of its latest model Gavia AUV systems equipped with a full suite of survey sensors.

Colombia Moves to Salvage Treasure from Spanish Shipwreck

Colombia is making progress towards salvaging a Spanish galleon carrying jewels and coins that sank more than 300 years ago, President Juan Manuel Santos said on Wednesday after receiving a proposal from an investor to bring it to the surface. The ship named San Jose, thought by historians to be carrying one of the largest unsalvaged maritime treasures, sank in 1708 near the historical Caribbean port of Cartagena, and its wreckage was located in 2015.

DNV GL's P&A Guideline Could Save O&G $ 32 bln

The plugging and abandonment (P&A) of offshore wells represents a significant cost to operating companies and national authorities. On the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) alone, the cost is estimated to be USD108bn (NOK1870bn) over the next 40 years. Now a new DNV GL guideline will introduce a risk-based approach instead of the current prescriptive practice. DNV GL estimates that when combined with optimized project execution and new technology, the P&A cost can be reduced by 30-50%.

Dolphin's New 3D Seismic Vessel Fully Operational

Dolphin announced that the newly delivered high-capacity 3D seismic vessel, Polar Empress, is in full production towing 14 streamers on the Maud Extension Multi-Client survey in the Barents Sea. At the end of June, the vessel will mobilize for an exclusive contract with duration in excess of three months. Dolphin claims the special purpose built seismic vessel is one of the most advanced vessel in the industry.

Virgina Offshore Wind Project Moves Forward

An offshore wind project in the U.S. mid-Atlantic is moving forward, as project owner Dominion Energy Virginia has signed an agreement and strategic partnership with DONG Energy to build two 6-megawatt turbines 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. The two companies will now begin refining agreements for engineering, procurement and construction. Dominion Energy remains the sole owner of the project.

SBG Systems Debuts Miniature Inertial Sensors

SBG Systems releases the Ellipse Series, a brand new product range of miniature inertial systems replacing the IG-500 Series. For the same budget, customers benefit from higher accuracy, advanced filtering and features inspired from high end inertial navigation systems. After many years of success and thousands of sensors on the field, the IG-500 Series is being replaced by a brand new generation: the Ellipse Series.

2015 MATE International ROV Competition

The Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center, the National Science Foundation (NSF), NSF's Office of Polar Programs, and the Marine Technology Society ROV Committee invite you to our 14th Annual MATE International Studen ROV Competition. Sixty-three teams representing middle schools, high schools, home schools, after-school groups, community colleges, and universities from 16 different countries are scheduled to compete in this year's event…

Bluefin Adds Klein 3500 Sonar to AUV Payload List

Bluefin Robotics added the L-3 Klein UUV-3500 Side Scan Sonar to its growing list of vehicle payload offerings. The integration effort was internally funded to support company initiatives to expand sensor options and continue to provide state-of-the-art technology to the market. The L-3 Klein UUV-3500 sonar is one of several next-generation, compact digital sensors available on Bluefin vehicles that…

Tuco Marine Launches Aquaculture Service Boat

Denmark based boat builder Tuco Marine has launched a newly developed boat for high-pressure cleaning for fish farm operations in Norway. According to Tuco Marine, the 15-meter workboat – an expansion of its ProZero vessel series – has been designed by the builder’s engineers in collaboration with aquaculture experts to match the exact demands of the industry. In order to preserve a healthy fish population and a steady production rate…

Kvichak to Build 48 ft. Foil Research Cat

Kvichak Marine Industries, a Vigor Company, was recently awarded a contract to design and build a 48’ all-aluminum foil assisted research catamaran for the King County Environmental Laboratory. The vessel will operate in Puget Sound, the Straits of Juan de Fuca and adjoining inland waterways. The vessel will be conducting water sampling research along with marine buoy calibration, maintenance and retrieval, tours and shoreline surveys, dive and ROV operations.

Petrobas to Beef Up IT Security After Alleged Hacking

Petrobras will invest R$ 4-billion in information technology and security in 2013
 demonstrating the company's commitment to protecting its data. Millions of e-mails were pre-emptively blocked iin the span of a recent month. The president of Petrobras, Maria das Graças Silva Foster said at a public hearing at the Senate, that the Company will invest R$ 4 billion in 2013 and R$ 21.2 billion between 2013-2017 in Information Technology and Telecommunications.

GPS Spoofing and the Potential Perils to Ships at Sea

Simple annoyance or potential security threat? Spoof is defined as “a hoax or swindle.”  In the world of electronic networks, a spoofing attack is a situation in which one program successfully masquerades as another by falsifying data and thereby gaining an improper advantage. We have all heard of, and possibly fallen victim to, fraudulent card readers (often inserted on self-service fuel pumps). The fraudulent card readers copy security information from the credit card…