Scientists Find Micro Plastic in Arctic Ice

Tiny pieces of plastic have been found in ice cores drilled in the Arctic by a U.S.-led team of scientists, underscoring the threat the growing form of pollution poses to marine life in even the remotest waters on the planet.The researchers used a helicopter to land on ice floes and retrieve the samples during an 18-day icebreaker expedition through the Northwest Passage, the hazardous route linking…

ROBOATS: MIT's Shape-Shifting Autonomous Boats

New capabilities allow “roboats” to change configurations to form pop-up bridges, stages, and other structures.MIT’s fleet of robotic boats has been updated with new capabilities to “shapeshift,” by autonomously disconnecting and reassembling into a variety of configurations, to form floating structures in Amsterdam’s many canals.The autonomous boats — rectangular hulls equipped with sensors, thrusters…

Seaspan Delivers Canada's First OFSV

Seaspan Shipyards has delivered Canada's first new Offshore Fisheries Science Vessels (OFSV), the CCGS Sir John Franklin, to the Canadian Coast Guard (Coast Guard).An official handover ceremony took place aboard the vessel attended by the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, senior officials from the Coast Guard, Seaspan and supply chain partners.The delivery of the first OFSV…

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 Unmanned Surface Vessel Takes Shape off Singapore

Zycraft Pte. Ltd. (Zycraft) hsaid it completed Phase 1 development of the Vigilant Class Independent Unmanned Surface Vessel. A lead vessel named the LongRunner has already completed over 24 months of inwater testing in Singapore waters and traveled a total of 2000 nautical miles. During this period, the vessel also participated in several Fleet Battle Experiments and demonstrated continuous unmanned operations exceeding 48 hours and traveled 100 nautical miles into the South China Sea.

MTR100 '13 Southwest Electronic Energy Group

Testing: Southwest Electronic Energy (SWE), successfully completed 10,000psi pressure testing of its SWE SeaSafe Smart Battery Module. The exhaustive two day test conducted in the 30 inch hyperbaric chamber at the third party test laboratory included nine complete pressure cycles up to 10,000 PSI and back down to zero psi while continuously performing live charge and discharge. In 2013, battery solutions innovator Southwest Electronic Energy Group announced breakthrough subsea ready…

Oil Pollution Risk Assessment

A new NOAA report that examines national oil pollution threat from shipwrecks has been presented to the U.S. Coast Guard. With as many as 20,000 recorded shipwrecks in NOAA’s database, the May 2013 report finds that just 36 sunken vessels scattered across the U.S. seafloor could pose an oil pollution threat to the nation’s coastal marine resources. Of those, 17 were recommended for further assessment and potential removal of both fuel oil and oil cargo.

CTI SonarWiz Supports Multi-Beam and Interferometric Bathymetry Systems

ChesapeakeTechnology Inc. (CTI), a company in real-time acquisition and GIS based processing software for seafloor mapping, announced an advance to its flagship software SonarWiz with the addition of post-processing for multi-beam echo sounder and interferometric bathymetry systems. SonarWiz now offers data processing for both multi-beam and interferometric bathymetric systems with present support for processing bathymetry file types of ALL, HSX, JSF, R2S, RDF, S7K, SXI, and XTF.

Pipeline Damage Assessment Tool Launched

Tecnitas, the marine advisory arm of leading international classification and verification group Bureau Veritas (BV), has launched a new technology simulation system for pipeline damage assessment, in collaboration with Total. This system, EMPREINTE, helps pipeline operators to determine safe operating pressures after a pipeline is damaged. It is a software suite which provides a decision making tool which, according to BV, aims to save operators money and cut downtime for pipeline repairs.

DeepSea Improves SeaLite Sphere LED Light

The SeaLite Sphere has evolved to offer field-serviceable connector replacement for a quick and easy repair in the field. The ability to change the connector without any special tools or the need to send the light back to the manufacturer has reduced downtime to a matter of minutes, saving users time and money. The SeaLite Sphere advances beyond other LED lights by separating the connector from other internal electronic components to avoid downtime and costly repairs due to connector failures.

Greensea’s New Ship Hull Crawler Tech Launches with VideoRay Defender ROV

Greensea introduces a new hull crawler that easily attaches a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) to a ship hull without magnetics, allowing the operator to “drive” the ROV and payloads over the hull. Initial hull crawlers are designed to work exclusively with the VideoRay Mission Specialist Defender ROV. The hull crawler represents a milestone in Greensea’s hull robotics program, which is advancing navigation…

One-on-One: Chris Gibson, VideoRay

Chris Gibson is VP of Sales & Marketing at VideoRay, a leader in portable, inspection-class remotely operated vehicles (ROV). Gibson is a ubiquitous figure around the globe representing the VideoRay brand, and has been with the company since its inception in 1999. MTR spoke with Gibson recently for his insights on market and tech drivers.The familiar family of VideoRay ROVs are found globally in a wide range of industries and missions…

The Great Barrier Reef: 3D Habitat Map

International aquatic remote sensing company EOMAP will showcase its unique contribution to the world-first 3D habitat map of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) at the International Forum on Satellite-Derived Bathymetry, SDB Day 2019, next month in Australia.The mapping project, ‘3D live habitats for the full extent of the Great Barrier Reef’, will provide, for the first time, maps of the predicted coral types and underwater landscape for the more than 3…

Seaspan Shipyards Begins Building Canada's New Research Ship

Canadian shipbuilder Seaspan Shipyards announced on Monday it has cut steel and started full-rate construction of the newest oceanographic science research vessel for the Canadian Coast Guard and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.The 88-meter Offshore Oceanographic Science Vessel (OOSV) is being built under Canada's National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS) at Seaspan’s multi-program Vancouver Shipyard concurrently…

20’ WAM-V Delivered to XPrize Finalist TeamTao

The first 20’ WAM-V has been delivered to TeamTao, a finalist in the Shell Ocean Discovery XPrize competition.The new WAM-V has a range of over 400 nautical miles, can carry up to 600 lbs of payload, has a top speed of 15+ knots, and has passed rigorous open-ocean testing to ensure it is a stable platform for sensor deployment.“This is an exciting addition to our product lineup,” said Marine Advanced Research President and CEO Mark Gundersen.

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.

Drydocks World Signs MoU with BIG Invest Consult AG

The leading-edge project is based on a unique concept that aims to provide the ultimate leisure experience and opens new horizons in tourism and housing in coastal areas, adding commercial value, while aiming to preserve the marine ecosystem. Drydocks World, signed an MoU with BIG InvestConsult AG, a Swiss company, operating in the area of innovative technologies transfer, as well as investment projects, brokerage and finance.

Underwater Center Boosts SAR Training

The Italian Air Force Search and Rescue team has been expanding its skills and knowledge during a visit to subsea trials and training facility The Underwater Center, which is fast developing a reputation for supporting international rescue teams with its range of bespoke packages. Beniamino Panduccio, David Padula, and Massimiliano Lai – members of the Sardinian-based Italian Air Force Search and Rescue team – spent three days at the Center in Fort William…

MTR100: Teledyne Marine Acoustic Imaging Group (PART III)

Kim Lehmann, President of the Teledyne Marine Acoustic Imaging Group and the Teledyne RESON Group, discusses with Marine Technology Reporter the driving trends in the subsea business and the impact on his specific group of companies. Advancing the business of working underwater is dependent on a number of interconnected technologies that must work together with ease and efficiency. Imaging, or the ability to more clearly ‘see’ underwater…

MTR100: SeaView Systems, Inc.

No. Seaview Systems (SVS) has developed a world-class tunnel inspection solution incorporating inertial navigation into an articulated ROV body. The system merges several new technologies engineered by SVS including a distributed control topology (ROVbus) and an ultra-compact optical fiber multiplexer system. The ROV is capable of accessing tunnels through tight valves to inspect and geo-locate the tunnels for distances in excess of 20,000 feet.