It’s Only Just the Start for Subsea Drones

The starting gun on a subsea space race has now officially been fired with the first ever award of a contract that includes services from a subsea resident drone.But, what is less known is that the award, made by Equinor to Saipem for operations on the Njord field, was made at what was the largest gathering of resident robotic systems ever assembled to date. Subsea drone vendors attended the event…

TerraSond Wins NOAA Contract

TerraSond reports it has been awarded its seveth consecutive NOAA contract.The five-year IDIQ contract was awarded by the Hydrographic Surveys Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s National Ocean Service, Office of Coast Survey, to provide hydrographic surveying services in the USA.The contract was effective January 1, 2020, with a maximum value of $250 million over five years, subject to appropriation by Congress.

Current Profiling & China’s Maritime Infrastructure Drive

China’s recent wave of infrastructure renewal has included a large portfolio of developments, such as ports and other developments, that have a subsea component. Accurate, efficient and cost-effective current profiling is vital in the successful implementation of major maritime projects.Nortek has been able to play a role in this side of China’s economic revolution, through its collaboration with a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC)…

Silver Ships Delivers Survey Vessel to US Army Corps of Engineers

Alabama shipbuilder Silver Ships announced it has delivered a new marine surveying vessel for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Venice Sub Office in Venice, La. The 49-foot Tobin is the latest expansion in Silver Ships’ Endeavor series of workboats and is the largest marine surveying vessel of its series.Custom designed for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to hydrographically map the mouth of the Mississippi River…

UUV Manipulators: Get a Grip

While much focus on resident subsea vehicles has been about the vehicles, there’s also been a lot of focus behind the scenes on creating electric tooling. The industry has relied on hydraulic tooling since tooling has been used, with the benefits and drawbacks that come with it. Leading the field has been Schilling Robotics, now a part of the TechnipFMC group. But, for electric vehicles to really make to most of being all-electric, they really need to be free of the burdens of hydraulic systems.

Saab Seaeye eRobotics Campaign Wins UTC Award

A project that achieved a world first in subsea vehicle deepwater residency capability, proving the potential for marine autonomous systems to take a greater role in underwater inspection, repair and maintenance methodologies, is the winner of the annual UTC Subsea Award.The UTC Subsea Award, presented by the Underwater Technology Foundation (UTF), is designed to recognize the many outstanding achievements within the subsea industry.

Catamaran and AUV Complete Joint Survey

Norwegian and Canadian partners have completed geophysical area survey in Norway using an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and small catamaran concept.In September 2018 DOF Subsea Norway AS was awarded a contract for The Norwegian Public Roads Administration, Statens Vegvesen (SVV), to perform geophysical mapping of a 5km2 area in Bjørnafjord in Norway. The project was executed using the Hugin AUV…

Bombora Making Progress with 'World’s Most Powerful' Wave Energy Converter

Bombora Wave Power said this week it was entering the final test and assembly phase of the 1.5MW Pembrokeshire Demonstration Project, as it prepares to validate what it says is the world’s most powerful Wave Energy Converter."Rigorous testing of the key sub-systems is currently underway as the ocean energy specialist prepares to deliver the £20million project, financially supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) via the Welsh Government…

1.1 GW Floating Offshore Wind Farm earns Key Approval

Mainstream Renewable Power, the pureplay global wind and solar company majority-owned by Aker Horizons ASA, announced that joint venture KF Wind, a 1,125 MW floating offshore wind project being developed off the coast of Ulsan and owned by Mainstream (33.3%) and Ocean Winds (66.7 %), has secured the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approval from the Ministry of Environment for the totality of the two-phase project.

Norway's NPD Taps Argeo for Deep-sea Mineral Exploration in Knipovich Ridge

Norway-based offshore survey firm Argeo said Thursday it had won a deep-sea survey contract comprising multi-sensor data acquisition with AUV for the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) to evaluate further mineral resource potential in the northern part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Knipovich Ridge). The acquisition project, with a contract value of 37 mill NOK [currently around $3,49 million], lasts 8 weeks…

NPS Research on Coast Guard Icebreaker to Enhance Arctic Readiness

During a seven-week Arctic transit aboard the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker USCGC Healy (WAGB 20), researchers from the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) will study the impact of the extreme environment on crew performance and potential mitigations, as well as advanced Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies in adverse sea conditions.The studies, which commenced with Healy’s departure from Kodiak, Alaska on Aug. 26, will be led by principal investigator Dr.

Robotics Community Gains Access to Xsens IMUs

Xsens, the manufacturer of motion sensing modules, has signed a sales distribution agreement with Clearpath Robotics, the manufacturer of robot development platforms, which will make it easier for R&D teams and university researchers to use the popular MTi-series of inertial measurement units (IMU, VRU, AHRS and GNSS/INS) in robot designs.Under the arrangement, Ontario, Canada-based Clearpath Robotics…

National Subsea Centre Opens in Dyce, UK

The National Subsea Centre (NSC), a center of excellence for subsea research and technology development, has been officially opened today in Dyce, Aberdeen.The center was opened byMichael Matheson, Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport and UK Government Minister for Scotland, Malcolm Offord.The multi-million-pound center has been developed through a partnership between Robert Gordon University (RGU) and Net Zero Technology Centre (NZTC)…

Accelerated Evolution and Automated Aquaculture Could Help Coral Weather the Heat

Coral on the Great Barrier Reef has regrown strongly after the big losses of 2016 and 2017, when water temperatures were significantly above the long-term average. While this is good news, it’s largely luck. The reef experienced mass bleaching in 2020 and 2022, but temperatures cooled just in time to prevent extensive coral deaths.But the reef’s luck may be about to run out. Hotter El Niño conditions are returning to the Pacific, driving warmer ocean temperatures.

The Emerging U.S. Offshore Wind Industry in a Post-COVID-19 World

Join a webinar on June 17, 2020 for the global release of a major new market study on the depth, breadth and growth prospects of the Offshore Wind Market --  https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UR5uY1boTOKdAAcAXDbR4gJust when it was looking like the offshore wind industry was finally about to take off in the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced one more significant layer of uncertainty upon an already very complicated playing field.

The Importance of FAIR Data in Earth Science

Data’s valuation as an enterprise asset is most acutely realized over time. When properly managed, the same dataset supports a plurality of use cases, becomes almost instantly available upon request, and is exchangeable between departments or organizations to systematically increase its yield with each deployment.These boons of leveraging data as an enterprise asset are the foundation of GO FAIR’s…

Aquaculture: Norwegian Researchers Work on 'Revolutionizing' Fish Farming

Norwegian researchers are working on projects that are providing the groundwork for a revolution in aquaculture. As a small part of this revolution, Nortek’s DVL is helping to bring autonomous navigation to ROVs used in Norwegian fish farms.Fish farming is a multi-million-dollar business that depends on careful maintenance of the giant cage nets to prevent stock from escaping through gaps and to reduce biofouling on the nets that can affect fish health.Detailed inspections…

DOE Prizes to to Inspire Ocean Innovation

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced developments in two new prizes: Waves to Water, which challenges innovators to desalinate water using the power of ocean waves, and the Powering the Blue Economy™ Ocean Observing Prize, a joint DOE-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) prize, which challenges innovators to pair marine renewable energy technologies with ocean observing platforms.These…

Ocean Influencer: Karl Kenny, Kraken Robotics

The July/August edition of Marine Technology Reporter, the 15th Annual "MTR100", recognizes Karl Kenny and his Kraken Robotics team for moving forward fast on the evolution of subsea technology and business.Karl Kenny and Kraken Robotics are on a mission to revolutionize the way business is conducted subsea. It’s about high-quality data, collected, delivered and analyzed more regularly, liberally shared among a disparate group of stakeholders, from science to commerce to military.

How to Prevent Mass Extinction in the Ocean Using AI, Robots and 3D Printers

The ocean is the most defining physical feature of Earth, covering 71% of the surface of this planet. It is home to incredible biodiversity, ranging from microscopic bacteria and viruses to the largest animal on Earth, the blue whale.We still do not know how many species live in the ocean, but the disappearance of an increasing number of them suggests that extinction is taking place, perhaps at a faster…