Autonomy Takes Off Underwater

When it comes to autonomous operations, the underwater environment is arguably the most hazardous on the planet. To begin, there is simply a dearth of information regarding the world’s oceans, a factor which naturally raises risk prospects. In addition, the effects of exposure of equipment to the harsh saltwater environment, varying pressures and uncertain weather raises the peril level even further.

ROVCO Partners with Drexel

Remotely operated vehicle (ROV) survey and inspection company Rovco said it has expanded its international reach after forming a local partnership with Drexel Marine Petroleum Services in Egypt.The deal will see the Bristol-headquartered firm offer its range of advanced subsea services to companies in Egypt, as part of a plan to increase business in the region over the next five years.Through the strategic alliance with services company Drexel Marine…

VOS Sweet Named at Oranjewerf Shiprepair Amsterdam

Vroon Offshore Services (VOS) new Subsea Support Vessel was named at Oranjewerf Shiprepair Amsterdam, part of Damen Shipyards Group, on February 8th, 2013. The vessel called at Oranjewerf early January after a voyage from China to The Netherlands to undergo a series of modifications at the shipyard. The new vessel is named after a Rolling Stones song. Among the various modifications Oranjewerf executed are the installation of a 24 tonnes crane and a fully equipped workplace in the aft.

4Subsea Acquires Astori

Engineering firm 4Subsea said it has acquired Astori, a Norwegian provider of subsea control systems for well intervention operations.Astori delivers subsea control systems for simplified XT installations that can operate all types of XTs from all main vendors, simplifying and reducing costs of subsea well intervention. 4Subsea said the firm's automation and control technology will tie into its own…

Pioneering Spirit Gets a Scrub Down

The world's largest vessel, Pioneering Spirit, received a robotic hull cleaning during a recent port call in Rotterdam.The Allseas owned multipurpose vessel, which is on a temporary break from Nord Stream 2 pipelaying activities, made a stop in Rotterdam to prepare for upcoming topsides lift works at the giant Johan Sverdrup project offshore Norway. While in port, a robotic Fleet Cleaner vehicle cleaned the 382-meter-long vessel's hull despite stormy weather…

#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.

Royal IHC wins multiple contracts for Dredgers

In the last two months of 2016, IHC saw a substantial increase in the sale of its vessels, equipment and engineering packages. Almost half of the total order intake over 2016 was secured in this period. “We see market recovery in the dredging and renewables industry, and are positive that this will continue in 2017,” says IHC CEO Dave Vander Heyde. One of the highlights of the year end includes the sale of a trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) Easydredge 2700 from stock.

Ichthys Completes Subsea Installation

INPEX has announced the successful installation completion of the complex network of subsea infrastructure and equipment to safely and efficiently extract gas and condensate from the Ichthys Field for the Ichthys LNG Project. The final laying of 49 kilometres of umbilicals and flying leads yesterday, marked the last placement of an intricate subsea network, spread across a 400 square kilometre area  of the Ichthys Field, in the Browse Basin, about 220 kilometres offshore Western Australia.

Oceaneering to Relocate in Aberdeen

Oceaneering announced it will combine seven Aberdeen properties into one office location and a new, purpose-built workshop, in a move to streamline operations and drive cost efficiencies.The 50,000-square-foot office in Aberdeen International Business Park will provide a work environment for more than 300 office-based employees. The site will benefit from excellent transport connections and is within close proximity to the city’s new exhibition center…

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…

New Autonomous Vehicle for Offshore Wind Surveys

A new autonomous sailing platform aims make the collection of offshore wind energy data easier, faster, cleaner and more cost efficient.The 16-foot wind- and solar-powered Datamaran, launched recently by Norwegian energy company Equinor and US technology firm Autonomous Marine Systems Inc. (AMS), carries a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging, a well-established technology used to record wind characteristics…

First Building Complete at HII's New Unmanned Systems Campus

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) said Monday it has completed the first phase of its Unmanned Systems Center of Excellence with the construction of a 22,000-square-foot facility.The first of two planned buildings on the 20-acre campus in Hampton, Va. will be used to assemble hull structures for Boeing’s Orca Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV) program for the U.S. Navy.“We are thrilled to reach this critical milestone with the development of our Center of Excellence campus…

GD Electric Boat Scores $1B for Submarine Modifications

General Dynamics Electric Boat, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), was awarded a $1.076 billion contract modification from the U.S. Navy to provide long-lead-time material and advanced construction for Virginia-class fast-attack submarines.Electric Boat is presently under contract for construction of submarines in Block V of the class. The $1,075,896,000 in advance procurement funds from…

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…

Exail Supplies LBL Positioning Systems for Deepwater Projects in Brazil and Angola

Exail is supplying over 70 acoustic transponders and integrated navigation suites for two major deepwater energy projects in Brazil and Angola. These contracts mark a significant milestone in the global adoption of Exail’s Long Baseline (LBL) subsea positioning technology, supporting subsea construction, offshore infrastructure installation, and survey operations in complex environments at depths of up to 4…

WASSP Launches New Rapid Deployment Multibeam Sounder

WASSP Multibeam has launched its new rapid deployment multibeam sounder – the W3 Rapid Deployment System (RDS).Revealed at Pacific Expo 2019 in Sydney this week, W3 RDS has been designed for Navy’s, Maritime Police and Search & Rescue organisations for use where depths are unknown and to find safe navigation routes for larger vessels.When a fixed transducer installation in a small vessel such as a tender isn’t always practical…

Book Review: Getting Down to It; 50 Years of Subsea Success in Norway

The Norwegian Continental Shelf’s journey from the very first basic marinized subsea trees to today’s complex and sophisticated subsea processing equipment has been a rapid, at times turbulent, but always remarkable.There are many engineers who have seen through that journey, from the first exploration wells using Norwegian rigs in the mid-1970s to today. One has now written the history of subsea technology…

MTR100: Five "Ones to Watch"

For Marine Technology Reporter's (MTR) 14th Annual "MTR100" - a look at 100 innovators and technologies in the subsea space - MTR editor-at-large Elaine Maslin reports on five companies and technologies that are worth the watch for the remainder of 2019 and beyond. For the full edition, see https://magazines.marinelink.com/nwm/MarineTechnology/201907/Blue Logic: Entering a new eraCompletely new modes…

What Did Scientists Learn from Deepwater Horizon?

April 20, 2020, marks the tenth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion, the offshore oil industry's biggest environmental disaster.Eleven people died, 17 others were injured, Transocean's drilling rig sank, and an incident caused more than four million barrels of oil to spill into the U.S. Gulf of Mexico from the BP-operated Macondo well which spewed oil into the ocean for 87 days before…

EvoLogics Releases SiNAPS 2 Acoustic Positioning Software

EvoLogics released SiNAPS 2, an upgraded underwater acoustic positioning software.Rebuilt from scratch, it comes with a more powerful and efficient data engine with improved positioning accuracy. The updated user interface and intuitive workflows allow for easier onboarding and system integration.SiNAPS 2 isupports USBL, LBL, and advanced hybrid positioning methods. The software is designed to be intuitive…