World Magnetic Model Updated

NOAA officials announced today the World Magnetic Model (WMM), a representation of Earth’s large-scale magnetic field and an indispensable complement to GPS devices used by NATO, the United States and United Kingdom militaries, as well as civil applications ranging from mineral exploration to smartphone apps, has been updated. Changes in the Earth's outer core trigger unpredictable changes in its magnetic field…

VideoRay Adopts the Greensea System

Greensea, creator of OPENSEA, a universal marine industry operating platform, has been selected by VideoRay as the software provider for the new Mission Specialist ROV. Greensea provides navigation, advanced autopilots and automation for VideoRay’s powerful new customizable vehicles. With modular hardware and software, the Mission Specialist’s design maximizes efficiency and productivity by transforming to accommodate a wide selection of interchangeable ROV components.

ROV Tech File: Meet the Phantom T5 Defender

Homeland security, law enforcement, military and search and rescue organizations in every region of the United States recently attended demonstrations of the Deep Ocean Engineering Phantom T5 Defender underwater drone in various locations around the country. This specially-equipped remotely operated vehicle (ROV) was developed in collaboration with Greensea Systems, Tecnadyne, Tritech and Nortek, specifically…

A United Front in Ocean Observation

As the world’s oceans become increasingly exposed to rapidly growing pressures, long-term data sets are fundamental for monitoring these processes and understanding the complex and vast oceanic environment. In July 2016, the European Marine Board (EMB), a partnership of major national marine and oceanographic institutes in Europe, identified critical gaps within ocean observation and seafloor mapping capabilities.

A New Reef Biome Under the Amazon Plume

As extensive exploration of shallow and deepwater oil and gas plays along Brazil’s Equatorial Margin (EM) progresses, a large and unique reef system has been discovered among offshore exploration and production blocks. In a research article recently published in Science Advances, a group of researchers from Brazil and the U.S. described the unexpected discovery they made in offshore shallow waters off the mouth of the Amazon River in northern Brazil.

Partnership Aims to Accelerate US Offshore Wind Ambitions

The U.K.-based Carbon Trust and the U.S.-based offshore wind supply chain organization Business Network for Offshore Wind have entered an agreement which will see them collaborate to support the development of the offshore wind sector in North America. To underpin this commitment the organizations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which details activities that the Carbon Trust and the…

Krill Installs VFMMS on FRV Reuben Lasker

Krill Systems Inc., leader in advanced Vessel Fuel Measurement and Monitoring Systems (VFMMS), installated and conducted sea trial on-board the NOAA Ship Reuben Lasker. The NOAA Ship Reuben Lasker is the fifth in a series of Fishery Survey Vessels (FSV) and one of the most technologically advanced fisheries vessels in the world. Funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and built by Marinette Marine Corporation in Wisconsin…

Kongsberg's Acoustic Scientific Research for RSS Sir David Attenborough

Kongsberg Maritime has been awarded a contract by Cammell Laird as the primary supplier of the acoustic scientific research and mapping equipment for the British Antarctic Survey’s new Polar Research Vessel, the RRS Sir David Attenborough. The new polar research ship, owned by Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), is currently under construction at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead in the Port of Liverpool City Region, UK in a build project worth £140million ($178mln).

Sonar & the USCG

The USCG Plans to Widen its use of the subsea surveillance technology. The question is: is the investment warranted? The U.S. Coast Guard is planning to widely use sonar to support its maritime security and marine environmental protection missions. The agency currently has limited capability to detect objects below the water’s surface and relies on others (such as the U.S. Navy or the commercial sector) when such detection is needed. Sonar is an acronym for Sound Navigation and Ranging.

Aker Solutions Awarded Troll Extension

Aker Solutions wins a Statoil contract to deliver three subsea trees, tubing hangers & a tool package to the Troll field, Norwegian continental shelf. The extension, estimated contract value NOK 250 million, is a call-off from a contract signed with Statoil in February 2012. The spare tubing hangers will be utilized on several parts of the Troll field. The Troll field is the world's biggest subsea development with regards to the number of subsea wells.

Island Offshore Debuts Open Water Coil Tubing

Press release - Island Offshore recently made history when they successfully drilled a pilot hole for Centrica Energy by means of open water coil tubing. This technology has never been utilized in the offshore industry before and proves to be a safer and cheaper alternative to traditional drilling using a rig. MOU Island Constructor was given the assignment to drill a shallow gas pilot hole down to 360 meters below mud line at the BUTCH PL 405-field…

OI 2014 Technology Preview

This month the global subsea community gathers in London for Oceanology International 2014. MTR examines new technology set to debut. 2G Engineering offers a full range of electric subsea rotary and linear actuator systems. These units are unique in that they are fully self contained requiring nothing more than power and a digital or analog control signal to operate. 2G is excited to introduce two new products, it’s Mini Rotary Actuator with an output rotational force of 1000 ft. lbs.

EIVA Launches Dredging Software

This week sees the launch of the EIVA NaviSuite Uca software bundle, a plug and play solution for integration with the Trimble GCS900 Grade Control System for excavators. EIVA NaviSuite Uca is the result of collaboration between EIVA and Trimble, established to enable Trimble customers to choose EIVA software for use with the Trimble GCS900 Grade Control System for excavators. Using EIVA software with…

Bathymetric Solutions on Display at OI China

Teledyne Optech announced that Senior Scientist Dr. Viktor Feygels will present on performing lidar bathymetry in difficult water conditions with the Optech CZMIL Nova at the Oceanology International China (OI China) 2015 Conference and Exhibition, which takes place November 3-5 in Shanghai. The presentation, titled “Airborne Lidar Surveys in the China Region: Society Requests and Prospective Results”…

Aker Wins Statoil Subsea Trees Contract

Aker Solutions to supply Statoil with subsea trees & control modules for the Visund Field on the Norwegian continental shelf. The contract is for the supply of five subsea trees and eleven control modules, and is valued at aproximately NOK 300-million. Visund is an oil and gas field located 22 kilometres north-east of the Gullfaks field in the Tampen area of the Norwegian North Sea. The field came on stream in the spring of 1999.

GOM Mission for New Research Ship

Schmidt Ocean Institute's 'R/V Falkor' to advance studies of artificial reefs, red tides & uncharted regions of the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists with the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies (HRI) and the College of Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi will study the oceanography of the South Texas coast, including influences on the distribution of red tide while aboard the R/V Falkor later this month.

iXBlue Launches New GAPS USBL

iXBlue, a provider of navigation, positioning and mapping solutions, has launched the fourth-generation GAPS, which constitutes a significant enhancement to its USBL acoustic positioning product family. From its first generation introduced in 2004, GAPS has established an excellent record in a variety of critical applications and has won over users who value performance combined with high reliability. GAPS has increasingly provided the industry benchmark for USBLs.

Teledyne RD Instruments Extends DVL Line

Teledyne RD Instruments, a manufacturer of acoustic doppler products, announced the launch of two new doppler velocity Log (DVL) product lines to round-out the company’s expanding underwater navigation capabilities. Building on the company’s industry standard Workhorse Navigator and Explorer line of DVLs, the Pathfinder and Pioneer products represent the latest in its next generation technology. The Pathfinder DVL utilizes a piston head transducer…

iXBlue Announces RAMSES Launch at OI

iXBlue launched the next-generation medium-frequency RAMSES, a long synthetic baseline positioning system for ROV/AUV navigation, offshore oil and gas support, metrology and other demanding subsea applications. The system can be tightly coupled with iXBlue inertial navigation systems (INS) and delivers extreme precision and robustness in challenging acoustic operational environments. Available in MF…

Sercel Sells High-res Streamer System to AWI Research Institute

CGG announced that Sercel has sold one of its new Sentinel HR high-resolution solid streamers to the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), a German research foundation specializing in polar and marine research in the Arctic and Antarctic. AWI will use the Sentinel HR on research projects it is conducting to record critical data about the relationship between geological activity and ecosystems in order to gain a better understanding of the Earth’s system.