Aker Solutions Develops Faster Offshore Well Workover System

Norwegian engineering company Aker Solutions has said it has developed a modified workover system that enables faster and more cost-effective planned interventions. The concept will first be applied on Equinor’s Visund field in the North Sea, offshore Norway.Workover systems enable well access for subsea installation and completion, diagnostics, maintenance, repairs, enhanced production and finally…

Polish Divers Hope Nazi Shipwreck Holds Key to Amber Room Treasure

Polish divers say they have found the wreck of a German World War Two ship which may help solve a decades-old mystery - the whereabouts of the Amber Room, an ornate chamber from a tsarist palace in Russia that was looted by the Nazis.Decorated with amber and gold, the Amber Room was part of the Catherine Palace near St Petersburg, but was last seen in Koenigsberg, then a Baltic port city in Germany…

UK’s Test XLUUV Demonstrates Obstacle Avoidance Capabilities

An extra-large, uncrewed, underwater vehicle (XLUUV) built and operated by Plymouth-based MSubs Ltd has recently demonstrated advanced underwater obstacle avoidance technology, as part of the first phase of the UK’s Defense and Security Accelerator’s (DASA) ‘Uncrewed Underwater Vehicle Testbed – Opportunity to Integrate’ competition, run jointly with the Royal Navy and the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).Vigilant…

SBG Systems Unveils New Line of Miniature Inertial Sensors

SBG Systems introduced the third generation of its line of miniature inertial sensors called the Ellipse Series. This renewed product line benefits from a 64bit architecture allowing high precision signal processing. All the INS/GNSS now embed a dual-frequency, quad constellations GNSS receiver for centimetric position and higher orientation accuracy.The Ellipse Series line is composed of four models: the Ellipse-A  is a motion sensor…

Winter Sea Ice in Bering Sea Reached Lowest Levels in Millennia

The Bering Sea ice cover during the winters of 2018 and 2019 hit new lows not seen in thousands of years, scientists reported on Wednesday, adding to concerns about the accelerating impact of climate change in the Arctic.Satellite data provides a clear picture of how sea ice has changed over the last four decades in the region between the Arctic and northern Pacific oceans. Beyond that, the only ice…

KIMM Cracks the Code for Underwater Radiated Noise Prediction

Researchers in South Korea at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) have reportedly developed a hull-attached sensor-based system for predicting underwater radiated noise (URN), a key factor in naval stealth operations.KIMM Develops First Hull-Attached Sensor System for Predicting Underwater Radiated NoiseNew algorithm predicts underwater noise in real timeBoosts naval stealth and operational…

Greensea Hires Keefer as Senior Robotics Engineer

Greensea, creator of OPENSEA, the open architecture robotics platform for the marine industry, has hired Andrew Keefer as Senior Robotics Engineer to advance navigation and autonomy technologies. He will be based in Greensea’s Plymouth, Mass. office where he will work in the OPENSEA Core Technologies group.Keefer comes to Greensea from Raytheon where he was Deputy of Undersea Machine Learning IRAD.

NOAA Orders Two REMUS 620 UUVs

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently ordered two REMUS 620 unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) from HII.The customized, medium-class UUVs will be built by HII’s Mission Technologies division in partnership with W.S. Darley & Co. and delivered in 2024. The vehicles will be customized with a synthetic aperture sonar module, additional energy modules and auxiliary equipment.NOAA…

NOAA helps ID prime Aquaculture Sites in GOM, off California

NOAA released two Atlases compiling the best available science to inform the identification of Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOAs) in the Gulf of Mexico and Southern California. NOAA previously identified these regions for their potential to host sustainable commercial aquaculture development in the United States. Areas in the Atlases will have characteristics expected to support multiple types of aquaculture industries including finfish…

Rear Admiral Hann Confirmed to NOAA Leadership Post

The U.S. Senate confirmed on Tuesday evening President Biden’s nomination of NOAA Rear Admiral Nancy Hann to lead the NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO) and NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps (NOAA Corps), one of the nation’s eight uniformed services.“From flying into hurricanes to crewing remote explorations to the deepest depths of the ocean, the NOAA Corps drives NOAA’s science forward,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo.

Seabed Surveys Start for Two 1GW Offshore Wind Farms in Scotland

Thistle Wind Partners (TWP) has launched seabed surveys for its two ScotWind projects – the 1GW Ayre Offshore Wind Farm and the 1GW Bowdun Offshore Wind Farm.The Ayre offshore wind farm is a floating wind project to the east of Orkney, while the Bowdun offshore wind farm is a fixed-foundation project off the coast of Aberdeenshire.TWP is a consortium of DEME Concessions (Wind) NV (42,5%), Qair Marine SAS (42…

Subsea Case Study: Acoustic Remote Sensing for Underwater Archaeology

The greatest archaeological treasures are not only hidden below the ground but many of them remain below water, on the  seabed and beneath. This is the case of the submerged city of Baia located in the Gulf of Pozzuoli in the western part of the Bay of Naples (Italy). It was a famous and fashionable resort city in Roman times, with luxury villas and baths with hot springs. Mostly of the city was submerged…

DARPA Funds Tech to better Detect Whales

Charles River Analytics won a $1.5 million follow-on contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a multi-sensor fusion module that incorporates deep learning to autonomously and accurately detect whales and other aquatic mammals.To protect marine mammals from collisions and sonar exposure, sailors must keep a vigilant lookout. Operators of remotely operated vehicles must also stay alert…

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…

BP Employs Deep Learning Tech for Seismic Data Interpretation

British oil major BP has signed an agreement with Bluware Corp, a digital innovation platform, to help it interpret large seismic data sets.Bluware, which describes itself as a platform that helps the oil and gas industry to accelerate digital transformation initiatives using deep learning, says its technology will help BP to improve quality and speed when delivering seismic interpretation products.“BP…

Floating Wind Project Gains Funding for Pilot

The U.K.’s Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has granted £10 million for the design and construction of a new floating wind turbine demonstrator off the coast of Scotland.The SENSE PelaStar project will feature SENSEWind’s turbine self-installation system, the PelaStar tension leg platform (TLP) floating foundation from Glosten and Subsea Micropile anchors. The SENSE concept…

AeroVironment and BlueHalo Complete Transaction

AeroVironment, Inc. announced the successful completion of the transaction between AeroVironment, Inc. and BlueHalo, LLC, advancing its position as a global defense technology leader with integrated capabilities across air, land, sea, space, and cyber. AV brings together proven systems and next-generation technologies to deliver integrated capabilities across every domain of modern warfare. Its systems include autonomous uncrewed systems…

Sonardyne Unveils New Products

Underwater technology provider Sonardyne International Ltd. has announced new additions to its 2020 product line-up.With a focus on compact yet capable unmanned and vessel instruments, Sonardyne has unveiled SPRINT-Nav Mini, a compact guidance and control solution in the market, as well as ADCP functionality for its Syrinx Doppler velocity log (DVL) and a smaller, lighter version of its popular Gyro USBL transceiver.SPRINT-Nav Mini provides guidance and control outputs – orientation…

ORCA Hub Readies Drones for Offshore Energy

A consortium of five universities, including Heriot-Watt University, working with 35 industrial and innovation partners, has unveiled the latest results from its research collaboration.The largest academic center in the world for research into robotics technology for offshore energy infrastructure, the ORCA Hub’s aim is to advance robotics and Artificial Intelligence technologies for the inspection…

DNV GL Recertifies Rutter’s Wave and Current Monitoring system

After extensive testing, the sigma S6 WaMoS II Wave and Surface Current Monitoring System was recertified by DNV GL in May of this year. The system was certified compliant with IEC 60945 Ed. 4 (2002-08) maritime navigation and IEC 62288 Ed. 2.0 (2014-07) radio-communication equipment and systems for Wave Monitoring Systems.The sigma S6 WaMoS II Wave and Surface Current Monitoring System provides real-time wave and surface current measurements using standard navigational radars as a sensor.