New Robot Can Sense Plankton Optically and Acoustically

A team of biological and physical oceanographers and engineers have modified a common physical oceanography instrument to be able to image zooplankton as it glides through the ocean.The robot, a first-of-its-kind sensing instrument dubbed Zooglider by Mark Ohman, a biological oceanographer at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, uses as its platform a Scripps-developed glider known as Spray.

Teledyne Gavia Introduces ASW Training Target Module

Autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) manufacturer Teledyne Gavia said it has recently delivered a Sonar Transponder Module (STM) for ASW training to an undisclosed military customer.The STM module made by Scanmatic AS of Norway and integrated into a Gavia payload module is capable of receiving and retransmitting sonar signals for training sonar operators. The STM consists of a flooded transducer compartment, an electronic compartment and a hydrophone that is towed behind the Gavia AUV.

ECA Group and iXblue Discussing Merger

French autonomous robotics companies ECA Group and iXblue have entered an exclusive negotiations period to bring the two French companies together and merge, and create "a European high-tech industrial champion in the fields of maritime, inertial navigation, space, and photonics.""Long-standing partners, ECA Group and iXblue benefit from strong technological and commercial synergies. Bringing those two companies together will create a world-class player in the civil and defense sectors.

New InmarsatSatellite Reaches Geostationary Orbit, Testing Begins

I-6 F1, Inmarsat's most sophisticated commercial communications satellite\, has reached geostationary orbit and begun on-orbit testing, Carrying both L-band and Ka-band payloads, I-6 F1 will deliver a further enhancement of Inmarsat’s ELERA and Global Xpress networks respectively.The satellite, the size of a London double-decker bus, with a solar array ‘wingspan’ larger than a Boeing 767, was launched by MHI in Japan in December 2021.

Virginia-Class Submarine Montana (SSN 794) Delivered to US Navy

America’s largest shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) on Friday delivered the newest Virginia-class fast-attack submarine to the U.S. Navy. Montana (SSN 794), which successfully completed sea trials last month, is the 10th Virginia-class submarine to be delivered by HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division and the 21st built as part of the teaming agreement with General Dynamics’ Electric Boat.“We continue to be proud of our partnership with the U.S.

A Seismic Shift

Despite oil prices recently edging past $80 a barrel, scars from two recent oil industry downturns in five years have forced offshore seismic surveyors to look at ways to diversify.Marine seismic survey companies provide essential data to offshore oil and gas explorers to make better-informed drilling decisions. However, with every oil industry downturn, seismic players are among the first to feel the pang…

GeoAcoustis Launches New Sub-Bottom Profiler and Software Integration Capabilities

Hydroacoustic sensor technology developer GeoAcoustics has launched the GeoPulse 2 Sub-Bottom Profiler, while also announcing the new integration between GeoPulse Compact and Geo-Suite seismic acquisition software.Designed for diverse applications including pipeline detection, geological surveys, dredging surveys, environmental assessments, and buried object detection, GeoPulse 2 is a highly versatile…

Shearwater and Mondaic Enter Strategic Alliance to Optimize Seismic Surveys

Marine seismic acquisition firm Shearwater Geoservices and Mondaic, a provider of proprietary software and services for high-resolution 3D imaging, have entered a strategic collaboration for development and use of full waveform inversion solutions to enhance high-resolution subsurface imaging and optimize seismic acquisition surveys.As part of the agreement, Shearwater has acquired exclusive and perpetual…

Europe Moves On as US Lets Science Slide

European governments are taking steps to break their dependence on critical scientific data the United States historically made freely available to the world, and are ramping up their own data collection systems to monitor climate change and weather extremes, according to Reuters interviews.The effort - which has not been previously reported - marks the most concrete response from the European Union and other European governments so far to the U.S.

Anduril to Build Extra Large AUVs for Royal Australian Navy

Defense technology company Anduril Industries has entered into commercial negotiations with the  Australian Defence Force for a US$100 million co-funded design, development, and manufacturing program for Extra Large Autonomous Undersea Vehicles (XL-AUVs) for the Royal Australian Navy.According to Anduril, the XL-AUV will be an affordable, autonomous, long-endurance, multi-mission capable AUV. "It is modular…

NEW PRODUCT: EIVA Debuts Entry-level Hydrographic Survey Software

EIVA’s new software variant NaviSuite Kuda Core provides advanced hydrographic survey software capabilities at an entry-level price. Tailored to support hydrographic surveys with a single USV or small survey vessel using multi-beam echosounder (including backscatter), LiDAR and/or camera, this software solution is  priced at €1,998 annually, designed to be simple to configure and run.In addition, it provides advanced hydrographic survey features from NaviSuite Kuda software…

TECH FILE: Acoustic Tech Used to Understand Climate Change in the Arctic

Major changes are occurring in the ocean. Climate change and subsequent melting sea ice are not necessarily good changes. Why are acoustic Doppler current profilers an invaluable tool to get a complete picture of the Arctic’s changing wave conditions in the context of climate change?In the Arctic, the end-of-summer sea ice extent in 2020 was the second-lowest in the last 42 years.“The ice used to melt out in June or July. Now it melts out in May. It used to come back in September or October.

Spanish Navy Ship Sent to Draw Up Maps Loses Its Way

A Spanish Navy ship tasked with updating nautical charts to make navigation safer got stranded on Thursday near the island of Ibiza in the Mediterranean, the Navy said.The vessel Malaspina was exploring an area of shallows to the west of the island and got stuck on one of them. Rescue teams have been sent to help remove the vessel from the ground, the Navy said in a statement."After an initial inspection... no structural damage can be seen," it said.

Portuguese Navy conducts Hydrography Training with EQS Falcon

Training exercises aboard a Portuguese Navy hydrographic vessel have been completed by EQS (Environment Quality Services) using their Saab Seaeye Falcon robot.Teams from the Portuguese Hydrographic Institute and EQS undertook several exercises over three days on board the Portuguese Navy vessel Andrómeda, commanded by First Lieutenant Ribeiro de Carvalho, off the coast of Portugal.The main objective…

Ocean Floor Geophysics Buys NCS Subsea and Its P-Cable System

Ocean Floor Geophysics, Inc (OFG) has completed its acquisition of NCS SubSea, which provides ultra-high-resolution 3D seismic data to the oil and gas and new energy markets via its P-Cable system.According to info on NCS SubSea's website, P-Cable is a compact, flexible offshore seismic data acquisition system combined with patented navigation and positioning support technology that provides "extremely…

NOAA Seeks Applicants for Hydrographic Services Advisory Panel Membership

NOAA announced it is seeking candidates for the Hydrographic Services Review Panel, a federal advisory committee that advises the NOAA administrator on the agency's hydrographic programs, products and technology. Applications must be received by April 28.Quality data is essential to NOAA maritime programs, whether it is developing innovative products for precision navigation, creating richer data streams for ocean observations…

Kongsberg Maritime to Deliver Tech & Equipment for Cadeler's Second WTFIV

Norwegian maritime technology and equipment specialist Kongsberg Maritime AS will provide technology and engineering for a second F-class wind turbine and foundation installation vessel (WTFIV) recently ordered by the Danish offshore wind installation firm Cadeler.This is the fourth Cadeler offshore installation vessel for which Kongsberg Maritime AS will supply its  technology. When completed, the…

Babcock Wins £45 Million Contract to Maintain UK Research Vessels

The U.K. has awarded Babcock International’s Rosyth shipyard a £45 million (approx. US$56.6 million) contract to maintain its fleet of three scientific research vessels.The initial three-year contract, announced by U.K. Industry and Maritime Minister Nusrat Ghani earlier this month, will see the large oceanographic and polar research vessels RRS Sir David Attenborough, RRS Discovery and RRS James Cook dock at Babcock’s state-of-the-art facilities in Rosyth…

Saipem's FlatFish Drone to be Deployed for Ultra-deepwater Inspection at Shell and Petrobras Fields in Brazil

Italian oilfield services and technology company Saipem will provide its FlatFish subsea drone for Shell's and Petrobras' ultra-deepwater projects in Brazil.Under the contract, Shell and Petrobras will use Saipem's FlatFish subsea drone in two pilot projects encompassing the inspection campaigns of two ultra-deepwater fields offshore Brazil.These two projects with Shell and Petrobras are pilots and fall within the framework of the research and development program of ANP…

US Navy Demonstrates New LARS for Large UUVs

A collaborative research and development effort led by a U.S. Navy team recently demonstrated a new launch and recovery concept for large unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs), with staff from the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport and HII, which is headquartered in Virginia.The demonstration, conducted at Division Newport’s Narragansett Bay Test Facility in October, showed both a land-based launch and recovery approach and a new solution for launching large UUVs from U.S.