BMT to Showcase at Oceanology International

BMT Group Ltd (BMT)  will showcase its portfolio of offshore support products and services on Stand R400 at the Oceanology International conference taking place in London’s ExCeL this month. BMT provides fully integrated services in monitoring, understanding and managing the risks associated with working in the offshore environment. Visitors will have the opportunity to engage with BMT’s technical experts and discuss the specific challenges they face.

Drones: The Next Great Leap in Hydrography

Hydrographic charting is becoming more important outside the world of shipboard navigation as both industry and conservation have gone offshore to meet the increasing demands of a growing global population. By 2020, the subsea sector of oil exploration and extraction is expected to account for 20% of total crude oil production. In addition, global marine fisheries, which provide 15% of all animal protein consumed by humans, have been steadily collapsing for the last half century.

Dutch Government Picks Panther from Bluestream

For wreck removal, security and waterway maintenance, the Dutch Government chose the Saab Seaeye Panther XT Plus ROV. This followed a year-long evaluation of ROV manufacturers using European Union tendering rules. Subsea operator Bluestream, drove the bid and have gone on to boost their existing fleet to 16 Saab Seaeye vehicles with the purchase of their own two Panther XT Plus, along with three additional Tigers, in an ROV investment plan for 2014 worth over £4million.

Robot School Opens, Addresses Environmental Challenges

The National Oceanography Center (NOC) is a partner in a new $3.8m Center for Doctoral Training in the use of 'robotic' systems for environmental sciences. The NOC component of the center will focus on innovative marine robotics and sensors, which can be used to address key scientific challenges such as; climate change, deep-sea exploration, and identification of biodiversity ‘hotspots’. The fleet…

X (Prize) Marks the Spot

Nonprofit organization XPRIZE creates and manages large-scale, high-profile competitions that aim to stimulate research and development solutions to grand problems across a number of scientific fields. The group has previously held competitions targeting advances in personalized medicine, automotive fuel efficiency, oil cleanup and privatized space exploration, to name a few. For its latest competition…

Interview: Global Diving & Salvage CEO Devon Grennan

Devon Grennan was named CEO of Global Diving & Salvage in November 2013 after company founders Tim Beaver and John Graham stepped down from direct operational involvement. MTR caught up with Grennan for his insights on the business of Diving and Salvage. Your title is new, your tenure is not. How is your company the same as it was in 1995? We still focus on making sure that our customers receive the best service, regardless of the services they need.

OFG Expands AUV Capability

OFG has invested in a 3000m-rated Hugin Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), Chercheur, equipped with a sensor and software suite for efficient inspection of pipelines and infrastructure, pipeline route studies, site geohazard surveys, environmental monitoring surveys, and other seafloor-based applications such as UXO, archeology, salvage, and minerals exploration. Chercheur is equipped with high resolution interferometric synthetic aperture sonar (HiSAS)…

Optech Debuts Turbid Water Module for CZMIL

Optech, a developer, manufacturer and support provider of high-accuracy lidar 3D survey systems and productivity-enhancing workflow software, announced the release of the HydroFusion Turbid Water Module, a powerful new tool that enables the Optech CZMIL Coastal Zone Mapping and Imaging Lidar (CZMIL) to collect bathymetry data in water conditions that were previously impossible to capture. Based on Optech’s extensive experience in lidar bathymetry waveform analysis…

iXBlue’s OCTANS NANO Hits the Market

Provider of navigation, positioning and mapping solutions iXBlue launched OCTANS NANO, a compact FOG-based (fiber optic gyroscope) gyrocompass and attitude sensor system for subsea use. OCTANS NANO fills a clear gap in the market, the manufacturer said, because it is a compact high-performance product, optimized for lower total cost of ownership and ease of export (no ITAR components). It addresses…

New Scanning Sonar for Tetis ROVs

EofE Ultrasonics, Korea, reports it has delivered 10 sets of scanning sonar Echologger MRS900 to Tetis Group. The 2,000m rated ultra-compact scanning sonar will be installed on Tetis' ROVs. Commenting in the delivery, EofE ultrasonics said, "We are delighted that Tetis decided to have Echologger scanning sonar for their ROVs after intensive testings and comparisons. It demonstrates that performance…

Kongsberg’s New Approach to Subsea Monitoring

Leak detection and environmental monitoring within the offshore renewables and oil and gas sectors are a key focus for Kongsberg Maritime at Oceanology International 2014, with the world launch of a sophisticated new approach to subsea monitoring. The Modular Subsea Monitoring-Network (MSM) is a flexible solution deployable on projects of all types and scale and is designed to offer continuous monitoring…

PGS to Reveal Triton Success at AAPG

The new PGS MultiClient Full Azimuth (FAZ) GeoStreamer survey represents the next advance in tailored acquisition design and state-of-the-art depth imaging. Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) will share more information about the success of its Triton Full Azimuth (FAZ) GeoStreamer survey at this year’s AAPG in Houston. PGS said Triton is the first ever MultiClient survey to use the unique PGS Orion configuration…

Topaz Revenue up 22%

Topaz Energy and Marine, a offshore support vessel company, announced the results of its subsidiary Nico Middle East Ltd. for the 12 months ended December 31, 2013. The period has seen continued strong and profitable growth across the group’s activities with revenues up 22% and EBITDA up 17%. This growth is primarily attributable to the additional vessels that have joined the fleet and the improved utilization (94.5%) it achieved across its core fleet.

Editorial: One More Year Down

I’m not sure if it is a function of getting older, getting busier, or a combination of both, but the year 2014 to me is nothing but a blur. Despite the year-end plummet in oil prices that threatens to throw the offshore energy business into a tailspin, this has been by far the busiest and most productive year in my 20+ year publishing career, and while a drop in energy production may cause a lull in business surrounding the discovery and recovery of assets offshore…

Helping to Secure Ghana's Power Supply

UK-based maritime engineering consultants HR Wallingford are supporting Quantum Power’s development of an offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) import and regasification facility at Tema, Ghana. The facility will include a floating storage and regasification unit with transfer from conventional LNG carriers. HR Wallingford is carrying out an advanced feasibility study, which includes metocean, ship mooring and operational assessments, incorporating fully dynamic mooring analysis.

Total Awards iSURVEY Positioning Contract

iSURVEY, a provider of survey and positioning services to the global oil and gas, offshore renewables and telecommunications markets, said it has secured a framework contract with Total E&P UK Limited for the provision of rig move navigation and positioning services. Effective October 12, 2015, the three-year framework contract will give the iSURVEY team the opportunity to provide platform, rig and vessel-based positioning services to Total’s offshore operations in the UKCS.

OceanLED Sells Subsidiary, Restructures

For the past four years, the directors of OceanLED Limited, a U.K.-based manufacturing facility, have been developing two distinct business divisions, the marine underwater lighting business, OceanLED, and a separate commercial non-marine lighting division, trading as Lietcorp. The reality of building these two businesses has been significant management distraction and financial stress, the company said.

Contrapel's Above the Water-Line Propeller System

Marine propulsion research & development company, Contrapel Ltd has released details of its new propulsion system for boats – the system set to make future boats more economical, manoeuvrable, safer, stronger and better for the environment. The high-speed propeller was invented over 170 years ago and has dominated the propulsion market ever since. Despite 60 years of development, water-jets have struggled to make significant inroads.

MWCC Completes GoM Shore Base Locations

Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) today announced the completion of two new shore base locations to house its well containment equipment available for use in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. In addition, this year marks the three-year anniversary of MWCC’s Interim Containment System (ICS) becoming available for use in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. To date, more than 150 permits have been approved citing MWCC’s system.

Royal IHC sells TSHD Easydredge

Royal IHC announced the sale of an Easydredge 3700, the largest vessel in the Easydredge series of standard twin-screw trailing suction hopper dredgers (TSHD), which are designed and built by IHC. This innovative and flexible Easydredge concept can be tailor-made to suit requirements, without compromising on delivery times or price. Available from stock, they are fit for all common maintenance and land reclamation jobs and offer customers maximum cost efficiency and affordability…