Subsea’s Future is Blowin’ in the Wind

Offshore wind is hot, with the potential to be a significant area of growth for the global maritime, subsea and energy markets for years to come. Eric Haun does a deep dive on eight companies leading the way.GE Renewable EnergyAs offshore wind projects across the globe look to incorporate the latest innovations in wind turbine technology to maximize efficiency and drive down costs, many manufacturers are producing larger turbines on advanced foundation designs for even greater water depths.

OceanGate Acquires Deep-Sea Submersible

Global Submersible Solutions Provider Acquires Additional Deep-Sea Submersible; Acquisition to Meet Growing Market Demands in Commercial and Research Sectors. OceanGate Inc., a global provider of deep-sea manned submersible solutions, announced today the acquisition of the three-person, diesel-electric submersible Lula from Portugal's Rebikoff-Niggeler Foundation. The submarine, which can operate at a depth of 500 meters (1…

GE Oil & Gas Win Petrobas FPSO Contract

GE Technology will be used on 4 new Floating Production, Storage & Offloading Units (FPSOs) for the Santos Basin (São Paulo State), in the Pre-Salt Fields. GE Oil & Gas wins the contract worth more than US$500-million to supply turbomachinery equipment and services to Petrobras, a world leader in deep-water oil production. The contract will serve the four new floating production, storage and offloading units (FPSOs P-74…

Nexus 2 USBL Available for Rent in the U.S.

Applied Acoustics’ new Nexus 2 USBL positioning system, launched at Oceanology in London earlier this year, is now available for rent in U.S. via the company’s American representatives Subsea Technologies Inc based in Katy, Texas. Nexus 2 is the latest and most sophisticated system in the range of subsea USBL systems that are designed and manufactured by the Great Yarmouth, U.K., based company. Incorporating advanced bidirectional spread spectrum acoustic protocols Nexus 2 achieves greater…

Subsea Contracts Galore for Ezra

Ezra Holdings announces multiple contracts, worth + US$160-million, for its subsea, offshore & energy services divisions. Ezra divisions, EMAS AMC, EMAS Marine and EMAS Energy have been awarded multiple contracts for projects in the North Sea and Asia Pacific. The average tenor for all contracts is approximately 2.6 years including options. EMAS AMC has been awarded several new contracts and options worth up to US$85 million in aggregate for several projects in the North Sea and Asia.

Fugro Goes Seep Hunting off Eastern Canada

A geophysical acquisition portion of a 2018 Carson Basin seep hunting program offshore eastern Canada recently completed by Fugro covered an area of 18,875 square kilometers in water depths from 300 to 3,300 meters in this frontier region offshore Newfoundland. From its deepwater survey vessel, Fugro Searcher, Fugro acquired multibeam echosounder data (bathymetry, backscatter intensity and water column)…

#Oi2020 History

In 1976, testing began by the Naval Electronics Laboratory Center of two fiber optic undersea tow cables. This was done to measure “changes in optical attenuation caused by cabling, tension, temperature and pressure,” according to the book Advances in Marine Technology, as published by the Marine Technology Society. The testing led to the six-fiber cable (as manufactured by ITT Electro-Products Division, as the caveat to commence the accuracy of using fiber optics in undersea tow cables.

Bay State Wind Revises Turbine Layout

Bay State Wind, an offshore wind joint venture between developer Ørsted and New England electric transmission company Eversource, announced a significant change to its proposed wind farm layout in response to feedback from fishermen and community members.The revised turbine layout pattern accommodates historical fishing patterns and helps to provide greater ease of fishing within, and transiting through…

HydroSurv, Sonardyne in 'Transformative' USV Tech Collab for Offshore Industry

Uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) specialist HydroSurv Unmanned Survey has teamed up with marine technology specialist Sonardyne to develop and demonstrate what the companies say will be transformative seabed-to-shore sensing and data acquisition technologies for offshore operations.The project is part-funded by Innovate UK. HydroSurv’s REAV-40 USV will be paired with intelligent seafloor and vessel-mounted instruments from Sonardyne.

#Oi2020 History

While today’s technologically advanced robotics systems continue to dominate the industry, the offshore petroleum industry, coupled with the scientific needs for manned subsea diving continue to move forward. Therefore, today’s modern atmospheric diving systems provide and enclosure for the operator at one atmospheric pressure—this is “regardless of depth, thereby eliminating the necessity for decompression,” according to the Oil & Gas Historical Society.

STR Upgrades to Sonardyne's Fusion 2

Subsea Technology and Rentals (STR), a multi-disciplinary technology expert specializing in the design, production, rental and sale of innovative marine survey equipment, has become the first company to invest in Sonardyne International Ltd.’s new Long BaseLine (LBL) and Inertial Navigation System (INS) software, Fusion 2. The announcement was made following Sonardyne’s launch event at OSEA 2018 in Singapore.STR will upgrade its existing 6G hardware to Sonardyne’s new 6 ‘plus’ variants…

MTR100: The Ones to Watch

Based in Aberdeen, Elaine Maslin is MTR’s ‘eyes & ears’ on the ground scouting new tech for our pages. Her mandate for the MTR100 was simple: ‘find five companies to watch closely in 2019.’ This is what she found.Forssea: Leveraging Machine Learning & AIMachine learning and artificial intelligence have made a huge impact on our day to day lives, from image recognition in Facebook to cars parking for themselves.

All IOOS Regional Networks Are Now NOAA-certified

NOAA announced it has certified the last of 11 Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) regional associations as Regional Information Coordination Entities. Data coming from all IOOS partners now adheres to common federal collection, storage and management standards, meaning it can be integrated with other data, and help make "big data" research and development possible.IOOS is a coordinated network of regional associations that compile and distribute data on America’s coastal waters…

MTR100: EvoLogics in Focus

In its September/October edition, Marine Technology Reporter presented its 16th Annual "MTR100", a focus on 100 leading people, companies and technologies in the subsea space. Featured here is EvoLogics GmbH.EvoLogics GmbH is a German-based high-tech enterprise, founded in 2000 by a group of scientists and R&D experts aimed to develop key technologies for the maritime and offshore industries through interdisciplinary cooperation between engineering and life sciences.

Long Range UUV to Feature Fuel Cell Power

Cellula Robotics Ltd. announced it will develop and build a long-range unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) incorporating a fuel cell power pack and suction anchor. The UUV, known as Solus-LR, will have a target range of 2,000 km and is designed to stay submerged for multi-month missions.Cellula said it is moving forward with the project after having received approval to proceed with phase 3 of a contract by Public Services and Procurement Canada…

Allseas' Subsea Mining Ship Project is Moving Forward

Swiss-based Allseas has awarded Dutch subsea technology company Seatools the contract for the delivery of the complete electrical, hydraulic and control system for Allseas’ deep-sea mining nodule collector.Driven by the green energy transition, the interest in high-grade seafloor polymetallic nodule deposits has risen in the past few years due to the depleting terrestrial deposits for metals such as copper, nickel, manganese and cobalt.

The APAC Offshore Market: Riding the Wave of Success into 2024 and Beyond

2023 was the first year of real recovery for owners in the offshore supply market and yet we have barely skimmed the surface of what’s to come.The market is still on an upward trajectory with charter rates accelerating month-by-month, availability changing day-by-day, leading to earnings doubling and, in some segments, tripling since the lows of 2020. Current rates will remind many of the glory days of pre-2014 with the demand for OSVs projected to remain elevated for years to come.In general…

New Research Vessel Ordered for Belgium

Spanish shipbuilder Freire is constructing a new oceanographic research vessel for Belgium. The IMO polar code compliant vessel will be designed to carry out research and survey tasks in the North Sea and its adjacent sea areas, but also in the Mediterranean and more northern areas.The research vessel will cater for the requirements of the Belgian marine scientific community when performing advanced marine research and education at sea – today and in the coming years.

Construction Starts on OSU's Research Ship

Construction of a new Oregon State University (OSU) bound research ship that will advance the science of coastal environments, and support research on topics such as ocean acidification, hypoxia, and sea level rise, officially began today at Gulf Island Shipyards in Louisiana.Officials from OSU the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Gulf Island Shipyards LLC gathered at the shipyard in Houma, La. for the keel-laying ceremony, marking the start of fabrication of the state-of-the art ship.

Ørsted Concludes Deepwater Wind Acquisition

Danish wind energy giant Orsted completed its previously announced takeover of Deepwater Wind from D.E. Shaw group in a deal valued at $510 million.The company closed the transaction of acquiring 100% of equity stake held by D.E. Shaw group in Deepwater Wind, which was announced in October this year, after securing approval from the US competition authorities.The new combined organization—Ørsted US…