VOS Sweet Named at Oranjewerf Shiprepair Amsterdam

Vroon Offshore Services (VOS) new Subsea Support Vessel was named at Oranjewerf Shiprepair Amsterdam, part of Damen Shipyards Group, on February 8th, 2013. The vessel called at Oranjewerf early January after a voyage from China to The Netherlands to undergo a series of modifications at the shipyard. The new vessel is named after a Rolling Stones song. Among the various modifications Oranjewerf executed are the installation of a 24 tonnes crane and a fully equipped workplace in the aft.

4Subsea Acquires Astori

Engineering firm 4Subsea said it has acquired Astori, a Norwegian provider of subsea control systems for well intervention operations.Astori delivers subsea control systems for simplified XT installations that can operate all types of XTs from all main vendors, simplifying and reducing costs of subsea well intervention. 4Subsea said the firm's automation and control technology will tie into its own…

Pioneering Spirit Gets a Scrub Down

The world's largest vessel, Pioneering Spirit, received a robotic hull cleaning during a recent port call in Rotterdam.The Allseas owned multipurpose vessel, which is on a temporary break from Nord Stream 2 pipelaying activities, made a stop in Rotterdam to prepare for upcoming topsides lift works at the giant Johan Sverdrup project offshore Norway. While in port, a robotic Fleet Cleaner vehicle cleaned the 382-meter-long vessel's hull despite stormy weather…

#Oi2020 History

By the beginning of the 1970s came new advances within subsea technology, specifically a higher level of appreciation of technologies such as acoustics and sensors. This also included manned submersibles, which at the time, “were believed to be the answer to deep underwater exploration, taking humans beyond safe diver depth,” according to the book Advances in Marine Technology, as published by the Marine Technology Society.

Royal IHC wins multiple contracts for Dredgers

In the last two months of 2016, IHC saw a substantial increase in the sale of its vessels, equipment and engineering packages. Almost half of the total order intake over 2016 was secured in this period. “We see market recovery in the dredging and renewables industry, and are positive that this will continue in 2017,” says IHC CEO Dave Vander Heyde. One of the highlights of the year end includes the sale of a trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) Easydredge 2700 from stock.

Ichthys Completes Subsea Installation

INPEX has announced the successful installation completion of the complex network of subsea infrastructure and equipment to safely and efficiently extract gas and condensate from the Ichthys Field for the Ichthys LNG Project. The final laying of 49 kilometres of umbilicals and flying leads yesterday, marked the last placement of an intricate subsea network, spread across a 400 square kilometre area  of the Ichthys Field, in the Browse Basin, about 220 kilometres offshore Western Australia.

Oceaneering to Relocate in Aberdeen

Oceaneering announced it will combine seven Aberdeen properties into one office location and a new, purpose-built workshop, in a move to streamline operations and drive cost efficiencies.The 50,000-square-foot office in Aberdeen International Business Park will provide a work environment for more than 300 office-based employees. The site will benefit from excellent transport connections and is within close proximity to the city’s new exhibition center…

ROBOATS: MIT's Shape-Shifting Autonomous Boats

New capabilities allow “roboats” to change configurations to form pop-up bridges, stages, and other structures.MIT’s fleet of robotic boats has been updated with new capabilities to “shapeshift,” by autonomously disconnecting and reassembling into a variety of configurations, to form floating structures in Amsterdam’s many canals.The autonomous boats — rectangular hulls equipped with sensors, thrusters…

New Autonomous Vehicle for Offshore Wind Surveys

A new autonomous sailing platform aims make the collection of offshore wind energy data easier, faster, cleaner and more cost efficient.The 16-foot wind- and solar-powered Datamaran, launched recently by Norwegian energy company Equinor and US technology firm Autonomous Marine Systems Inc. (AMS), carries a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging, a well-established technology used to record wind characteristics…

First Building Complete at HII's New Unmanned Systems Campus

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) said Monday it has completed the first phase of its Unmanned Systems Center of Excellence with the construction of a 22,000-square-foot facility.The first of two planned buildings on the 20-acre campus in Hampton, Va. will be used to assemble hull structures for Boeing’s Orca Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV) program for the U.S. Navy.“We are thrilled to reach this critical milestone with the development of our Center of Excellence campus…

GD Electric Boat Scores $1B for Submarine Modifications

General Dynamics Electric Boat, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), was awarded a $1.076 billion contract modification from the U.S. Navy to provide long-lead-time material and advanced construction for Virginia-class fast-attack submarines.Electric Boat is presently under contract for construction of submarines in Block V of the class. The $1,075,896,000 in advance procurement funds from…

TCarta Opens Canadian Affiliate Office

TCarta Marin announced the formation of TCarta Canada based in Ottawa, Ontario. Offering the complete line of TCarta satellite-derived bathymetry (SDB) services and Trident SDB Toolbox software, the affiliate office is a partnership between TCarta Marine and Prof. Anders Knudby, a well-known marine geospatial researcher and consultant in Canada.Simultaneously, TCarta Canada announced its first contract…

New ASV Delivered to the US Navy

San Francisco Bay Area based marine robotics company Marine Advanced Robotics said it has delivered a WAM-V 16 autonomous surface vehicle ASV to Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific to support multi-domain unmanned maritime system autonomy.According to Marine Advanced Robotics, the WAM-V technology is particularly suited for subsurface, surface and air sensor deployments in real world ocean…

Increasing Alkalinity Could Counter CO2 Acidity

One solution for mitigating increased CO2 levels is to accelerate and enhance the ocean's natural uptake of CO2 by increasing its alkalinity. Ocean alkalinity enhancement mimics the natural process of rock weathering by adding ground rock, or its dissolution products, directly to the seawater.So far, little is known about the effects of this method on marine life, but a study by the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel has now assessed the impacts of a moderate alkalinity application…

CGG Rebrands to Viridien

French seismic company CGG has changed its name to Viridien.At the Annual General Meeting on May 15, 2024, shareholders approved the resolution to change the company’s corporate name from CGG to Viridien. “Our new name, Viridien, connects our company’s history to our future, confidently positioning us for accelerated growth as an advanced technology, digital and earth data company,” said Sophie Zurquiyah…

Proserv, Intelligent Plant Ink Deal Aiming to Drive Digital Evolution

Proserv Controls signed a strategic alliance with software engineering firm Intelligent Plant, a deal aimed to deliver advanced control systems and data analysis to provide operators with digital solutions tailored to their needs and feedback. The announcement follows a broader industry trend toward leveraging true digitalization to help rationalize efficiencies in the offshore industry. Ultimately…

Kystdesign to Deliver Advanced ROV to Dutch NIOZ

Engineering firm Kystdesign has a contract with the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) for the construction of the advanced Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), the Supporter 6000.The Supporter 6000 will be delivered in June 2026 and will serve the entire Dutch marine research community.The ROV is designed for ultra-deepwater operations, capable of reaching depths of up to 6,000 meters.It…

Kawasaki Picks Sonardyne Tech for Its SPICE AUV

Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries has ordered from Sonardyne a suite of subsea navigation, positioning, and communications technologies to navigate, track and control its first commercial SPICE autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs).The SPICE  AUV, short for Subsea Precise Inspector with Close Eyes, features a submerged docking system and a unique robotic arm for non-destructive testing.It has been…

Solar-powered Autonomous Vessel Crosses the Atlantic

An uncrewed surface vessel (USV) is believed to be the first to cross the Atlantic Ocean using only solar power.The autonomous robotic boat—dubbed Mahi Two—left the coast of Spain in September 2021 and made landfall in Martinique, in the French Lesser Antilles, six months later, after more than 4,300 nautical miles at sea.Project Mahi started as many success stories do, in the founder’s garage. Pieter-Jan Note assembled six friends from a variety of engineering backgrounds.

Marin Port Authority Renews AtoN Buoys

Almarin has supplied six new buoys for Port Authority of Marín and Ría de Pontevedra as part of a program to improve the Aids to Navigation in this natural harbor. These six buoys mark the approaches to the Ria. Works concluded last week with the installation of ‘Punta Faxilda’ buoy that marks the northern entrance of the Ría de Pontevedra. The buoys supplied are from Almarin’s Guía range, equipped with highly durable foam elastomer hulls and robust galvanized structural steelwork.