Sea Technology News

Technology that could avoid the equivalent of 100 garbage bags of plastic waste being created per second received a funding boost at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday. The five winners of the "Circular Materials Challenge", which focuses on the 30 percent of plastic packaging that is too small or complex to be recycled and often ends up in the ocean, will share the $1 million prize to develop their solutions, said the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and innovation network NineSigma.

Scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) are setting out with the research vessel Polarstern towards Spitsbergen, to use newly developed equipment in the Arctic Ocean. Autonomous instruments on the seabed, in the water column and in the air will complement the long-term measurements of the deep-sea research group. In this way researchers can analyse the climatic changes in the Arctic and their impact on the fauna in the future with higher temporal and spatial resolution. For the first time the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) "Tramper" will be set on its own for a year on the Arctic seabed. "The newly developed device is to measure oxygen along the depth gradients on a weekly basis.

“Britannia rules the waves” paid a glowing tribute to the maritime past of the United Kingdom. Over the past three centuries as the sun began to set on the British power, resilient U.K. with its pioneering characteristics began its voyage of transformation to become a world-class maritime services center, with one of the largest clusters of marine insurance, ship finance, law, classification societies, ship broking, education and consultancy organizations. Significantly, two factors were responsible for this change. The first being marine transport, since it was the only point of access to the British Isles, and the second was the maritime trade and naval power that have had a great impact on the maritime sector influencing the country’s economy for several centuries.

Blue Ocean Monitoring (BOM) announced that it has entered a strategic business alliance agreement with Sea Technology Services (Pty) Ltd (STS). Under the alliance, BOM will initially base one of its Slocum Gliders in Cape Town to be deployed on regional ocean monitoring programs, with STS providing associated marketing and engineering support services. Additional gliders are available. Clients will have access to BOM’s web based glider data visualization platform. Demand for ocean…

Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg agreed to cooperate on deep sea technology for oil and gas exploration and maritime sector. Norway has been advanced on deep sea technology and Indonesia thinks it is beneficial to have cooperation in this sector because many of its oil reserve are located in deep sea," Indonesian Energy and Mines Minister Sudirman Said said. Most of Indonesia's oil and gas reserves are located in deep sea in the eastern part of the country. The minister said that Indonesia's state oil and gas firm PT Pertamina and Norway's state company State Oil would cooperate in implementing the plan.

The US Department of Defense inform that five firms are to share in a broad range of ocean engineering services contracts with a combined maximum dollar value of US$99-million. DoD explains that the work to be performed provides for ocean engineering services in support of projects involving ocean cable systems, ocean work systems (such as shipboard load handling systems and undersea work systems), waterfront facilities, offshore structures, moorings, and ocean construction equipment. The maximum dollar value including the base period and three option periods for all five contracts combined is $99,000,000. The work will be performed in environments ranging from arctic to tropic…

Heeding the call to join “An Ocean in Common,” authors flooded the Oceans ‘13 MTS/IEEE San Diego technical program committee with a record number of abstracts in a single day. Special topics include an Ultra-deep track discussing current and prospective robotic technologies, plus a panel of scientists to consider research questions. Oceans2013 Chair Bob Wernli, and Co-Chair Kevin Hardy, developer of the unmanned landers for James Cameron’s DeepSea Challenge Expedition, will be the session conveners. “James’ intention is to be certain the door remains open to other explorers,” Hardy said.

BAE Systems joined with Mid Ocean Tanker Company (MOTC), Mid Ocean Marine and Alterna Captial Partners earlier this year to commission the American Phoenix, a U.S. Flag/Jones Act-qualified product-chemical tanker. Measuring 616 x 105 ft. with a laden draft of 36 ft. and a cargo capacity of 49,000 dwt, American Phoenix is the largest vessel ever built and launched in the State of Alabama. BAE Systems was contracted to complete construction of the American Phoenix and prepare it for use. The vessel is owned by MOTC, a joint venture between Mid Ocean Marine and private equity firm Alterna Capital Partners. The vessel will conduct trade initially in the Gulf of Mexico.

Sub-sea technology company, OceanWorks International, establishes OceanWorks Aykor as Its Turkey subsidiary. OceanWorks Aykor is a joint stock company established in Turkey by two organizations, OceanWorks International Corporation, and Aykor A.S. who has been OceanWorks International’s representative in Turkey since 1998 and a provider of complex systems to international military customers. OceanWorks Aykor will focus on the design and manufacture of technologies, systems and products for Subsea and Marine Engineering applications. These applications are to include ship systems related to submarine rescue ,diving systems including hyperbaric chambers and related systems, as well as custom designed and built solutions to meet customer requirements.

The first pressure-tolerant ROV successfully tested in the deep Atlantic. In early May 2012, a new pressure-tolerant ROV named Erno2, designed by Enitech GmbH (Rostock, Germany), was successfully tested within the framework of the “Pressure-tolerant deep-sea systems” project of Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi). Driven by electric thrusters, the light vehicle easily manoeuvred above the seabed, streaming live video from over 4000 m deep with its 3 video cameras and LED lights. The actual robot was attached to its tether management system (TMS) during the two-hour descent into the deep. It left the TMS 20 m above the seafloor and continued its journey being remotely controlled.

The National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) awarded Chiles Offshore the 2002 Safety in Seas Award, recognizing their outstanding contribution to the improvement of safe operating procedures in the offshore industries. Selected by a blue ribbon panel of judges composed of representatives from the US Coast Guard, the Minerals Management Service and the National Academy of Sciences Marine Sciences Board, Chiles Offshore was recognized for their complete, rig- specific orientation, and the CrewMaster(TM) rig-based progressive training program. CrewMaster(TM) is part of Chiles Offshore's comprehensive professional development program, known as SkillMaster(TM).

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the largest independent institution of its kind in the world, recently began developing a new piston corer for retrieving sediments from the ocean floor. Once complete in 2006, the deep-water coring system will be the largest in the U.S. and among the biggest in the world. The corer’s enormous weight — 25,000 pounds — coupled with the environmental demands associated with working in water up to 20,000 ft. deep presented major technical challenges to the system required to lower the corer to the sea floor then recover it, along with its ancient sediment samples. Located in Cape Cod, Mass.…

The QinetiQ Platform Support Services Group is to fit ORPHEUS, a new navigational safety tool, to a Royal Navy frigate. ORPHEUS will be installed on HMS Northumberland in August for year-long trials after demonstrations onboard a sistership, HMS Marlborough, proved a veritable success. QinetiQ will then install the system to two more Type 23 frigates, HMS Somerset and Montrose, later in the year. ORPHEUS, an acronym for Onboard Risk Performance Hazard Evaluation System, is a dedicated and flexible operator guidance system that provides clear and concise information on how a ship will perform in a variety of heavy weather scenarios. Taking thee years to develop, it displays measured motions, predictions of motions at alternative speeds, and heading combinations alongside operating limits.

Sound & Sea Technology Inc. won a five-year military contract worth up to $29.5 million to provide ocean engineering services for U.S. naval facilities around the world, according to a recent HeraldNet report. The company will lead a team that includes 11 subcontractors in a range of projects for the Navy, including assisting with undersea cable installation, offshore structure and buoy work, and improving harbor and port security. The contract's first year gives Sound & Sea and its contractors more than $5.7 million. The Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center, based in Port Heuneme, Calif., has the option of renewing the contract for the following four years, through 2010. Source: HeraldNet

Lloyd's Register has been contracted by the U.K. operation of multi-hull vessels including trimarans. carried out by the UK MoD and the US DoD on RV Triton, the QinetiQ-owned research vessel. Future Surface Combatant or the US Focused-Mission Ship is key to achieving the benefits that multi-hull warships offer. element models, is one of the major challenges facing ship designers. empirical formulae, designers can obtain a robust design in a much shorter timeframe. designs, with confidence that the general design is sound. and in service front line naval vessels for maintenance in Lloyd's Register class. public domain technical standards offers similar lower risks for other projects.

Winners of the Lloyd’s List-SMM 2002 Awards for innovation in shipbuilding and marine technology were announced in the Hamburg Congress Centre last night (September 24) at a gala ceremony which brought day one of the world’s biggest maritime fair to a glittering conclusion. Several hundred leading industry figures gathered for the final stage of an initiative launched in March by Lloyd’s List and SMM organisers Hamburg Messe to recognise the technical advances which enable maritime commerce and defence. With 13 awards in three merchant and naval categories, the inaugural scheme attracted a massive wave of nominations for ships and support systems reflecting the cutting edge of ingenuity in improving performance, reducing costs and protecting the environment.

Dubbed "the most important three days for Underwater Contracting," Underwater Intervention is slated to convene from February 10-12 in New Orleans at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. With a full and diverse technical program and an impressive roster of exhibitors from around the globe, UI '03 seems to be on track to fulfil this claim. New Orleans is historically a favorite venue for Underwater Intervention, and in fact the exhibition is scheduled to be held in New Orleans through 2010. The spacious Convention Center provides enough floor space for over 250 exhibit booths. For the 10th consecutive year Underwater Intervention is co-sponsored by the ROV Committee of the Marine Technology Society and the Association of Diving Contractors International, Inc.

As a response to the marine market's demand for higher power concentrations and increased plant reliability, deliverable at competitive cost, the new offering from Rolls-Royce is stimulating fresh interest within a conservative shipping industry in gas turbine-based solutions. Building on the company's huge investments in aero engine technology over the past decade, the MT30 gas turbine has been specifically prepared for shipboard applications, combining power density and operating attributes in a manner intended to widen the appeal of gas turbine power among the maritime community. With 36-MW obtainable from a compact unit of barely 9-m (30-ft) in length…

Lloyd’s Register has won a contract to provide classification services for the first six of the UK Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer, all to be built under survey in accordance with Lloyd’s Register’s Rules and Regulations for the Classification of Naval Ships. The contract was signed on July 2, 2003 at the prime contractor BAE Systems’ office in Filton, Bristol, UK by Martin Robinson, Head of Procurement, Combat Systems, for BAE Systems and Dave Philip, Lloyd’s Register’s Type 45 Project Manager. The vessels will be built in sections at the BAE Systems yard on Clydeside and at the new Vosper Thornycroft facilities at Portsmouth, with final assembly and launch to take place at the BAE Systems Scotstoun yard.

295-ft. (89.9-m) Mast to support 2,900 sq. Halmatic is manufacturing a 295-ft. (90-m) mast that will be fitted on the world's biggest sloop, currently under construction by its parent Vosper Thornycroft Shipbuilding, part of the VT Group. Mirabella V will be around 246 ft. (75 m) long and its mast will support some 2,900 sq. m. of sail. Halmatic will use its long-standing expertise in composite manufacture to produce the hollow carbon epoxy mast, which will have a maximum cross section of 1.5 m and structural thickness of up to 32 mm. The mast is manufactured in halves, with one comprising a complete length and the other divided into three sections. Framework for the mold will be made from MDF cut on VT's advanced laser cutting and profiling machine.

Norsk Hydro ASA contracted Stolt Offshore to perform AUV seabed charting in the Storegga slide August/September 2002. NUI AS with the AUV NUI Explorer was subcontracted by Stolt Offshore to perform the AUV services. Pushing the exploration and production of oil and gas into ultra-deep water is facing a significant challenge of installing subsea production equipment and transport pipelines in rough and complex seabed terrain. The pipeline systems to bring the oil and gas ashore often have to cross steep escarpments leading to shallower continental shelves. As a result detailed knowledge about seabed conditions becomes a key factor affecting the engineering and construction activities. Identification of the most optimal site and pipeline route means significant lower construction cost.