Sonic News

The wreck of a World War II-era freighter has been discovered in over 600 feet of water around 35 miles north of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula.Over the last 7 years, shipwreck researcher Dan Fountain has been studying remote sensing data in the search for shipwrecks in Lake Superior. After coming across a particularly deep anomaly, he reached out to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS) for help in identifying the potential wreck. In 2023 GLSHS Director of Marine Operations…

Norway/Uruguay-based Pesquera Azul’s has successfully trialed an innovative catch protection cage in whale-rich waters in the southern Indian Ocean. The company says it is a potential game-changer for the longline fishing industry as it grapples with the challenge of whale depredation.The steady increase in the whale population in sub-Antarctic fishing grounds is hampering the longline fishing industry, especially for fatty fish species. Whales have learned to snatch, for example…

The GEF-UNDP-IMO Glofouling partnership (2017) is a global initiative to counter the environmental issue of invasive aquatic species (IAS) and the resulting harmful ecological and financial damage that can occur when such invasion events are introduced through the medium of biofouling on ships hulls and other marine structures such as those found in the oil and gas industries.One of the key objectives of the Glofouling project is to develop a Global Knowledge Hub and also identify…

TGS and Quantico Energy Solutions announced a technology collaboration to leverage their respective offerings in seismic data, AI-based well logs, and artificial intelligence (AI)-based seismic inversion.TGS is a provider of multi-client geoscience and engineering data for exploration & production (E&P) companies. Quantico is a AI company focused on subsurface solutions for E&P companies.The joint solution addresses the critical challenges in earth modeling workflows; specifically, insufficient seismic and log data, lengthy time until results, and difficulties mapping advanced geomechanical and petrophysical attributes.TGS will leverage its industry leading data library of seismic and well log data in the key regions of oil and gas activity across the world.

The international accredited registrar and classification society DNV GL calls on industry stakeholders to jointly develop acceptance criteria for LIDAR-measured Turbulence Intensity (TI).The world’s largest resource of independent energy experts said in a press note that it is "calling on wind energy stakeholders to join a new Joint Industry Project (JIP) to explore the potential of using light detection and ranging (LIDAR) to measure wind speed TI for various applications in the wind industry."According to the Norway-headquartered organization, measuring meteorological conditions such as wind speed and TI is essential for assessing and verifying the feasibility of new wind energy projects.

Have you ever had problems talking to someone in a noisy environment such as a busy restaurant? The same happens to marine animals, which use sound to sense and interact with their environment: for communication, navigation, finding prey and even for self-defence. High ambient noise levels, which include a contribution from shipping, have an adverse impact on marine life. The world’s oceans are becoming increasingly noisy. While the size of the global commercial fleet more than doubled since the 1960s, anthropogenic noise in the oceans has actually increased eightfold.

Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in a century, churned across northern Caribbean islands on Wednesday with a potentially catastrophic mix of fierce winds, surf and rain, en route to a possible Florida landfall at the weekend. Irma is expected to become the second powerful storm to thrash the U.S. mainland in as many weeks but its precise trajectory remained uncertain. Hurricane Harvey killed more than 60 people and caused damaged estimated as high as $180 billion when it hit Texas late last month. The eye of Irma, a Category 5 storm packing winds of 185 miles per hour (295 km per hour), moved away from the island of Barbuda and toward the island of St. Martin, east of Puerto Rico, early on Wednesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami reported.

As underwater radiated noise levels in the oceans increases, MARIN has investigated just how much cavitating propellers are to blame. Traditionally, underwater radiated noise is mainly of interest for naval vessels and fishery research ships. Nowadays, however, there is a growing concern that marine life is affected by the rise in background noise levels in the oceans. Marine mammals and fish use sound to communicate and to sense their environment and this requires low background noise levels. The rise in noise levels is being caused by an increase in shipping, among other factors.

Royal IHC and Tompkins UK Limited are strengthening their strategic cooperation with IHC’s acquisition of a majority stake in Tompkins, the parent company of Modus Seabed Intervention and a partner in the TI Geosciences joint venture (that IHC and Tompkins created in 2015). Modus is a specialist provider of remote and autonomous technologies for subsea and seabed intervention. It has industry-leading capabilities in remotely operated vehicle (ROV) services and currently deploys a fleet of work class ROVs and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) in construction and drill support, as well as survey and inspection activities. With its fleet of trenching ROVs and systems, Modus also offers seabed intervention solutions in cable and pipeline trenching, and seabed earthmoving, among others.

Royal IHC (IHC) has joined forces with Tompkins UK to enter the deep and ultra-deep water, oil and gas geotechnical survey and site investigation market under the banner of TI Geosciences. TI Geosciences will initially provide cone penetration test (CPT)/gravity coring services. These will be based on Tompkins’ deep-push, buoyancy stabilized, deep-water CPT system – equipped with AP van den Berg’s digital pressure compensated Icone – deployed from a Swire Pacific Offshore G-class platform supply vessel.

As the search for oil and gas reserves continues, exploration and production activities are occurring in increasingly harsh environments and drilling is going deeper than ever before. An experienced petroleum engineer is set to explain exactly how far this could extend – namely to Mars - at a Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Aberdeen presentation and dinner meeting this month. Professor Alfred William Eustes III, a petroleum engineering and drilling specialist, will talk at the SPE Aberdeen monthly dinner and networking meeting on May 28.

A newly developed propeller optimizer makes it much faster to identify propeller-hull reactions and reach design decisions. In the EU project STREAMLINE the fuel efficiency of a chemical tanker was improved by optimizing the hull form and propeller. To this end, MARIN used its hull optimization program PARNASSOS EXPLORER and a newly developed propeller optimizer. The hull form itself was optimized for low resistance and for having a wake field as rotationally symmetric as possible, while simultaneously maintaining the displacement and sufficient space for the engine room.

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.

All the navigation and communication equipment for the first two vessels in the Tidal Transit fleet - ‘Ginny Louise' and ‘Eden Rose' - was supplied and installed by Mantsbrite, and the specification for ‘Tia Elizabeth' remains unchanged with the exception of the addition of a seabed monitoring system and the use of new ultra sonic wind sensors. As for the previous Tidal Transit contracts, Mantsbrite will assemble and test all the equipment in its workshops at Maldon in Essex.

Lockheed Martin Canada, a major supplier of systems, software and professional services to the Royal Canadian Navy, will be in Saint John, Halifax and St. John’s this week to meet with companies that could become partners and suppliers on shipbuilding projects, including the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships and other future programs. In each location, Lockheed Martin officials will provide a briefing on how companies can prepare and position themselves for shipbuilding work through major contractors and then will conduct a series of one-on-one meetings to learn about the capabilities of many New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador based companies.

Harold Eugene ‘Doc’ Edgerton was born in Fremont, Nebraska, on April 6, 1903. He was one of three children born to Frank and Mary Edgerton, and from an early age Edgerton like to see what made things tick, spending hours taking things apart and putting them back together. He first became interested in photography through his uncle who was a studio photographer, and his uncle would spend time with the young Edgerton showing him the ins and outs of photography including developing and printing the pictures they took.

In the years that I have been authoring this column, I have seen and commented on numerous developments of interest. None have been as unexpected, though, as the below document which inadvertently came to my attention. Rumors have swirled recently of unrest in the Arctic, but few suspected that it had reached this level. I submit the document unedited for the careful consideration of my long-suffering readers. Those of you fellow Arctic animals who have been paying attention could…

The recent incident involving the MV Enrica Lexie off the coast of India highlights the increasing carriage on merchant vessels of armed security guards (whether military personnel or private contractors) to ward off attacks by pirates and robbers. I will not speculate as to what may have occurred on board the tanker or on the fishing vessel where two individuals unfortunately lost their lives. Suffice it to say that this is a tragic incident for all involved. The International…

With the opening of its 24th factory, the first in South America, Hempel will be better placed to serve the rapidly growing South American market. The new plant will mean shorter lead times for customers and will enable Hempel to develop and customize products to meet local environmental legislation and standards. The new plant, located north of the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires, will manufacture paint for the Marine and Protective Coatings segments and will supply the entire South American market. The 3,000 sq. m. facility is part of the ‘One Hempel – One Ambition’ growth strategy, and is one of three new plants scheduled to open around the world in 2012 and 2013.

UMass Amherst Ecologists among the First to Record and Study Deep-sea Fish Noises. University of Massachusetts Amherst fish biologists have published one of the first studies of deep-sea fish sounds in more than 50 years, collected from the sea floor about 2,237 feet (682 meters) below the North Atlantic. With recording technology now more affordable, Rodney Rountree, Francis Juanes and colleagues are exploring the idea that many fish make sounds to communicate with each other, especially those that live in the perpetual dark of the deep ocean.

On September 20, 2011, SeaHunter Boats, a South Florida yacht builder, hoisted a new, standard production, 35 foot boat, twenty feet into the air and dropped it on a concrete yard at Plantation Boat Mart in Islamorada, Florida. The impact registered 100 g’s at the transom. The result was a thunderous sonic boom when the quarter million dollar vessel first hit the pavement. The kinetic energy, caused by the nearly four ton vessel falling towards earth, caused it to bounce off the hard pavement not once, but three times after the initial impact.

Calecore’s Geophysical Site Investigation Division CALESURVEY completes 5 month Greenlandic Cruise. Kommandor Stuart, Calesurvey’s multi-role Site Investigation Survey Vessel, is now back in the North Sea after successfully completing an extensive programme of works offshore Greenland for Cairn Energy. The vessel mobilised in March in Calecore’s home port of Sunderland and has successfully completed a series of Geohazard, Bathymetric, Geochemical and Environmental Surveys. Operations…

Stéphane Beemelmans, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Defence, is to open the second MS&D, international conference and exhibition on maritime security and defence hamburg, in Hall A4 of the Hamburg Fair at 9:00 am on Wednesday 15 June. Other speakers at the Opening of this three-day international conference are Senator Michael Neumann, Hamburg Minister of the Interior and Sport; Bernd Aufderheide, President and CEO Hamburg Messe und Congress, who will give a welcoming address; and Vice Admiral Axel Schimpf, Chief of Staff of the German Navy, who will give a keynote speech. The conference starts with introductory remarks by Vice Admiral (rtd) Lutz Feldt, Chairman of the Conference, which is split into two sections – a Security Panel and a Defence Panel.