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Lower Chesapeake Bay News

16 Dec 2016

Video: US Navy Tests Autonomous Swarmboats

An unmanned rigid-hull inflatable boat operates autonomously during an Office of Naval Research (ONR)-sponsored demonstration of swarmboat technology held at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story. During the demonstration four boats, using an ONR-sponsored system called CARACaS (Control Architecture for Robotic Agent Command Sensing), operated autonomously during various scenarios designed to identify, trail or track a target of interest. (U.S. Navy photo by John F. Williams)

The U.S. Navy is examining new possibilities for autonomy in future naval missions, putting autonomous unmanned vessels to the test in a recent demonstration in the lower Chesapeake Bay. Officials from the Office of Naval Research (ONR), together with partners from industry, academia and other government organizations, leveraged a combination of high-tech software, radar and other sensors to get a “swarm” of rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIBs) and other small vessels – “swarmboats” – to collectively perform autonomous patrol missions with only remote human supervision.

13 Aug 2014

Woods Hole Group Clinches Multi-Year O&M Contract

Woods Hole Group will be working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services for the operation and maintenance of Physical Oceanographic Real Time System along the East Coast of the USA, and along the Gulf of Mexico coast in Texas and Louisiana. NOAA PORTS® is a network of sensors in ports and harbors providing access to information improving maritime commerce and safety. * Houston-Galveston, TX (http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/ports/index.html?port=hg) Woods Hole Group also was awarded the five year Operation and Maintenance Contract to support four NOAA National Water Level Observation Network (NWLON) stations in Texas.

16 Apr 2014

Collision, Grounding and Anchor Draggings in Chesapeake Bay

The U.S. Coast Guard is working with local response agencies and the Virginia and Maryland Pilots Tuesday after receiving a report of a collision between two ships in the Thimble Shoal Channel and are responding to several subsequent reports of ships dragging anchor in the lower Chesapeake Bay. The 79-foot rig vessel, Petite, and the 1065-foot container ship, MSC Charleston, reportedly collided due to weather in the main ship channel at approximately 7:30 p.m. There was no initial report of damage, pollution or injuries to either vessel, and both are safely anchored pending a Coast Guard investigation. Winds gusting to 70 mph at Cape Henry caused 12 ships anchored in the vicinity of Lynnhaven to drag anchor and caused the 751-foot bulk carrier…

09 Mar 2014

Is This a Record? 93-Year-Old Medevaced From Cruise Ship

45ft RBM: Photo credit USCG

The U.S. Coast Guard inform of the medical evacuation of an injured  93-year-old male passenger (with his wife) from the cruise ship 'Grandeur of the Seas' in the Lower Chesapeake Bay. Grandeur of the Seas contacted Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads Command Center watchstanders via VHF-FM to request medical assistance for the elderly passenger who had suffered a head injury. A 45-foot Response Boat - Medium from Coast Guard Station Little Creek was despatched to assist, and in the early hours of Sunday morning the patient and his wife were transferred to the cutter…

07 Dec 2001

Cove Point LNG Proposal Under Review

The Coast Guard concluded two days of meetings today with local, state and federal officials as part of its ongoing review to help evaluate the suitability of the Chesapeake Bay for importing Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) aboard tankships. The Coast Guard Captain of the Port (COTP) Baltimore received a letter of intent to resume LNG import operations from the Williams Company at its Cove Point facility in Calvert County, Md., last October. If approved, LNG import operations will involve moving LNG in tankships on the middle and lower Chesapeake Bay to Cove Point where the cargo will be handled and off-loaded at the company’s waterside facility. Under federal regulation (33 CFR Part 127.009), the COTP is required to evaluate the suitability of the Bay for conducting LNG operations.