Ocean Conditions News

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has set out plans to invest $4.75 million to establish a new national center of excellence to accelerate offshore wind deployment across the United States.The Academic Center for Reliability and Resilience of Offshore Wind (ARROW), led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst with approximately 40 partners, will focus on workforce development, targeted research, and partnerships and strategies to advance offshore wind development.As offshore…

TECO 2030 and Umoe Mandal have delivered a documentation package to the Norwegian Maritime Authority for an approval in principle application of the world’s first fuel cell high-speed vessel design.The designed vessel is designed to be installed with a multimegawatt fuel cell system for full propulsion.The ship will be constructed based on Umoe Mandal’s proven Crew Transfer Vessel (CTV) Surface Effect Ship (SES) technology and with the air-cushion catamaran design it will offer low imprint on surrounding environment…

Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA) said it has been tapped by Airbus to renew its entire fleet of chartered vessels for aircraft subassembly transport with three modern, low-emission roll-on / roll-off vessels, supported by wind-assisted propulsion.LDA announced Wednesday it has been commissioned to build, own and operate these new highly efficient vessels, slated for entry into service from 2026.Powered by a combination of six Flettner rotors—large, rotating cylinders that generate lift thanks to the wind…

Corrosion and BlueStream launched ICCP-SAM, touted as sustainable corrosion protection of XX(X)L monopile foundations. ICCP-SAM is designed to remotely install ICCP anodes on monopile foundations of all sizes, anywhere on the foundation and even in the roughest ocean conditions.The ICCP-SAM (Subsea Assembly Method) is compact and can be transported and deployed with minimal resources from the topside of the offshore foundation. It is operated remotely and maneuvers the anode underwater into the designated foundation entry hole. The anode is then secured to the foundation using the same tool.

The first of three new oceanographic research vessels dedicated to advancing marine science along U.S. coasts was successfully launched Thursday.The ship, R/V Taani, is being constructed as part of a project, led by Oregon State University (OSU) and funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), to provide scientists with valuable new tools to study critical issues such as rapidly changing ocean conditions and human impacts on the marine environment.The Regional Class Research Vessel project…

Offshore wind energy planners are giving close review to fixed-tower systems in order to extend lessons learned to floating wind towers, under development now. In the U.S., floating towers have been most closely associated with plans for new wind energy areas (WEA) in the Pacific, off of California and maybe Oregon and Washington. But important research is also taking place in Maine, at the University of Maine, because of deep ocean Atlantic areas there, and floating towers may also be used in the Gulf of Mexico.As most readers likely know…

A vessel’s fuel consumption and CO2 emissions can be reduced by up to 7.3% by using voyage optimization software, a recent study shows. Moreover, the analysis shows that voyage optimization can improve a vessel’s CII by an average of 5-6%, enabling ships to maintain their ratings for an additional two to three years.NAPA, a maritime software and data analysis expert, and classification society Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) announced the results of a joint study conducted with Marubeni Corporation…

Vestdavit secured a contract with Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors to supply one of its HN-5000 workboat davits for each of the two vessels, NOAA ocean reasearch vessels. To be named Oceanographer and Discoverer, the ships are under construction for the NOAA at the Louisiana-based fabrication yard.The HN-5000 davits, due for delivery in mid-2023, are designed for reliable launch and recovery in variable sea states of workboats that will be used to carry out diverse missions ranging from general oceanographic research and exploration to marine life, climate and ocean ecosystem studies.

The first newbuild rigid inflatable boat (RIB) built by Dongara Marine has entered into service, heralding a raft of government and RIB contracts for the Western Australian boatbuilder.The newbuild, Cape Rose, was completed at the end of last year and has been operating for Marine Rescue Shark Bay since delivery to Denham in early in 2021. It has replaced a response vessel that had serviced the Western Australia (WA) coastline for more than 20 years, both with the group and previously…

The U.S. Navy uses unmanned and robotic underwater vehicles for a multitude of functions, including environmental sensing, mine hunting, and salvage. The Navy plans to evolve an unmanned systems operating concept that is platform agnostic and capable of operating in highly complex contested environments with minimal operator interaction.The most recent edition of the Navy’s Unmanned Systems (UxS) Roadmap was issued in 2018, and a new version is expected in the near future. The 2018 document states that UxS will operate in every domain…

Industries are adapting to an increasingly digitalized landscape. The floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) industry is no different. As concerted efforts are made to improve project economics Matt Tremblay, ABS Senior Vice President, Global Offshore, discusses how digitalization can increase safety, reduce costs, and build robust technical and operational capabilities.No one could have predicted what a challenging year 2020 would become. Offshore production activity fluctuated dramatically with changing market economics and a global pandemic…

Texas-based Gulf Copper and Manufacturing said it has been awarded a $3.9 million dry docking and refurbishment of the NOAA research vessel Henry B. Bigelow. The work will be performed at Gulf Copper's Galveston yard.Commissioned in 2007 and homeported in Newport, R.I., Henry B. Bigelow is a fisheries survey vessel that studies a wide range of marine life and ocean conditions along the U.S. East Coast, primarily from Maine to North Carolina. The ship's main mission is to study and monitor fish stocks…

The Bering Sea ice cover during the winters of 2018 and 2019 hit new lows not seen in thousands of years, scientists reported on Wednesday, adding to concerns about the accelerating impact of climate change in the Arctic.Satellite data provides a clear picture of how sea ice has changed over the last four decades in the region between the Arctic and northern Pacific oceans. Beyond that, the only ice records available were those recorded in ship logs and other observations.So scientists turned to peat land, which holds organic compounds from plants dating back millennia, on the remote St.

Shipbuilder Metal Shark has delivered an 85- by 19.5-foot welded aluminum Near Coastal Patrol Vessel (NCPV) to the Dominican Republic’s Navy under a $54 million U.S. Navy contract to produce up to 13 Defiant-class patrol craft for U.S. partner nations.Christened Betelgeuse in keeping with the Dominican tradition of naming military vessels after constellations, the new patrol craft was built at Metal Shark’s Franklin, La. shipyard and officially incorporated into the Dominican…

NOAA has awarded a lease to Massa Industries, LLC for office space in Middletown, R.I., that will temporarily house a new marine operations support facility for Rhode Island-based NOAA ships Henry B. Bigelow and Okeanos Explorer.The Middletown facility will also support NOAA personnel engaged in the design and construction of a new pier for the two ships and a permanent NOAA marine operations support facility at Naval Station Newport. NOAA expects to occupy the interim facility in the fall of 2020 and relocate it to the naval station in 2023.“With an expanded presence in Rhode Island…

Search & Rescue algorithm identify hidden “traps” in ocean waters, helping to more quickly identify regions where objects — and missing people — may have converged.The ocean is a messy and turbulent space, where winds and weather kick up waves in all directions. When an object or person goes missing at sea, the complex, constantly changing conditions of the ocean can confound and delay critical search-and-rescue operations.Now researchers at MIT, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH)…

Unmanned Vehicles Collect Data for Improving Storm ForecastsThe influences of ocean conditions and currents on living environments are now more widely appreciated—from the Earth’s climate and severe weather conditions to fisheries and biodiversity. Sustained and widespread measurements are needed to provide essential clues for understanding the oceans, for effective monitoring of environmental changes, and for helping to clarify the long-term effects of global warming.To meet this challenge, ocean researchers have invented various types of unmanned observing platforms.

US shipbuilder Metal Shark said it has delivered a new 36-foot welded-aluminum patrol boat to the Policia Municipal de San Juan (San Juan Police Department).The new patrol boat is a 36 Fearless stepped-bottom center console vessel built at Metal Shark’s Jeanerette, La. production facility and custom-configured to meet the specialized requirements of its newest Puerto Rican customer. The high performance craft has been equipped with triple 300 HP Suzuki outboard engines and reaches a top speed in excess of 50 knots, the builder said.

Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has begun operation of a new data platform called ‘Lighthouse’, to provide real time transport information to dry bulk shipping customers and stakeholders.The platform is a service that allows those involved in the transport process, such as shippers and vessel operators, to safely, unitarily, and in real time, share and monitor various kinds of information related to ocean transport, such as vessel schedules ,weather, ocean conditions, as well as data related to cargoes and contracts, on a customized basis for each customer.By establishing this system, MOL aims to help its customers enhance their supply chain management through measures such as optimization of ship allocation and more effective management of inventory…

Allseas Group, the offshore pipeline installation contractor, has chosen WFS Technologies’ new Seatooth Pipelogger for the real time measurement of process temperature on a subsea pipeline system which they have installed recently.WFS, the player in subsea wireless automation, Subsea Internet of Things (SIoT) and Subsea Cloud Computing Networks (SCCNs) said that the pipeline system is designed to have a total gas throughput capacity of 31.5 billion cubic meters per year.WFS Technologies’ Pipelogger is a real-time, wireless technology which requires little to no maintenance, and can operate at depths of up to 2,000m without the need for…

Japanese shipping giant Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) announced its intention to install a navigation system using augmented reality (AR) technology jointly developed by Furuno Electric and MOL Techno-Trade on 21 MOL Group-operated very large crude oil carriers (VLCCs).The system displays information on other vessels sailing on a vessel's planned route and surrounding sea areas and other ocean conditions, such as shallow waters, on tablets and screens. It integrates information from the Automatic Identification System (AIS) and radar with real-time video images from the bridge camera in collaboration with Furuno Electric's cutting-edge Electric…

Marine organisms such as barnacles and zebra mussels have been a long-standing nuisance to ship hulls, causing exterior damage, increased power and fuel consumption and environmental concerns. While anti-fouling coatings help to prevent biofouling,  a new research study suggests that an innovative approach to marine coatings may solve the problem of barnacle and zebra mussel fouling, an approach stems from the MOSI (Marine Organism Sensory Interference) concept. MOSI uses a unique coating tech to interfere with the sensory ability of juvenile barnacles…

Four new high speed patrol boats manufactured by shipbuilder Metal Shark have entered service with the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard (DCCG) on the island of Aruba.The vessels were commissioned into service with a ceremony on January 23rd at DCCG’s Station Aruba in the district of Savaneta on Aruba’s southeast coast. Among those present were officials from the Aruban government, Dutch Ministry of Defense, DCCG, and Metal Shark, as well as local and regional media outlets.The new…