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Oceanographic Products News

15 Feb 2021

Subsea Defense: Navy Deepens Commitment to Underwater Vehicles

Senior Chief Mineman Abraham Garcia (left) and Aerographer's Mate 1st Class Joshua Gaskill, members of the Knifefish Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) test team, man tending lines during crane operations as part of an operational test conducted by members from Operational Test and Evaluation Force (OPTEVFOR). Knifefish is a medium-class mine countermeasure UUV designed for deployment off the Littoral Combat Ship. OPTEVFOR is the Navy’s sole test and evaluation organization for surface, air, and un

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…

27 Oct 2019

Kongsberg Sells KM Contros to AML

Norwegian technology enterprise Kongsberg Maritime (KM) has decided to divest KM Contros GmbH (Contros) to AML Oceanographic Ltd. (AML).Contros has 20 employees and is a subdivision of the Sensors & Robotics division of KM. The company is located in Kiel / Hamburg, Germany.Contros has two primary lines of business: Sensors that measure dissolved gases in water and platforms and deployment systems for in-situ oceanographic measurement.KM believes AML will be an excellent owner for Contros. KM and AML already have a strong long-term business relationship, which will be further strengthened with a co-operation agreement (COA) between the…

25 Aug 2016

NOAA Engineers a Better Current Sensor for Mariners

Max Ivanov and Scott Mowery with NOAA's Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services install an improved current sensor system on a navigation buoy in Chesapeake Bay. The system transmits real-time current speed and direction observations via satellite to help mariners more safely navigate busy shipping channels. (Photo: NOAA)

Navigating into seaports is now safer and more efficient for mariners thanks to improved NOAA technology that ships rely on to give them information about currents. The Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) developed a more reliable, cost-saving version of a current sensor system that can now be placed at more remote locations along navigation channels. The updated Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) system provides real-time current speed and direction observations where many mariners need it most—at U.S.

12 Mar 2015

New Lineup for NOAA Hydrographic Services Panel

The Hydrographic Services Review Panel advises NOAA on improving services for navigation and coastal resilience. (Credit: NOAA)

NOAA administrator Kathryn Sullivan, Ph.D., has appointed six members to the Hydrographic Services Review Panel, a federal advisory committee that gives NOAA independent advice for improving a range of services and products that support navigation and coastal resilience. Capt. “Providing coastal communities, boaters, and the commercial maritime industry with timely, reliable, accurate, and authoritative information is essential as we strive to keep commerce flowing through our nation’s ports,” Sullivan said. Rear Admiral Ken Barbor (ret.), U.S. Lawson W. Capt. Gary A. Scott R.

19 Dec 2014

NOAA: US to See More Floods from Sea Level Rise

Annapolis, Maryland, pictured here in 2012, is one of three major East Coast urban areas already being faced with nuisance flooding in excess of 30 days per year. (Credit: With permission from Amy McGovern.)

Most of U.S. coast may see 30 or more days a year of floods up to 2 feet above high tides. By 2050, a majority of U.S. coastal areas are likely to be threatened by 30 or more days of flooding each year due to dramatically accelerating impacts from sea level rise, according to a new NOAA study, published in the American Geophysical Union’s online peer-reviewed journal Earth’s Future. The findings appear in the paper From the Extreme to the Mean: Acceleration and Tipping Points for Coastal Inundation due to Sea Level Rise…

10 Sep 2014

MN 100: Markey Machinery Co. Inc.

President: Blaine W. Seattle-based Markey Machinery Company has roots in the marine and logging industries stretching as far back as the early 1900s. Founded by Charles Markey in 1907, the company has seen several generations of Markeys at its helm through more than 100 years of company growth. Today, led by Blaine W. Dempke and Robert A. LeCoque, the company’s primary focus lies in the manufacture, support and service of custom deck machinery for workboat, scientific and dockside applications.

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.

24 Jul 2014

Jacksonville Adds PORTS Real-time Data System

Officials from NOAA, the Jacksonville Marine Transportation Exchange, and the Jacksonville Port Authority officially dedicated a new information system today which will increase safety for ships using the St. Johns River. The system, called Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS), provides real-time information on water levels, currents, meteorological conditions, and under-bridge clearance, giving users critical information when traveling through the river. The St. Johns River in Jacksonville will become the 23rd location to use the system and is the second largest PORTS ever established. “Our nation’s ports are critical cogs in our country’s economic engine,” said Kathryn D. Sullivan, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator.

05 Jun 2014

Okawa Joins Hawboldt’s Marine Cranes Division

Hawboldt Industries Ltd., a manufacturer of deck equipment and a member of the Timberland Group of Companies, announced the hiring of Reed Okawa as Business Development Manager, Marine Crane Division. Paul Phillips, General Sales Manager at Hawboldt industries said, “Reed brings over 35 years of experience in crane design sales and service to Hawboldt . . . Okawa joined Hawboldt in late January and is based near Seattle. Okawa will also be able to assist customers with Hawboldt’s core product lines, which include ROV, AUV and subsea drill launch and recovery systems, commercial deck equipment (anchor and mooring winches) and oceanographic products. Hawboldt manufactures cranes from 2 to 150 ton capacity in fixed, knuckle and telescopic versions.

06 May 2014

NOAA Offers a New Way to See Currents

HFRadar like this one shown off the entrance to San Francisco provides the data for NOAA's news ocean surface current product. (Image credit: With permission from San Francisco State University.)

A new NOAA National Ocean Service website will provide mariners near real-time coastal ocean surface current observations and tidal current predictions in coastal waters using high frequency (HF) radar, making marine navigation safer for mariners and commercial shippers. The web-based observations are now available for the Chesapeake and San Francisco Bays in areas vital for marine navigation, with additional locations to follow. The product was made possible by NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) using data from the NOAA-led U.S.

01 May 2013

New, New York Harbor Current Meter

Navigating New York Harbor: Photo courtesy of USN

NOAA uses data from a new current meter in New York harbor operated by New Jersey’s Stevens Institute of Technology. The system provides enhanced real-time information to mariners travelling through the nation’s second busiest port. The Stevens current meter measures the  direction, speed, and volume of ocean currents in the harbor’s navigation channels, north of the Narrows between Brooklyn and Staten Island. Its data will be used in NOAA’s Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS®) system…

17 Jan 2013

Mobile App Boosts Navigation Safety

image illustrating depths of Houston / Galveston Ship Channel

Conrad Blucher Institute Develops Mobile App to Increase Navigational Safety along Nation’s Second-Largest Port. Researchers have designed and are implementing a new mobile application to provide ship captains and pilots with real-time predictions of ocean water levels and currents along the Houston Ship Channel, which services the second-largest port in the United States, the ports of Houston and Galveston. The app will provide invaluable information, which could increase navigational…

14 Mar 2012

EIVA and AML Oceanographic Sign Cooperation Agreement

EIVA and AML Oceanographic (formerly Applied Microsystems) have signed a distributor agreement with the aim of EIVA reselling the AML Oceanographic product line. EIVA will provide the AML Oceanographic products comprising CTD, sound velocity, and environmental instrumentation in its integrated survey and monitoring system solutions, provided to the offshore energy sector, hydrographic survey industry and oceanographic science and research institutes. In addition the AML Oceanographic products will be available for integration in the EIVA ScanFish remotely-operated towed vehicle, along with a wide range of other sensors. “The sensor suite from AML represents a unique approach where several sensors can be combined into a single unit…

18 Jul 2011

NOAA Study Investigates El Nino Effects

Coastal communities along the U.S. East Coast may be at risk to higher sea levels accompanied by more destructive storm surges in future El Niño years, according to a new study by NOAA. The study was prompted by an unusual number of destructive storm surges along the East Coast during the 2009-2010 El Niño winter. The study, led by Bill Sweet, Ph.D. from NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services, examined water levels and storm surge events during the ’cool season’ of October to April for the past five decades at four sites representative of much of the East Coast: Boston, Atlantic City, N.J., Norfolk, Va., and Charleston, S.C.

06 Apr 2011

NOAA Announces New Members of The Hydrographic Services Review Panel

NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco recently appointed nine new members to the Hydrographic Services Review Panel, a federal advisory committee that gives NOAA independent advice for improving ocean and coastal navigation products, information, data and services. “Optimizing the benefits of navigation services and products is a priority for the agency,” said Margaret Spring, chief of staff for NOAA and the agency’s representative to the Committee on the Marine Transportation System (CMTS).

05 Apr 2011

New Members of NOAA’s Hydrographic Services Review Panel

NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco recently appointed nine new members to the Hydrographic Services Review Panel, a federal advisory committee that gives NOAA independent advice for improving ocean and coastal navigation products, information, data and services. “Optimizing the benefits of navigation services and products is a priority for the agency,” said Margaret Spring, chief of staff for NOAA and the agency’s representative to the Committee on the Marine Transportation System (CMTS). “We look forward to hearing perspectives and receiving advice from our new committee members, who represent a wide variety of maritime and coastal zone stakeholder interests. Dr. Lawson W. Stephen Carmel, Maersk Line, Ltd. Jeffrey Carothers, Fugro Consultants, Inc. Dr. Dr. David A. Scott R.

23 Nov 2009

NOAA Installs System to Improve Safety & Efficiency

Photo coutesy NOAA

Ship captains and pleasure boaters can now get free real-time information on water and weather conditions for Cherry Point, Wash., from a newly installed NOAA ocean observing system that makes piloting a ship safer and more efficient. The NOAA Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS) at Cherry Point provides observations of tides, currents, water and air temperature, barometric pressure and winds. Collected from a variety of sensors in and around the port, the data is available online and by phone: 888-817-7794 (toll-free).

01 Sep 2009

Sea Level Anomaly Along U.S. Atlantic Coast

Persistent winds and a weakened current in the Mid-Atlantic contributed to higher than normal sea levels along the Eastern Seaboard in June and July, according to a new NOAA technical report. After observing water levels six inches to two feet higher than originally predicted, NOAA scientists began analyzing data from select tide stations and buoys from Maine to Florida and found that a weakening of the Florida Current Transport—an oceanic current that feeds into the Gulf Stream—in addition to steady and persistent Northeast winds, contributed to this anomaly. “The ocean is dynamic and it’s not uncommon to have anomalies,” said Mike Szabados, director of NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services.

30 Nov 2007

NOAA PORTS Installed in Mobile Bay

Mobile, Ala. has become the 14th location in the United States to install the Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System. that can reduce the risk of vessel groundings and increase the amount of cargo moved through the port. The system will become operational on Dec. Operational Oceanographic Products and Services, PORTS measures, integrates, and disseminates observations of water levels, currents, salinity, wind, and bridge clearance. dredged channel depth. Port of Mobile PORTS data are updated every six minutes and thoroughly quality controlled to ensure accuracy. marine transportation community, the data are freely accessible on the Internet at http://www.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/ports. NOAA PORTS information users include port authorities, vessel pilots, shipping companies, U.S.

04 Jun 2004

NOAA Announces New Ports Program for New Haven

install a new Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System. oceanographic and meteorological data. NOAA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. annually. the water. off. make marine transportation both safe and efficient. administrator of NOAA's National Ocean Service. effort with the Block Island Pilots Association. quality control and data dissemination. thoroughly quality controlled to ensure accuracy. accessible by Internet or phone. include port authorities, vessel pilots, shipping companies, U.S. Guard, U.S. environmental organizations, academia and surfers. using the highly successful NOAA program. and Tacoma, Wash. understanding, conserving and restoring the nation's coasts and oceans. sustaining coastal habitats and mitigating coastal hazards. resources.

11 Jan 2006

NOAA Study Shows Value of Ports Program

The Tampa Bay economy receives more than $7 million a year in savings and direct income from the operation of the Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS), according a new NOAA sponsored study. The report details the first study of the navigational aid, which is in operation at 13 major ports across the United States. Tampa's PORTS system provides accurate real-time oceanographic information tailored to the specific needs of the 6,700 commercial vessels transiting Tampa Bay each year. "The PORTS system is a good example of how research and observing system development expertise can be applied to support safe, efficient and environmentally sound marine transportation," said retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad C.

10 Feb 2003

New System Increase Safety Measures for NY/NJ Ports

Mariners calling on the Port of New York/New Jersey will now have a new tool to assist them navigate safely through the harbor. water levels and current conditions. Administration (NOAA). the Port of New York/New Jersey. plots, and animations of water levels and currents. limiting passage times, without compromising safety. The system is run in both nowcast and forecast modes. System (PORTS(r)). times a day. numerical models. (CBOFS). the Port of Houston. meteorological and oceanographic data. Water Level Program, the national network of PORTS(r) in major U.S. harbors, and the National Current Program.