Radar Satellite News

Fincantieri said it has acquired a majority share in communications equipment supplier Support Logistic Services (SLS) as the Italian shipbuilding group continues its push to diversify and expand its product and service portfolio.Rome-based SLS, which produces, installs and maintens radar, satellite and radio communications systems for military and civil applications, will be added under Fincantieri's information technology and electronics subsidiary INSIS, part of the group's newborn Electronics, Systems & Software Division.

Last year, China replaced the United States as the No. 1 importer of oil from Venezuela, yet another front in the heated rivalry between Washington and Beijing.The United States had imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s state-owned oil company as part of a bid to topple that country’s socialist president, Nicolas Maduro. U.S. refineries stopped buying Venezuelan crude. Caracas’ ally China, long a major customer, suddenly found itself the top purchaser. Through the first six months of 2019, it imported an average of 350,000 barrels per day of crude from Venezuela.But in August, Washington tightened its sanctions on Venezuela, warning that any foreign entity that continued to do business with the South American country’s government could find itself subject to sanctions.

Finnish startup ICEYE launched its global Dark Vessel Detection solution to help governmental maritime security customers monitor their waters for illegal vessel activity.The high-tech solution, which combines synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) satellite data from ICEYE and automatic identification system (AIS) data from vessels, is used as a source of actionable information for governments monitoring their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), day and night, and even through cloud cover.“Dark…

The Australian Antarctic Division has rescheduled its early season voyages with the icebreaker Aurora Australis delayed in heavy ice conditions off the Antarctic coast. The ship is in heavy ice about 180 nautical miles off Davis station, returning from resupplying the station and delivering summer personnel. Radar satellite images this morning indicated that while there may be some useful openings, the sea ice extends to approximately 60 nautical miles around the ship. Beyond that, less concentrated ice will be easier to navigate. Australian Antarctic Division Director, Dr.

With the ocean moving more than 90% of world commerce, keeping it secure is of vital importance – yet our ability to monitor activity at sea is somewhat more challenging than on land given the vastness of the oceans. Also many maritime monitoring systems rely on ships to ‘opt-in’, that can leave potentially risky blind spots in our picture of maritime traffic. This article, derived from a presentation that David Beard of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory gave at the recent DMC and NovaSAR International Conference…

MacDonald, Dettwiler & Associates Ltd. win Canadian Space Agency $706 million contract to build, launch & provide initial operations for the RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM). The RCM is designed for three main uses: maritime surveillance (ice, wind, oil pollution and ship monitoring); disaster management (mitigation, warning, response and recovery) and ecosystem monitoring (forestry, agriculture, wetlands and coastal change monitoring). The contract is expected to extend over a period of seven years and brings MDA’s current backlog to approximately $2.9 billion.

SNEPCo confirmed the oil leak from the Bonga facility off the coast of Nigeria has largely dispersed. The news comes five days after less than 40,000 barrels of oil leaked during a routine operation to transfer of oil from Bonga’s floating production, storage and offtake (FPSO) vessel to an oil tanker. Since the leak, teams from SNEPCo have worked around the clock with international oil spill experts, using a combination of dispersants and booms to tackle the leaked oil. SNEPCo will continue to monitor the area, including using radar satellite, and take appropriate steps to disperse any further persistent oil sheens. SNEPCo's robust response and the natural weathering process, has helped bring a swift end to this incident.

Southern St. Clair County residents and tourists traveling to Canada may have to go the long way around - through Port Huron and over the Blue Water Bridge - to get to Ontario and back. The Bluewater International Ferry, which is located just east of state highway M-29, provides the fastest, most convenient rout to Canada, but, due to high marine service fees, ferry management is threatening to close for the winter. The Canadian-owned Bluewater Ferry docks in Sombra, Ontario, and Marine City. Ferry manager Capt. Morgan Dalgety said exorbitant ice-breaking charges from the Canadian Coast Guard's Oceans and Fisheries Division are putting a financial squeeze on the company.

The Yemen Port Authority fleet at Aden have taken delivery of bollard pull Tug “Wadi Hassan” built by Damen Shipyard in The Netherlands. Each of the Azimuth Stern Drive (ASD) tugs has two propellers that can rotate through 360 degrees to give tremendous manoeuvring ability ahead, astern and sideways. This tug, and her sister vessel “Wadi Hateeb” due to complete trials in Holland next week, are an important addition to Aden’s towing capacity. The numbers of tankers, bulk carriers, container ships and other vessels calling at the port has more than doubled since 1995 and the total tonnage of ships calling has trebled over the same time. Towage capacity was becoming a limiting factor at the port.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has announced the expanded implementation of its newest river forecasting system, the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (AHPS). AHPS is a combination of software and hardware tools that will draw together data from other modern technologies such as Doppler weather radar, satellite and weather station observations and other existing weather communication systems. The new service will assist in predicting high water and low water events weeks in advance, allowing more time for river users to prepare for an event. The new service will be deployed this year on the upper Mississippi River, with implementation scheduled for river tributaries in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa and Missouri.

Seacraft Shipyard Corp., Amelia, La., recently delivered M/V Sea Holly, a 110 ft. live-aboard long range yacht, designed for extended excursions. The entire exterior of the vessel was faired and painted to a yacht-quality finish and the bottom of the vessel was coated with a high-performance anti-fouling paint. On the aft main deck are a flat bottom skiff and a vee bottom runabout, both of which are secured on removable boat cradles. The main deck cabin features a full service galley. Forward of the galley is the six-person settee and table complete with television. Located on the upper deck is a large pilothouse equipped with a modern electronic package…