New Subsea Report on Tech, Safety and Trends
DNV GL has issued the report âSubsea â Technology Developments, Incidents and Future Trendsâ on behalf of the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority. âThe ongoing increase in technology enhancement and the number of worldwide subsea field developments will demand greater focus on a number of issues. The report aims to raise awareness and share knowledge within safety, industry cooperation, degradation mechanisms, failure modes, monitoring, integrity management and incident-related information,â said Bjørn Søgård, DNV GLâs segment director for subsea technology. The oil and gas industryâs drive to develop more cost-efficient ways to produce, process and transport oil and gas offshore has in the past few years led to tremendous technology developments on subsea technology.
Brazil Offshore: Petrobras & Subsea Engineering
Brazilâs Petrobras has been one of the leading players in deepwater, subsea development projects since the turn of the century. These projects include pre-salt and post-salt plays, which require extensive and complex subsea engineering and construction efforts. It would be impossible for Petrobras to develop all of its projects alone, therefore much is done by specialized companies, mostly of foreign origin. âWe could not have advanced in this project (pre-salt) conventionally, developing the production individually. We needed a global vision of the projects, starting from a high level plan,â said José Formigli, Petrobrasâ Executive Director of E&P, speaking of the primary plan for the development of the pre-salt at the Santos Basin, the Plansal, which was created in 2008.
Varadkar to Overhaul Safety/Emergency Response Services
Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Leo Varadkar unveiled an Action Plan to improve Maritime Safety and Marine Emergency Response Services, including an overhaul of operations within the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. The Action Plan will set up a new, over-arching maritime safety section inside the Department - the Irish Maritime Administration - which will bring together the Irish Coast Guard and the Marine Survey Office. Speaking after Cabinet approved the Action PlanâŚ
OPT to Showcase Innovation in Spain
Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: OPTT) launched of a new technology initiative to enhance the efficiency of its patented PowerBuoy wave energy systems under its existing âWavePortâ project. OPT will be working with a consortium of European companies and institutions to advance the energy conversion system of the PowerBuoy device through the development of a new wave prediction model. The new system will assess the characteristics of each incoming wave before it reaches the PowerBuoy wave power station, thereby providing more time for the electronic tuning capability to react. It is expected that this will significantly boost the power output of the PowerBuoy and reduce cost per MW hour of energy produced.
Insights with Gibbs & Cox President, Rick Biben
MarineNews spoke with Rick Biben, Chief Executive and President of Gibbs and Cox, Inc., about his background in the industry, the state of the naval design market, how his company is investing for the future and technological and design advancements in the field. What is your background in the industry? After college (Bryant University, 1972, BS Management) I went into the U.S. Peace Corps (Ecuador, 1972 â 1975) for about three years. I left the government and entered the contractor community in 1979. I was with Syscon Corporation from 1981 through late in 1999.