To Test Their Equipment News

A network of acoustic monitoring buoys aims to help protect North Atlantic right whales—one of the world’s most critically endangered species—from ship strikes along the U.S. East Coast.Although North Atlantic right whales are protected under the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act, serious threats to their survival abound with only approximately 336 of these great whales remaining on the planet. The installment of the buoys aims to aid in right whale’s survival and will fill a critical gap in monitoring along the East Coast.

Marine minerals are coming under sharp focus offshore Norway. Analysts suggest it could be a $20 billion annual revenue industry by 2050, which is why many are taking an interest and developing the technology to make it happen. Marine mineral mining has been something of a slow burner in the wider marine world. It has some clear challenges, not least location and depth of these potential resources, but also concerns around its environmental impact.Yet it now appears to be coming into a distinctly sharp focus…

Centuries-old maritime craftwork and advanced technology help carbon-free seaborne trade.It was a chance meeting that changed two lives. It may also change the way the world thinks about maritime shipping.An accomplished sailor, Danielle Doggett loves tall ships—the large wind-powered sailing vessels that carry passengers and cargo. Her fascination with the big ships started in her teens, sailing on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes and eventually on the St. Lawrence II, a 72-foot two-mast brigantine built in the 1950s for youth sail training.

With a motto of Always Ready, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) has 11 missions specified by law including drug and migrant interdiction; ports, waterways and coastal security; fishery patrols; search and rescue; and national defense. The USCG’s newest ships including 22 Fast Response Cutters (FRCs) recently entered service with 36 more on order and six new National Security Cutters (NSCs) with two more in the process of being built. Oil analysis plays a critical role in the…

Merseyside shipyard and engineering services company Cammell Laird has won a £1.5 million tender with Innovate UK to develop electron beam welding technology in the shipbuilding, offshore and nuclear sectors.Cammell Laird will act as primary contractor to test the equipment at its Birkenhead site using its team of welders and engineers, together with partners TWI Limited which will provide research, and support in welding codes and standards. The third partner, Cambridge Vacuum Engineering will manufacture the electron beam machine.John Eldridge…

At BP's massive Thunder Horse oil platform in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, a dog-sized robot called Maggie uses magnetic tracks to creep along pipes connecting the giant oil facility to the sea floor. Before MaggHD, dubbed "Maggie" by BP, the dangerous inspection job was reserved for highly paid specialist technicians who did their jobs while rappelling along the platform. The energy industry has turned to robots and drones to cut costs and improve safety in some of the world's tougher working environments. Drones inspect gear high up on floating rigs.

For a second year, members of the Coast Guard Research and Development Center, based in New London, Connecticut, make their way to the large ice floes of the Arctic Ocean to conduct research and test new equipment and technologies with the aim of expanding our knowledge and enhancing our ability to respond to potential hazards and emergencies brought on by increased vessel traffic through the region. It’s a mission as big and as important as the Arctic itself and one they couldn’t do alone. When RDC members depart for the Arctic, they do so aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Healy, a 420-foot icebreaker homeported in Seattle, Wash., that serves as a perfect platform for conducting Arctic research.

An intensive three week submarine escape and rescue exercise has drawn to a close off the east coast of Australia. During Exercise BLACK CARILLON 2013, members of Navy’'s Submarine Force simulated being evacuated from HMAS Farncomb, which was bottomed in 112 metres of water, in the James Fisher Rescue Service LR5 submersible. The 21.5 tonne submersible was then lifted onto the deck of a rescue vessel, where its passengers were transferred into decompression chambers without being exposed to the outside air pressure.

DNV said it has completely rewritten the standard for Offshore Service Modules certification, commonly referred to as DNV 2.7-2, which was first published in 1995. The new document is now available and an event to explain the guidance will be held at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Center (AECC) on June 11, 2013. According to DNV, there are currently various industry sources of guidance and standards, some of which contain conflicting advice, making it difficult for users to gain assurance that their equipment is compliant and that as Duty Holders, they are effectively managing the hazards that may be introduced to the offshore installation. DNV believe that the new DNV 2.7-2 offers a solution to this issue.

DNV has completely rewritten the standard for Offshore Service Modules certification, commonly referred to as DNV 2.7-2, which was first published in 1995. On June 11, 2013, DNV will roll this out to an industry seminar taking place at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Center (AECC). This event will look at the issues surrounding the management and use of temporary equipment on offshore installations and how the new Standard for Certification may provide some clear guidance.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) announced today that nine employees from its Newport News Shipbuilding and Ingalls Shipbuilding divisions were recognized for achievements in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) during the 27th annual Black Engineer of the Year Award STEM Global Competitiveness Conference. This year's conference is being held at the Washington Marriott in Wardman Park through Saturday. Theodore A. Bush is an electrical engineer at Ingalls Shipbuilding. He has played a key role in his group's contribution to the Large Deck Amphibious (LDA) Program and the Navy's newest fleet of the San Antonio-class amphibious assault ships. Bush earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Alabama A&M University. Tennyson D.

Offshore Survey, which takes place from 10 - 11 April 2013 alongside Ocean Business at the National Oceanography Center in Southampton UK, has just launched a conference program which promises to be the most varied and exciting yet. ‘Offshore’ is rapidly becoming a far broader industry than just ‘oil and gas’ and the program for Offshore Survey 2013 truly reflects this vibrant industry. The offshore industry responded to an open call for papers this year; previous conferences accepted papers by invitation only. As a result, the technical committee was overwhelmed by the quantity and outstanding quality of abstracts sent in for review, which came from all corners of the industry.

OceanWorks International has been awarded a contract by the Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy (FORCE) to instrument a cable termination for a ground breaking tidal energy project in the Bay of Fundy. The project includes the design, manufacture and integration of the subsea instrumentation, shore station, and commissioning. FORCE is deploying four power cables to connect prototype instream tidal turbines to a dedicated electrical sub-station. By providing this infrastructure, FORCE is lowering the ‘barrier to entry’ for turbine manufactures to test their equipment in one of the most demanding tidal environments. The planned deployment will take place in Atlantic Canada’s Bay of Fundy, which is renowned for having the highest tidal range in the world.

OceanWorks International contracted by the Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy (FORCE) to establish project cable termination in the Bay of Fundy, Canada. The project contract includes the design, manufacture and integration of the subsea instrumentation, shore station, and commissioning. FORCE is deploying four power cables to connect prototype in-stream tidal turbines to a dedicated electrical sub-station. By providing this infrastructure, it is lowering the 'barrier to entry' for turbine manufactures to test their equipment in one of the most demanding tidal environments.

Now in its fourth year, Project Kaisei has come to rely upon satellite communications for effective communication with colleagues ashore as well as its global support base. Mary Crowley talks about how the project’s requirements for communications are continuously evolving. In the digital age it is easy to take for granted the benefits that reliable connectivity provides. In the maritime industry alone, always-on communications are supporting a wealth of applications to improve operational efficiency and crew welfare.

Scottish subsea testing and training facility is preferred choice for multi-national companies. A multi-national offshore technology company has chosen a leading subsea testing and training facility in Scotland to test and photograph its latest product, which was launched earlier this week. Cygnus Instruments decided to use subsea trials and training centre, The Underwater Centre, based in Fort William, to test their new metal thickness meter because of its unique replication of offshore facilities that are not available elsewhere.

International Tanker Management (ITM) managed and Marshall Islands flagged tankers MT PORT LOUIS, MT ALTIUS and the bulker MV PORT MELBOURNE reported that they have became the first vessels to be officially issued with LRIT Conformance Test Report Certification following the successful shipborne equipment conformance testing of the vessels’ Inmarsat C equipment. The event marks a milestone in the development of LRIT. ITM has been participating with the on the development of LRIT and in particular with the development of the LRIT shipborne equipment testing. The completion of the first LRIT conformance tests show the high quality and innovative operational standards of the ITM fleet.

In relation to the service launch of Fleet77 by Inmarsat on April 10, 2002, Thrane & Thrane is has started shipping Capsat Fleet77 products to its partners and distributors worldwide. "We have now been shipping Capsat Fleet77 systems to our distributors for a couple of weeks in order to enable them to demonstrate the product to the end users from the beginning of the service period" says Kim Bille Gram, Maritime Sales Manager, Thrane & Thrane. "We are pleased to be able to provide Capsatâ Fleet77 terminals to ship owners all over the world. Our Capsatâ Fleet77 systems have at this stage been tested onboard 7 different ships, which have been sailing in all ocean regions. These ships range from large container carriers to small fishing vessels.

In line with the changing business pattern in the ship repair industry and new business opportunities in the fast growing fleet of lng carriers around the world, Malaysia’s Malaysia Shipyard & Engineering (MSE) has entered the lng repair business. The yard has demonstrated its ability to innovate, reposition and transform itself to cater to this specialised niche market and shown its commitment by investing substantially to build up lng repair capabilities and facilities. As part of a drive to enhance capability and expertise in the repair of lng carriers, MSE has entered into a Technical Service Agreement on October 15th 2002 with Gaz Transport Technigaz (GTT).

"What you're seeing now, is a 'flight to quality,'" said Rear Admiral George Naccara, of the USCG, at the Y2K Luncheon held in New York last month. The Y2K Luncheon, sponsored by the Maritime Association of the Port of New York and New Jersey, brought together individuals from three main sectors of the shipping industry, to discuss what steps each had made in designing and implementing a plan to ensure computer systems were "Y2K" (or Year 2000) compliant. John Hill, director of the Application Development Division of U.S. According to Hill, the initial plan was for approximately 180,000 work-hours of programming and testing. Already, he said, the total had exceeded 200,000 work-hours of effort to reprogram the systems. Close to $12 million in expenditures have been necessary.

As the first equipment manufacturer Thrane & Thrane has received Inmarsat Type Approval for its new maritime high-speed terminal for Inmarsat’s Fleet F55 service, the TT-3086A Capsat® Fleet55. The Inmarsat Type Approval is the direct result of intensive beta testing carried out onboard three different vessel types sailing in different ocean regions. The three beta test systems have all been operating successfully during the test period. “Our Capsat® Fleet55 system has been tested onboard three different vessels sailing in different ocean regions. These ships range from a container carrier to a lightweight high-speed military vessel.