Western Atlantic News

Russia is in the process of equipping its new nuclear submarines with hypersonic Zircon missiles, the head of Russia's largest shipbuilder told the RIA state news agency in an interview published on Monday."Multi-purpose nuclear submarines of the Yasen-M project will ...

Damen Shipyards said it has won an open tender for the supply of a tug to Port Autonome de Papeete on the Pacific island of Tahiti. Tahiti is part of French Polynesia, an overseas territory of the French Republic. The tug will be Damen’s popular ASD 2810 model, a rugged, versatile vessel capable of delivering 60 tonnes of bollard pull. Pape’ete is the capital of French Polynesia and the economic hub of the archipelago. Port Autonome de Papeete serves a wide range of vessels including local ferries…

The Atlantic Ocean could be gearing up for an active hurricane season, meaning North American residents may want to pay attention. In recent years, single hurricanes have led to thousands of deaths across the Caribbean, North and Central America, and have caused several billion dollars in damage. When a hurricane bears down on a region, it not only puts people in peril, but it affects just about every major industry in the area, adding extra importance to the annual hurricane forecast. On average, the Atlantic Basin observes around 11 named tropical storms, six hurricanes, and two major hurricanes during any given season, which runs from June through November. But those numbers could be a bit higher this year thanks to the atmospheric set-up that is currently brewing.

C&W Networks, part of Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC), the largest telecommunications service provider across the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico and United States with more than 48,000 miles of subsea fiber-optic network has selected Xtera Communications, Inc., a leading provider of high-capacity, cost-effective optical transport solutions, for upgrading its submarine cable systems in the western Atlantic ocean and the Caribbean Sea to 100G. By introducing Xtera’s 100G coherent solution, C&W Networks continues to offer robust services across 42 countries with superior reliability and scalability of international wholesale capacity.

Polarcus Limited has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company for the sale of its multi-client projects in Northwest Europe and West Africa in return for a cash consideration of US$27.5 million and future revenue share on library late sales. Polarcus said that the agreement includes an upfront cash payment, a tiered revenue share from future sales of the divested multi-client projects and further contains cash payments for costs deferred under existing contractual agreements. The transaction will result in a non-cash impairment of the multi-client library of approximately $65 million. Polarcus' Capreolus 3D survey offshore Australia does not form part of the transaction and will continue to be owned and marketed by Polarcus.

A team of international scientists, led by the Marine Institute in Ireland, has completed a transatlantic sea bed mapping exercise, which has revealed previously uncharted seabed features including mountains and ridges taller than Carrauntoohil. Footprints of icebergs moving across the seabed, an ancient glacial moraine and a mountain higher than Carrauntoohil in Co Kerry have been mapped across the Atlantic by the team of scientists on board the State’s research ship, the MV Celtic Explorer. It followed the route taken by ships dropping the first transatlantic telecommunications cable between Ireland and Newfoundland in Canada in 1857.

Scientists have long known that leatherback sea turtles travel thousands of miles each year through open ocean to get from foraging habitats to nesting beaches and tropical wintering grounds, but how the wanderers find their way has been “an enduring mystery of animal behavior,” says marine biologist Kara Dodge. “Adult turtles can pinpoint specific nesting beaches even after being away many years,” she notes. Sea turtles’ ability to identify and maintain appropriate headings affect migration distance, duration and, for reproductively-active adults, breeding schedules, so understanding migratory orientation and potential cues is an important step toward understanding how sea turtles optimize travel routes and minimize energy costs of migration, Dodge adds.

Three NOAA scientists were named as recipients of the 2010 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). The award is the highest honor given by the U.S. government to outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their careers. “It is very gratifying that NOAA scientists are honored by this significant award,” said Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “We are immensely proud of these three individuals. They represent the best of NOAA science. Recipients are: James A. Morris, Jr., Ph.D., an ecologist at the National Ocean Service’s Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research in Beaufort…

Military Sealift Command Atlantic, the Norfolk, Va.,-based U.S. Navy command responsible for Military Sealift Command ships transporting equipment, fuel, supplies and ammunition in the Western Atlantic Ocean, changed command during a ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk today. Capt. Samuel R. Norton assumed command of MSCLANT from outgoing commander Capt. Michael G. Graham during a 10 a.m. ceremony at the Vista Point Conference Center. Norton last served as commander of amphibious assault ship USS Nassau, which he led on its final deployment prior to decommissioning earlier this year.

TEN, the New York quoted Greek tanker company controlled by the Tsakos family, confirmed it has bought for nine ice class 1A tankers from Western Petroleum for $530 million. The fleet consists of six 53,000-dwt medium range chemical/products carriers delivered by Hyundai Mipo Dockyard last year and three 116,000-dwt coated aframax products carriers for delivery from Hyundai Heavy Industries in May August and October this year. The acquisitions would be financed with a mixture of corporate cash and bank debt. The handymax tankers which all fly the Bahamas flag are the Western Baltic, Western Pacific, Western Atlantic, Western Antarctic, Western Arctic and Western Icelandic. The six vessels are due for delivery to TEN in April.

A U. S. Navy 179-ft. Cyclone class patrol boat is scheduled to be formally commissioned as a Coast Guard cutter during a ceremony in their new homeport of Naval Station Pascagoula. After commissioning, the Coast Guard Cutter Tempest will conduct homeland security, search and rescue and law enforcement operations in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and Western Atlantic. The Tempest is the fifth Cyclone class patrol boat commissioned as part of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Navy and Coast Guard signed in 2004. Coast Guard cutters Monsoon (WPC-4) and Zephyr (WPC-8), homeported in San Diego , Calif., and cutters Tornado (WPC-14) and Shamal (WPC-13), homeported in Pascagoula.