Seabotix News

The 2014 Maritime Security West conference is underway in Tacoma, Washington. The preconference day included tours of the Port of Tacoma, the City of Tacoma’s Marine Security Operations Center and the opportunity to view and ride a large number of tactical craft belonging to local police, sheriff fire and rescue departments at the Foss Waterway Seaport moorage. King County Sheriff’s Department gave a flying demonstration of the airborne tactical extraction platform (AirTEP). SeaBotix provided a demonstration of a remotely operated underwater vehicle.

Heeding the call to join “An Ocean in Common,” authors flooded the Oceans ‘13 MTS/IEEE San Diego technical program committee with a record number of abstracts in a single day. Special topics include an Ultra-deep track discussing current and prospective robotic technologies, plus a panel of scientists to consider research questions. Oceans2013 Chair Bob Wernli, and Co-Chair Kevin Hardy, developer of the unmanned landers for James Cameron’s DeepSea Challenge Expedition, will be the session conveners. “James’ intention is to be certain the door remains open to other explorers,” Hardy said.

In the early days of subsea technology, there were a number of pioneers: men and women who stepped over the edge of what we knew about the underwater world. These individuals left the comfort of solid ground to explore beneath the waves and report back to the rest of us what they had seen. They pushed boundaries, raised the stakes and in some instances opened our minds to the possibilities. They were subsea visionaries. Today, those boundaries continue to be pushed, and undersea technology, now more than ever, is reaching new heights.

Ocean Business 2013 at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton will welcome 300+ worldwide companies to its upcomeng show. One of the most exciting elements of the show is that visitors can actually see equipment in action and ‘test-drive’ products before they purchase. This year’s Ocean Business is running an unmissable programme of free training and demonstrations, running over 180 hours where leading companies will introduce new products, technologies and techniques. As Ocean Business takes place at Southampton’s National Oceanography Centre, the facilities are first class and demonstrations can take place on vessels, at the dockside, in test tanks or seminar rooms.

The Duke University Center on Globalization, Governance and Competitiveness (CGGC) recently completed a study on ocean technologies, including remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), for a consortium led by Nova Scotia’s Department of Economic and Rural Development and Tourism (ERDT). Excerpts from the report on the market and technology trends in ROVs and AUVs are provided in this article. Global ROV vehicle sales in 2010 totaled approximately $850 million.