Smd News

France-based STAPEM Group has chosen Sonardyne’s Ranger 2 Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL) technology as the permanent solution for one of its flagship offshore support vessels, the STAPEM Boreale.Operating in one of STAPEM Group’s key regions, Angola, the vessel is now equipped with a Ranger 2 GyroUSBL 7000 system, an all-in-one, high-performance USBL system for precise positioning performance, previously used on a hire basis.Ranger 2 GyroUSBL 7000 is optimized for ultra-deepwater operations and, like all Ranger 2 GyroUSBL systems, includes a single, pre-calibrated transceiver head.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at boosting the deep-sea mining industry, marking his latest attempt to boost U.S. access to nickel, copper and other critical minerals used widely across the economy.The order, which Trump signed in private, seeks to jumpstart the mining of both U.S. and international waters as part of a push to offset China's sweeping control of the critical minerals industry.Parts of the Pacific Ocean and elsewhere are estimated to contain…

Japan-based Penta-Ocean Construction has signed a shipbuilding contract with PaxOcean Group for the construction of a self-propelled large-scale cable laying vessel (CLV), expanding its capabilities from offshore wind turbine construction to power cable laying for the industry.The new CLV will be self-propelled, mounted with two 5,000 t cable carousels (a total of 10,000 t) also known as cable storage, enabling safe and efficient cable laying in the open sea with severe metocean conditions.Equipped with a latest trencher (for burying cables) and work class ROV…

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…

300 students from Institute of Technical Education, junior colleges, polytechnics, and universities participated in the 6th edition of the Singapore Maritime Dialogue (SMD), which featured a lively panel discussion on the theme of ‘Maritime Singapore in the Age of Digitization’.The group exchanged views on the digital revolution taking place in the maritime industry with invited panelists comprising Guest-of-Honour, Dr Lam Pin Min, Senior Minister of State for Ministry of Transport and Health; Mr John Hahn, CEO and Co-Founder of Ocean Freight Exchange; Mr Richard Koh, Chief Technology Officer of Microsoft Singapore; and Ms Melissa Kee, Chief Human Resources Officer of Kuok Singapore Ltd.

Soil Machine Dynamics (SMD) announces that a deep-sea Quasar Work Class Remotely Operated Vehicle (WROV) has successfully completed sea trials.The 6000-meters-rated WROV, complemented with an electric drive dual-purpose winch and launch and recovery system (LARS), reached the seabed at 5,760 meters during the trials.The complete turnkey solution was recently delivered to Shanghai Salvage and has undergone extensive testing at various depths. The system was supplied with interchangeable winch drums which can be changed out on deck to achieve operational service at depths up to 3000m or 6000m when required.By making use of electric motors powered via a Low Harmonic Variable Speed Drive application…

A record 400 tertiary students attended  annual Singapore Maritime Dialogue (SMD), organised by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).This is the first time MPA has teamed up with students from the National University of Singapore to engage and encourage their peers to participate in the SMD.Centred on the theme “Building a Future-Ready Maritime Singapore”, the panel comprising Guest-of-Honour, Senior Minister of State for Ministry of Transport and Health, Dr Lam Pin Min, Mr Andrew Tan, Chief Executive of MPA, and industry professionals Mr Alvin Ea, CEO and Co-Founder of Haulio, Mr Eric Chean, CEO of Ship Supplies Direct Pte Ltd…

Damen Dredging Equipment is well known for its deliveries of standard dredging components. Usually, deliveries of items such as dredge pumps and dredge valves are for hopper dredgers or cutter suction dredgers. Recent deliveries were for a more exotic use: the Damen dredge pumps and valves have been fitted in remote operated deep sea mining vehicles. These deep sea mining vehicles, also called Seafloor Production Tools (SPTs), have been manufactured by Soil Machine Dynamics (SMD). This UK-based company designed and built three SPTs, each for a specific task.

UK subsea equipment manufacturer Specialist Machine Developments (SMD) has been acquired by Zhuzhou CSR Times Electric Co, a subsidiary of Chinese company CSR Corporation. The two companies have signed a sale and purchase agreement for the entire share capital of the SMD group. SMD will remain independent in its business operations, and day-to-day functions will still be controlled by its original management team. SMD is organized across a number of business streams, including Work Class ROVs, Subsea Trenching, Submerged Mining and Marine Renewables. SMD's product portfolio includes the world’s largest range of subsea remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) such as work-class and specialist trenching vehicles…

Bibby Offshore announced today that its Asian Division, Bibby Offshore Singapore (‘BOS’), has secured a contract with the Moattama Gas Transportation Company (“MGTC”). MGTC, a joint venture between Total (operator), Unocal, PTT-EP and Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, has appointed BOS to provide ROV pipeline inspection, remedial work and associated project management on its South East Asia asset offshore Myanmar. Bibby Offshore will supply its DP2 ROV support vessel, Bibby Spring.

Bibby Offshore’s Houston-based division, Bibby Subsea, welcomed the Olympic Ares, a multifunctional subsea construction support vessel (CSV) which is due to arrive in the port of Galveston on December 16, 2014. The 115-meter Olympic Ares features a 250-metric-ton heave compensated crane for subsea use to 3,000-meter water depth and 1,300-square-meter of clear back deck space. Ahead of arrival in Galveston, the Olympic Ares was recently installed with two SMD Quantum MkIII 250hp 3,000-meter rated Work Class ROVs.

Nautilus Minerals Inc. will begin assembling its third and final Seafloor Production Tool (SPT), the Auxiliary Cutter (AC), this week at Soil Machine Dynamics’ (SMD) facility in Newcastle in Tyne, UK. Nautilus' CEO, Mike Johnston said “we are pleased that the assembly of the AC, the third and final of the three SPTs has now commenced, with the arrival of the chassis at the SMD facility. The next milestone for the SPTs will be the commencement of Factory Acceptance Testing on the already assembled Bulk Cutter (BC). We look forward to reporting on this progress next month”.

The opening of the world's first mine in the deep ocean comes closer to reality as Canadian mining company, Nautilus Minerals, signs an agreement with the Papua New Guinea Government to start excavating an area of seabed. The project will extract ores of copper, gold and other valuable metals from a depth of 1,500m, The mine will target an area of hydrothermal vents where superheated, highly acidic water emerges from the seabed, where it encounters far colder and more alkaline seawater, forcing it to deposit high concentrations of minerals. The result is that the seabed is formed of ores that are far richer in gold and copper than ores found on land.

The world's first deep sea mining robot sits idle on a British factory floor, waiting to claw up high grade copper and gold from the seabed off Papua New Guinea (PNG) - when a wrangle over terms is solved. Beyond PNG, in international waters, regulation and royalty terms for mining the planet's subsea wealth have also yet to be finalised. The world waits for the judgement of a United Nations agency based in Jamaica. "If we can take care of the environment we have a brand new day ahead of us.

Bibby Remote Intervention Limited (BRIL), part of Aberdeen-based subsea installation contractor, Bibby Offshore, has further expanded its fleet by signing a charter agreement for an IRM (Inspection Repair and Maintenance) light construction vessel and adding an additional two ROVs (Remote Operating Vehicles) to its operations. The charter agreement with Olympic Shipping is for a newly built MT6021 vessel for a three year period, with options to extend for an additional two years. The vessel will be mobilized with ROVs from BRIL and is expected to arrive in Aberdeen in early April next year.

Bibby Offshore Singapore (BOS) said it has successfully completed a call out contract with PTT Exploration & Production Co Ltd (PTTEP). The project involved a short notice mobilization, and saw the BOS-operated DP2 ROV Support Vessel, the Bibby Spring perform subsea inspection services to PTTEP’s Bongkot Field assets in the Gulf of Thailand. The work was successfully completed within PTTEP’s restricted timeframe. Darren Morgan, Managing Director of Bibby Offshore Singapore,said, “The team work tirelessly to ensure we deliver on time and within budget.

Aberdeen-based subsea installation contractor Bibby Offshore has invested close to £30million in the past six months increasing its international fleet of subsea support vessels by 40%. Most recently, the company signed a contract to charter EDT Jane, a newbuild remotely operated vehicle support vessel (ROVSV). The company now boasts a fleet of eight vessels and 15 Remote Operating Vehicles (ROV). This dedicated ROVSV with full survey and inspection spread will be mobilized from April 2014 as part of a 180 day charter,  with options to extend for an additional three years.

Bibby Offshore Singapore (BOS) announced the successful completion of extensive inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) work on Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP) offshore assets. The project involved the inspection of BSP’s East and West assets and covered a total of 48 pipelines, with a combined length of 272km, and 93 platform risers. The work was performed by the Bibby Spring operated by BOS. The DP2 ROV Support Vessel is fully configured for IRM operations and boasts dual ROV capability, including the Atom, the latest compact workclass ROV from SMD.

As part of its continuing global growth strategy, subsea installation contractor Bibby Offshore has announced the opening of a new division and international base in Houston. The company, that also has bases in Aberdeen, Liverpool, Singapore and Trinidad, has initially invested over £3million into the new division, Bibby Subsea Inc. As part of the expansion plan, Andrew Duncan will relocate to Houston, from his existing position of business and commercial director at the company’s Aberdeen HQ, to president and managing director of Bibby Subsea.

Before the close of the inaugural Oceanology International China (OI China) held in Shanghai in early September, more than 70% of the space available for the next show in the series, being held September 3-5 , 2014 at INTEX Shanghai, had been reserved. “Our new show in the long-standing Oceanology International series not only lived up to expectations, but exceeded them,” said Event Director James Coleman of Reed Exhibitions. “4,296 visitors attended over the three days, making 5…

Soil Machine Dynamics & Seebyte announce successful integration of SeeTrack CoPilot to SMD's work-class ROV system. The integration and trials, which took place in Fort William, Scotland, in mid-January, saw SeeByte’s SeeTrack CoPilot Software system for dynamic positioning and real-time monitoring of work class ROVs, successfully carry out a number of survey missions using the software’s easy to use, point-and-click interface. The software provides advanced features such as flight-modes…

Aberdeen-based subsea installation contractor Bibby Offshore has announced investment of around £11million in Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) systems for its latest division, Bibby Remote Intervention Limited (BRIL). Initial investment of close to £4million has been made in ROV systems for Bibby Offshore’s fleet of Diving Support Vessels (DSVs) to bring the service provision in-house, while 46 jobs have been created on and offshore within the division already this year. BRIL has installed Sub Atlantic Comanche ROVs on all three of Bibby Offshore’s North Sea fleet of DSVs…

Kongsberg Maritime awarded two contracts by SMD to supply cameras for subsea trenching & mining vehicles. The first contract is for cameras and accessories for a new generation high powered deep water Trencher, recently delivered and currently undergoing sea trials. The Trencher is capable of operating in water depths of up to 3000 meters and jet trenching in soils of up to 100KPA and chain cutting of soils up to 250KPA. The second contract is for an extensive package of cameras…