Science & Technology

After winning a 3-year contract for more than 80 vessels to VSAT, Iridium and VoIP in 2021, Castor Marine’s connectivity contract has now been renewed by Jan De Nul Group and includes a roll-out of Starlink to most Jan De Nul Group vessels. The experts in marine construction, civil engineering and environmental projects have expressed their continued satisfaction about and need for solid vessel connectivity on a global scale.

Exail, a leading provider of subsea navigation and positioning technologies, has announced the launch of its latest product, the Phins 9 Compact. This new compact high-performance inertial navigation system (INS) is designed for all unmanned underwater vehicles and offers the market’s highest blend of navigation performance, reliability, and Size, Weight, and Power (SWAP) efficiency.

The Norwegian ocean-technology company, Kongsberg Discovery, introduces a new analysis tool developed in partnership with underwater imaging specialist Cathx Ocean that radically reduces the time and effort required to detect and classify objects of interest in seabed surveys undertaken by Kongsberg's market leading HUGIN autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), reducing costs for survey owners and freeing up valuable resources to focus on more important tasks.

Sonardyne is leading a consortium of universities and technology companies in a ground-breaking underwater single photon mapping and imaging system project. They have been awarded £2.7m in funding from the Innovate UK Commercializing Quantum Technologies Challenge.

Inmarsat Maritime, a Viasat company, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Aramco, a global integrated energy and chemicals company, to undertake a 5G “mesh” network trial that aims to provide high-bandwidth connectivity for Aramco’s offshore work in the Arabian Gulf.

The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) has deployed an uncrewed surface vessel (USV) for a pipeline route survey in the Niger Delta. The USV innovation saves time and cost and reduces exposure to personnel and the environment.

The Pulse 8X underwater metal detector has long been the “go to” for public safety dive teams, police departments, government agencies and other forensic teams across the globe who are tasked with locating missing evidence. This missing evidence can help solve crimes and provide families with closure. This detector that has been awarded #1 by US Homeland Security as a commercial grade detector that will locate any metallic object; which is key component to finding disposed of weapons, cell phones and any other items that criminals don’t want found.

Oceaneering announces that its Subsea Robotics segment has achieved a new milestone, successfully completing its first onshore piloting of a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) from an onshore remote operation center (OROC) in Macaé, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

ECHO81 is excited to unveil the first and only Calibration Center in the United States for AML Oceanographic Ltd. equipment at ECHO81 HQ located in Hartwell, GA. This expansion aims to better serve customers in the United States and Latin America, offering efficient, fast, and accurate calibration services for AML Oceanographic equipment.

The innovative structure that will advance floating Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) technology in severe weather-prone regions begins fabrication in March 2024. Developed under the EU-funded project PLOTEC, the scaled platform is expected to be installed in the upcoming months in a testing site in the Canary Islands, Spain. The structure consists of three main parts: a cylindric hull, a cold-water riser pipe and a gimbal connection point. The cold-water riser pipe is being fabricated in Austria by AGRU and the cylindric hull, the largest element of the installation, is under construction at Hidramar Shipyard, in Gran Canaria, with delivery scheduled for June.

Neil Brown Ocean Sensors, Inc. (NBOSI), a pioneer in research-quality conductivity-temperature sensors for mobile marine platforms, launches its latest innovation ahead of Oceanology International in London. The new integrated CTD Sensor promises to redefine underwater data collection, addressing an increasing demand for smaller, more capable unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) in various industries.

Fugro and PlanBlue are teaming up in a strategic partnership to advance habitat mapping technology, a significant move for both companies as they integrate new mapping technology and digital solutions within Fugro's existing systems.