MTR September Cover - Magazines

November/December 2010 www.seadiscovery.com

iRobotAdvancing Subsea Robotics

SecurityDetecting, Deterring, Defeating

Five Minutes with Jane Rutherford, DFAIT

Book ReviewMATE’s Underwater

Robotics

MARINETECHNOLOGY

R E P O R T E R

Floating Production Sector Looks Promising The View from St. John’s

(U.S

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avy

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2 MTR November/December 2010

Maritime Domain Awareness

12 Information Ahead of PlatformsAn interview with Mark Andress, Directory, Navy Maritime Domain Awareness, USN. by Edward Lundquist

Book Review

16 Underwater Robotics MATE set out to write, and delivers, a comprehensive textbook with advanced information for stu dents and teachers.

The View from St. John’s

22 Spotlight on Underwater Vehicles St. John’s, Newfoundland hosted the subsea industry for Oceans Week. by Andrew Safer

Five Minutes with

26 Jane Rutherford, DFAIT An overview of Canada’s subsea culture. by Greg Trauthwein

Company Focus: iRobot

34 Advancing Robotics Underwater In an increasingly crowded unmanned underwater vehicles field,iRobot stands out. by Greg Trauthwein

Underwater Security

40 Detecting, Deterring, Defeating Intelligent use of advanced technologies is essential to keep critical infrastructure secure. by Rear Admiral Chris Parry

November/December 2010

contentsMarine Technology Reporter • Volume 53 • Number 9

CNO Adm. GaryRoughead deliveringremarks at the AUVSIUnmanned SystemsNorth America 2010.Adm. Roughead is plac-ing increased emphasison the capabilities ofunmanned underwatersystems.

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EVENTS CALENDARMTR maintains a list of upcoming industry events. Search an eventor post information on your event atwww.seadiscovery.com/mt/MTCalendar2.aspx

General Oceanics, Inc.1295 NW 163rd street

Miami, Florida 33169 USATel: 305-621-2882 • Fax: 305-621-1710

[email protected] www.GeneralOceanics.com

Further information:www.GeneralOceanics.com/genocean/8050/8050html

Introduces its new Model 8050 Autonomous pCO2 Monitoring System.

�� Efficient equilibration of sea water and a confined air space�� Infrared analysis of CO2 concentrations�� Automatic Calibration�� Integrated computer and control software�� Integrated GPS location and atmospheric conditions�� Satellite Date transmission

Continuous measurement, recording and transmission of sea surfaceCo2 Levels.

General Oceanics, Inc.

See us at OI 2008Stand 1444

the AuthorsCapt. Edward Lundquist, USN (Ret.), is asenior science writer for MCR LLC, and a reg-ular contributor to Marine TechnologyReporter.See Story on page 18

Andrew Safer is a St. John’s, Newfoundlandbased reporter on subsea technology.See Story on page 22

Rear Admiral Christopher J. Parry CBE is aformer British naval officer who is Chair of theUK Government’s Marine ManagementOrganisation and a leading world authority onmaritime issues and security. He is also a senioradviser to Coda Octopus. See Story on page 40

www.seadiscovery.com Marine Technology Reporter 5

The X PRIZE Foundation (www.xprize.org), bestknown for launching the private spaceflight industrythrough the $10m Ansari X PRIZE, and the ultra-fuelefficient vehicle market through the $10m ProgressiveInsurance Automotive X PRIZE, announced the launchof its sixth major incentive competition, the $1.4mWendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X Challenge. WendySchmidt is president of The Schmidt Family Foundation,Founder of the Foundation’s 11th Hour Project andClimate Central, as well as Co-founder, with her husbandEric, of the Schmidt Marine Science Research Institute.Other speakers included Philippe Cousteau, son of Janand Philippe Cousteau Sr., and grandson of CaptainJacques-Yves Cousteau and co-founder and CEO ofEarthEcho International; and Dr. Dave Gallo, Ph.D.,Director of Special Projects at the Woods HoleOceanographic Institute.

The goal of the Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup XChallenge is to inspire entrepreneurs, engineers, and sci-

entists worldwide to develop innovative, rapidly deploy-able, and highly efficient methods of capturing crude oilfrom the ocean surface. The Wendy Schmidt Oil CleanupX Challenge has two phases:

Phase I: From August 2010 – April 2011, teams areinvited to register and to submit their approach to cleanup oil slicks. An expert panel of judges from industry andacademia will evaluate all of the proposals.

Phase II: The judges will select up to 10 of the top teamsto demonstrate their ability to efficiently and rapidly cleanup oil on the ocean surface in a head-to-head competition.These proofs of capability, which will determine the win-ner, will take place at the National Oil Spill ResponseResearch & Renewable Energy Test Facility (OHSMETT)in New Jersey. The top team that demonstrates the abilityto recover oil on the seawater surface at the highest oilrecovery rate (ORR) and recovery efficiency (RE) will winthe $1m Grand Purse. Second place will win $300,000and third place will win $100,000 in purses.

The Wendy Schmidt Oil Clean-Up Challenge

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Year end is traditionally a time of reflection and plan-ning; an opportunity to evaluate what has occurredand incorporate these insights to better chart for

future success. Despite a slowly recovering global economyand the universal tightening of budgets — from universitiesto government to corporations — today is a particularlyinteresting and potentially lucrative time to be in the busi-ness of subsea technology.

Offshore: While the Macondo spill in the Gulf of Mexico has quickly evaporatedfrom front page news, the lingering effects — particularly the discussion and imple-mentation of new rules and regulations in the wake of the disaster — will linger. Butaccording to Jim McCaul, a noted offshore industry market analyst and head of IMA(www.imastudies.com), the recently lifted offshore drilling moratorium and result-ing regulations will do little to stunt the industry's long-term growth. A report, witha bullish prediction of floating production systems, is on page 8.

Defense & Maritime Security: In a meeting earlier this summer, U.S. Navy CNOAdmiral Gary Roughead signaled the USN’s increased interest in the continuedadvancement of unmanned underwater systems, and a number of security breachesglobally have kept the importance of port and harbor security — both in militaryand commercial sectors — at the forefront. Rear Admiral Chris Parry, starting onpage 40, shares his thoughts on the “intelligent use of advanced technologies” to helpminimize subsea threats. Starting on page 12, we are pleased to offer insights fromMark Andress, Director, Navy Maritime Domain Awareness, U.S. Navy, regardingthe latest position on the USN and Maritime Domain Awareness.

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editorial

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Gutta-percha is a genus of tropicaltrees found naturally in SoutheastAsia and in many South Pacificislands. More importantly, for pur-poses of this posting, the term is alsoapplied to the sap of these trees. Thesap is an inelastic natural latex, some-what similar to the sap of the rubbertree. The trees themselves can growto be over 100 feet in height and upto nine feet in circumference. Theleaves are a glossy evergreen, betweenfive and ten inches in length. Thetree produces berries up to two inch-es in diameter. The sap is biological-ly inert, water resistant, resilient topressure, and (most significantly) agood electrical insulator. Unlikeunvulcanized rubber (so-called Indiarubber), gutta-percha does notbecome brittle over time. Shortlyafter the invention of the electricaltelegraph in 1837, it became apparentthat laying a submarine communica-tions cable between Europe and theUnited States could be both highlybeneficial and highly profitable.Various experiments were conducted.One of the major problems was keep-ing seawater out of the cable. Testssoon revealed that gutta-percha wasan excellent coating for the cable, as itwas flexible, electrically insulating,and largely impervious to seawater.For the next hundred years, up untilthe chemical revolutions followingWorld War II, gutta-percha was theproduct of choice for submarinecables globally. Its bio-inertness hasalso made gutta-percha useful in vari-ous medical applications. It is stillused in dentistry to fill the emptyspace inside the root of a tooth fol-lowing root canal procedures.Utilizing its thermoplastic character-istics, companies for many years

made decorative and functionalobjects (such as chess pieces, tea trays,and plaques) out of gutta-percha. Itwas also used for the core of golf ballsand for hand grips on revolvers andpistols.

The submarine cable industry,though, owes its tremendous successto the viscous juice of an obscuretropical tree.

(Posted on MaritimeProfessional.comby Dennis Bryant)


Gutta-percha

A Big Factor in the Early Sub Cable Industry


news

The number of floating production systems continues togrow – 250 floating production units are now in service oravailable worldwide. Five years ago there were 177 units,ten years ago 119 units. In the current inventory are 155floating production storage offloading vessels (FPSO), 42production semis, 22 tension leg platforms, 18 produc-tion spars, 8 production barges and five floating storageregasification vessels (FSRU). Current order backlog con-sists of 49 production floaters. In the backlog are 35FPSOs, 6 production semis, 1 tension leg platform, 3FSRUs and 4 floating gas liquefaction vessels (FLNG).Brazil continues to dominate orders for productionfloaters. Of the 49 production floaters on order, 19 unitsare being built for use offshore Brazil – about 40 percentof the order backlog. Seven units on order do not havefield destinations at this time. They include 4 FLNGs, 1FPSO in liquidation and 2 FPSOs where work has beenslowed.

Available production floatersEleven production floaters are off field and looking for

work as of mid-November. Not all of these units will like-ly find new employment. Some are candidates for scrap-ping. But among the available units are at least a halfdozen FPSOs that appear capable of being modified andcompetitively redeployed. In addition, the three FPSOsand four FLNGs that were speculatively ordered are avail-able for field deployment. The number of available unitswill likely grow over the next several years. A significantnumber of FPSOs are reaching end of field life. ThreeFPSOs have been on field for more than 20 years, 8 formore than 15 years and 27 for more than ten years. Atleast half of these units look like redeploy candidates, par-ticularly 15 units that have been operating in the NorthSea more than ten years and 2 units that have been oper-ating more than ten years off Australia.

According to Jim McCaul, head ofHouston/Washington based offshore industry marketanalysts, “the fundamentals driving the floating produc-tion market look very strong.” McCaul says “IMA is nowtracking 196 offshore projects at various stages of designor planning that potentially require a floating productionor storage system.” New safety and permitting regulations

imposed as a result of the Macondo spill will slow drillingstarts in the short term and add cost to future offshoredevelopment. But McCaul said the regulations are unlike-ly to have major long term impact on project developmentin the GOM. “There will be added burden to obtainingpermits and higher cost for equipment such as upgradedBOPs. But the burden will be insignificant in the contextof the revenue potential of a large producing well.”

According to McCaul, development in the GOM hasnot stood still over the past six months. “While the drillmoratorium was in place, several major deepwater projectsin the GOM moved to the development stage. A contractfor a production semi on Tubular Bells was awarded andcontracts for production floaters on three other projects(Olympus TLP, Jack/St. Malo production semi andBigfoot TLP) moved to the contract-imminent stage.”

The Macondo spill generated a flurry of proposals tosuspend drilling in other deepwater areas. But accordingto McCaul, “the proposal by the European Commissionto impose a moratorium on deepwater drilling offshoreEurope was rejected. Canadian authorities decided nodrilling ban offshore Canada was necessary. In Brazil, themost important floater region, deepwater is business asusual.” McCaul said, “at the end of the day, the worldneeds oil and deepwater is a major source of future pro-duction.” For further information on this study

Email: imaassoc@ msn.com or visit www.imastudies.com

IMA Report

Floating Production Sector Looks Promising

FL Governor Proclaims “OceanRenewable Energy Week” Florida Governor Charlie Crist proclaimed November 1-7,2010 as “Ocean Renewable Energy Week” in Florida in obser-vance of a national conference being hosted by theSoutheast National Marine Renewable Energy Center (SNM-REC) in the College of Engineering and Computer Science atFlorida Atlantic University. “Renewable Ocean Energy & theMarine Environment: Responsible Stewardship for aSustainable Future,” will bring together national and interna-tional leaders in ocean renewable energy to explore cutting-edge science and technology to identify gaps in the currentstate of knowledge regarding the environmental impacts ofmarine renewable energy. The conference took placeNovember 3-5, 2010 at PGA National Resort, 400 Avenue ofthe Champions, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.


$60.7B: Total Offshore Wind Spend New research released by energy business analysts Douglas-Westwood reveals the world offshore wind market will

see expenditure of $60.7B over the next five years. By 2015, annual expenditure will be in excess of $19B. With over 3GW of capacity online by the end of 2010 and a further 2GW under construction at present, the off-

shore wind industry is growing extremely quickly. Over the five year period to 2015, more than 11GW of new capac-ity will be installed. The UK, Germany and China are the three biggest markets, which together will install almost9.3GW, or 83%, of total global capacity for the period. The UK will continue its position as the leading market foroffshore wind through the next five years with over 4.4GW of new capacity coming online. For the UK, the biggersuccess story is the momentum which is building in the supply chain with multiple offshore turbine manufacturersestablishing themselves in the country. Critically, in the midst of big cuts to public spending, it has been made clearthat government support for renewable energy and wind in particular is to continue. Although the UK has helpedbuild the momentum in recent years, the large German market is now coming to life with project construction final-ly underway and tendering ongoing on projects for the next five years. Elsewhere in Europe, the Netherlands is nowshowing commitment to the sector, which should allow some of the many planned projects to reach construction.“While Europe has been the hot-spot of activity to date. We anticipate that China will become the world leader inoffshore wind, overtaking the UK early in the next decade,” said John Westwood, Chairman of Douglas-Westwood.“Having entered the offshore wind industry only recently, the country has massive ambition. A succession of smallprojects is now underway with construction of many larger projects imminent. Over 3 billion is expected to be spentin China over the next five years.” http://www.dw-1.com

news

10 MTR Novemner/December 2010

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)received a grant of more than $2m from the Gordon andBetty Moore Foundation for work in imaging informaticsin oceanography. The WHOI study-to be done in collab-oration with the Tetherless World Constellation group atRensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)-is an interdiscipli-nary project that will develop new tools for ocean scien-tists who work with underwater imagery, said Heidi M.Sosik, a senior scientist in Biology and aprincipal investigator along with WHOIInformation Systems Specialist AndrewMaffei. "This project will address someof the challenges we face in convertingour huge underwater imagery data setsinto a better understanding about theocean and its ecosystems," Sosik said.

The Gordon and Betty MooreFoundation's Chief Program Officer,Science, Dr. Vicki Chandler, citedWHOI's research as critical in generat-ing "new knowledge about marineecosystems through designing innovative informaticssolutions to organize and analyze ocean sensor data."

As with many scientific investigations, any such successwill rest on the project's ability to enhance scientificknowledge. For Sosik, this involves understanding howand why phytoplankton blooms occur at different timesand places in the ocean. "We are very interested in thebasic question of what regulates phytoplankton commu-nities," she said. "For example, the timing and occurrenceof the winter plankton blooms are very important forother species that rely on them as a food source-fish andinvertebrates. If the bloom fails one winter, then you mayget low survival of fish. We're all hopeful that, down theroad, the kind of basic information we are collecting willallow us to do a better job of managing fisheries and othercoastal resources."

WHOI has developed a number of innovative underwa-ter imaging systems for research and emerging applica-tions to address issues such as harmful algal bloom miti-gation and ecosystem-based fisheries management. Sosikis co-developer of the Imaging FlowCytobot, an automat-

ed underwater microscope system that has been recordinghigh-resolution images of hundreds of millions of phyto-plankton at the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory(MVCO) for more than four years.

The value of such instrument systems is limited, howev-er, by the lack of efficient and easy to use tools to extractinformation from huge numbers of images and then makethat information readily available to many users. The part-

nership between WHOI and RPI isexpected to go a long way toward bridg-ing that gap and will also set the stage forextending informatics solutions intoother areas of the ocean and Earth sci-ences.

"This data set has the potential to pro-vide us with phenomenal informationabout blooms in New England waters,"Sosik said of the Martha's Vineyardobservations. "And this project will helpus develop the tools we need to efficient-ly extract that information and quickly

learn from it.""The informatics solutions will also make it really easy

to help other users do the same with their data sets, whichis very important since a commercial version of ImagingFlowCytobot is being developed right now," said Sosik,who is currently funded under the Gordon and BettyMoore Foundation's Marine Microbiology Initiative.

The Foundation grant will focus on two other projectsas well: SeaBED, developed by WHOI scientistHanumant Singh and colleagues, and HabCam, a camerasystem that provides a unique glimpse of the seafloorthrough optical imaging. SeaBED, an autonomous under-water vehicle (AUV) that can fly slowly or hover over theseafloor to depths of 6,000 feet (2,000 m), is particularlysuited to collect highly detailed sonar and optical imagesof the seafloor, which can be made into mosaics.

"Over the last decade we have built up the capabilities inour underwater imaging platforms to gather large quanti-ties of data," said Singh, an associate scientist in theApplied Ocean Physics and Engineering department."This grant will help us leap forward, taking that data and

WHOI Receives $2m

Grant for Oceanography Imaging

Co-Principal Investigators HeidiM. Sosik and Andrew Maffei workwith underwater imagery data.

(Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)


digesting it into useable information."The HabCam vehicle flies over the ocean bottom, tak-

ing high-resolution images and creating a continuousimage ribbon 100 nautical miles (185 km) in length eachday. "HabCam provides an expansive view of theseafloor, but we are swamped in images — we collect ahalf million every day," said Gallager, lead scientist forthe vehicle. "Extracting information from those in anautomated and efficient way is essential to addressinglong-standing science questions in benthic ecology. It mayalso enable us to move this technology into operationalfisheries oceanography for the survey of sea scallops,ground fish, and other commercially important species.The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation project willprovide new tools to process and understand an ever-increasing amount of image data."

Maffei said the collaboration with RPI's TetherlessWorld Constellation, headed by Peter Fox, was "crucial toour success" in securing the grant.

UNOLS Polar RV CommitteeUNOLS is seeking nominations for individuals interested inserving on a committee that will verify that the PolarResearch Vessel (PRV) Science Mission Requirements (SMRs)reflect the current and future scientific needs. The PRVCommittee (PRVC) membership shall be comprised of up to12 individuals who will represent the various science disci-plines. In addition to members of the academic community,the committee shall include individuals with experience inresearch vessel operations and technical support, as well asnaval architects. Details are available on-line atwww.unols.org/committees/prvc/PRVC_StatementOfTask.pdf. Nominations to serve on the PRVC can be sent tothe UNOLS Office and self nominations are encouraged.Applicants or nominees should submit a brief statement ofinterest in serving on PRVC along with a CV to the UNOLSOffice by email: [email protected]. Include information aboutsea-going and/or polar experience. Appointments will bemade in a manner to achieve a balance of expertise in thedifferent scientific disciplines and technical areas. Committeemembers will be formally appointed by the UNOLS Chair.


The U.S. Navy has made a significant shift from beingfocused on platforms to being focused on information,according to Mark Andress, Director of Navy MaritimeDomain Awareness. Admiral Gary Roughead, the Chiefof Naval Operations (CNO), has recognized that thefuture budget may not support the number of platformswe need, and the Navy must better integrate the platformsit has. He recognizes that the explosion in informationand the threats to the cyberdomain that we’re seeingrequires the Navy to betterfocus on information atlarge,” Andress says. “Thatmeans wholesale, from howwe acquire a future Navy,all the way to how we oper-ationalize it. If you want toknow where the Navy isheading in the next decade,it’s about information.”

Andress says the CNOviews this transformation as“being as significant as thetransformation from sail tosteam to nuclear power. Heis really trying to get us tolook at information andcapabilities across all levelsof war and across all disci-plines.”

The principals of net-centric warfare remain valid,Andress says. “Every platform a sensor, every sensor net-worked, and information available for use across that net-work whenever you need it.”

But he says there’s more, he says. “There is going to bethe need for persistent ISR (intelligence, surveillance andreconnaissance), and a very aggressive approach intounmanned systems, to include unmanned aerial vehiclesundersea vehicles and surface vehicles. Persistence is the

key to going forward.”Persistence means the ability to keep a sensor in place for

extended periods of time, and to be able to control it froma source far away. Just as important is expanding a stateof processing, integrating intelligence, expanding commu-nication capabilities, he says.

“With over 90% of global trade being conducted on thesea, it’s more than just maritime nations that are affected

by protection of the globalcommons—it’s essentiallythe world,” Andress says.“We have been activelyfocusing on fostering anenvironment where globalmaritime safety and securityis a priority.”

Andress says there hasbeen an improvementaround the world. “Thislast October, we hosted theInternational SeapowerSymposium ISS – 19, at theNaval War College. Over ahundred navies were repre-sented, including 90 headsof navies. One of the bigthemes was maritimedomain awareness (MDA),or maritime situational

awareness (MSA) as some countries around the world callit. We agreed that all of us need to a better job on issuessuch as piracy, terrorism at sea, illicit trafficking. We’vegot to do better at sharing information, and creating bet-ter understanding of trafficking in our own waters. Manyof these countries have been pretty aggressive at standingup the Automated Information System (AIS) and inte-grating coastal radar systems with AIS. We’re starting tosee regional cooperatives. For example, in the

Information Ahead of Platforms

The Navy and Maritime Domain AwarenessAn interview with Mark Andress, Director, Navy Maritime Domain Awareness, U.S. Navy.

By Edward Lundquist


Mediterranean, you’ve got VRMTC, Virtual RegionalMaritime Traffic Center. That is a cooperative in theMediterranean basin where they’re all sharing their pictureamongst each other and then they are trying to advancethat, with more and more information sharing as can beagreed. We see the same thing in the Pacific and we seethe same thing in the Northern Med, and the Black Sea,etc. What’s good about these regional networks is thatyou essentially get a coalition of the willing that is able toeffectively share information.”

Andress says information-sharing hurdles arise whenattempting to establish a single, global network. “It’s justtoo big to overcome, especially as it relates to the infor-mation on commercial shipping.”

The U.S. government recognizes that it’s not a just aNavy issue, or even a Navy-Coast Guard issue. “If we’regoing to achieve effective maritime security, it’s got to bean inter-agency, whole-of-government approach. Sothrough the maritime domain awareness effort, we’rebringing together Coast Guard and Navy, FBI, Customs

and Border Protection, the Maritime Administration. Wehave an entire government structure around trying to fos-ter better and better information sharing amongst inter-agency partners, including the intelligence community.”

These other countries are realizing this, as well. We’vehosted multiple operational games, if you will, invitingdifferent countries. We started inviting their customs,immigration and state department reps to come with theirnavies. We started information-sharing scenarios, and atthe end of it, they’re all realizing “Wow, this isn’t a navy-navy issue; this is really a whole-of-government issue.”

“Inside the United States, we’re continuing to expandour partnerships, and now with our foreign partners,they’re trying to do the same,” he says. “It’s almost like asocial network starting to form and this social network isexpanding into regions. Our next focus is going to be onlinking the various regions together. We’ve got someefforts this year that are making a lot of progress betweenlinking together a region in South America, with theMediterranean, with the Indian Ocean, and then with the

Asia-Pacific region. So it ends up being about 50-someodd countries linked through four different regional part-ners. Inside the regional partners, they are sharing a lot ofinformation. And then they’ll start with a small group,sharing information back and forth.”

Andress says the solution must include industry more.That’s an area that where I think can always use improve-ment. We’ve hosted an industry day and invited industryto come in and hear us explain our requirements, majortechnology gaps, and where we need help. We openly pre-

sented a wide array of gaps from maritime application ofinfra-red and video surveillance to information integra-tion and anomaly detection. We want industry to knowwhere to direct their IRADD (Individual Research andDevelopment Dollars) to get to a certain point that we’regoing to be interested in acquiring what they offer. Wetold them, ‘We want to be your best customer.’ We willhost another Industry Day next year and welcome partic-ipation from the commercial maritime industry.”

The second area is more in direct partnership withindustry on maritime security cooperation, Andress says.“I think the best place you can see this right now is in theHorn of Africa in countering piracy. The Navy is a partof a combined task force of protection against piracy inthe Gulf of Aden off of Somalia. But this CTF is madeup of international partner navies from around the world.They’ve got a strong EU and NATO presence, and they’veeven got partnerships from the Asia-Pacific region, as well.So, what they’re doing now is making industry aware ofthe transit zones and transit groups so shipping can tran-sit through at certain times and we are able to provide bet-ter protection in the region. What I also think is interest-ing is that we have had fairly aggressive information shar-ing with industry, through the Maritime Administration(MARAD), such that Navy and even the intelligencecommunity—the Office of Naval Intelligence and theNational Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).

Sharing information can raise sensitivities with industry,Andress admits. “I’m a licensed ship captain, so I’veshipped. There are a lot of sensitivities with respect to themaritime domain, especially in partnering with industry.I certainly understand that the commercial carriers pre-serve privacy for the goods they transport. There’s a com-petition factor, too. You’ve got markets, especially forcommodities that are driven by very timely pricing.Understanding positioning of ships and where certainthings are going to arrive at certain times can be market-changers. So, there are a lot of sensitivities in dealing withthe maritime industry that doesn’t make it as black-and-white as you might think. We need to move out, but weneed to be sensitive and we need to do it in a way thatallows us to take steady strain and make progress.”


Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Gary Rougheaddelivers remarks and answers questions at the AUVSIUnmanned Systems North America 2010 Symposium &Exhibition in Colorado. (U.S. Navy photo)


“Our strategy is about establishing trust and sharing ina region. I don’t have to have all the information from aregional partnership led by a foreign country in theirregion, but I do want to know when they discover anissue of concern to the United States. I don’t have tosuck up the data and process the data myself. The fact isyou’re not going to make much progress trying to estab-lish that level of data ingest and processing to get theanswer. So, within these regional partnerships, there isprocessing and alerting based on criteria they’re lookingfor. It varies by region and by threat. It varies if you area Customs and Border Patrol or the United States CoastGuard. You’ve got different criteria you’re looking for.And, certainly, the Navy has different things that it looksas do our foreign partners. The important point is thatthe alerts and the issues of interest are shared across thesenetworks,” Andress says. “And by establishing thesesharing networks, you’re also better able to respond attimes of crisis. You’ve got a known group of people thatyou can reach out to for other information. Oftentimes,those barriers to sharing information may exist on a dayto day basis, but during crisis these barriers suddenlyshift, and information starts pouring more freely to helpaddress a certain issue.”

“If all of that information was available, all the time,then I could connect the known terrorist watch list tothe ship that is loading a passenger in Romania, forexample, and I could act. But there are a million andone obstacles between connecting that all together. Thebiggest obstacle is trust.”

“The end state we are striving for is the creation of acooperative network of regionally focused informationsharing exchanges that are able to connect the dots ofpotential threats from the maritime domain and rapidlyrespond in times of crisis,” he says.

“The Navy’s future is in information and we can betterintegrate it, better process it for understanding, and howto better partner and share it in order to better protectthe United States and its maritime industry,” Andresssays.

Capt. Edward Lundquist, USN (Ret.), is a senior sciencewriter for MCR LLC.

About the BookUnderwater Robotics:Science, Design & Fabrication

• ISBN: 978-0-9841737-0-9

• Authors: Dr. Steven W. Moore, Harry Bohm, Vickie Jensen

• Illustrator: Nola Johnston

• Pages: 770 with bios, appendices, glossary and index

• Over 500 illustrations, diagrams and photographs

• Publisher: Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE)Center, Monterey, CA

• Ordering info: www.westcoastwords.com or www.marinetech.org

• Price: $99.95 plus shipping

There was a time when designing and fabricating under-water robots to carry out subsea work was the domain ofprofessionals, preferably those with lots of expertise andeducation. But things have changed. And how! Over thelast decade, underwater robots have invaded hundreds ofgarage workshops and junior high, senior high, homeschool, and university classrooms, as teachers, students,and tech enthusiasts have been drawn to the hands-onlearning that designing, building, and piloting theseunderwater craft can provide.

Many of these newcomers cut their teeth on Build YourOwn Underwater Robot and Other Wet Projects, anenthusiastic introduction co-authored by Harry Bohmand Vickie Jensen and published by Westcoast Words.Student teams built and learned by participating in eventssuch as the Marine Advanced Technology Education(MATE) Center’s international ROV competition pro-gram, which annually challenges thousands of young

inventors to create ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles)to grapple with a series of “real life” underwater scenarios.

But students and teachers wanted more. Building onthis groundswell of enthusiasm for its ROV competitions,MATE set out to write a comprehensive textbook thatwould provide more advanced information, answers, andideas for teachers as well as both beginning and interme-diate students or do-it-yourself inventors. The result isUnderwater Robotics: Science, Design & Fabrication, bySteve Moore, Harry Bohm, and Vickie Jensen and pub-lished by the MATE Center.

The MATE Center is one of more than 30 AdvancedTechnological Education Centers established with fund-ing from the National Science Foundation.Headquartered at Monterey Peninsula College, inMonterey, California, MATE is a national partnership ofcommunity colleges, research institutions, professionalsocieties, government organizations, and marine indus-

Preparing the Next Generation

Underwater RoboticsScience, Design & Fabrication



tries working to improve marinetechnical education and meet theneeds of the ocean workforce.MATE’s student ROV com-peti¬tions, its summer institutes forfaculty development, and this text-book are all examples of products andservices developed by the Center tofulfill its mission.

The textbook was a tall order--tocreate a resource that would intro-duce students, educators, and otheraspiring inventors to subsea technol-ogy and demonstrate the wide rangeof career options in contemporaryocean science, technology, and engi-neering.

To do so, the authors provide clear,concise scientific information for arange of readers, from those just get-ting their feet wet in the underwaterworld to those already immersed inthe field. The pages of text feature

numerous illustrations that depictthose scientific principles, as well asphotographs comparing do-it-your-self-built craft with commercialrobots and submersibles functioningin the real world.

The textbook also provides a designrationale, as well as stressing theimportance of teamwork, safety,deadlines, and budget, all essentialskills whether readers are buildingrobotic craft for a competition or self-designed underwater mission or aregoing on to a subsea career. Equallyimportant in the book are the exam-ples and projects that provide hands-on learning, as well as adaptationsand modifications for additional mis-sions.

Does Underwater Robotics live upto this challenge? Marty Klein, sidescan sonar pioneer, looked at finalchapter drafts and stated, “This book

MATE competition, 2008.


is going to become an instant classic.” Drew Michel, chairof the Marine Technology Society’s ROV Committeesays, “This is the book that underwater robotics educatorshave been waiting for.”

Underwater Robotics: Science, Design & Fabrication iswritten for advanced high school classes, college and uni-versity entry-level courses, and the underwater technolo-gy enthusiast. Each chapter begins with a true scenario(called Stories From Real Life) that sets the stage for theocean science, physics, math, electronics, and engineeringconcepts that follow. All chapters include an outline,learning outcomes, and summary. The range of chaptersubject matter is as follows:CHAPTER 1: Underwater VehiclesCHAPTER 2: Design ToolkitCHAPTER 3: Working in WaterCHAPTER 4: Structure and MaterialsCHAPTER 5: Pressure Hulls and CanistersCHAPTER 6: Buoyancy, Stability, and BallastCHAPTER 7: Moving and ManeuveringCHAPTER 8: Power SystemsCHAPTER 9: Navigation and ControlCHAPTER 10: PayloadsCHAPTER 11: OperationsCHAPTER 12: SeaMATE• Chapters 1-2 provide an introductory overview ofmanned and unmanned underwater craft (from earliesttimes to modern day) and suggest pragmatic strategies fordesigning underwater robots (particularly ROVs).

• Chapters 3-10 introduce the limitations and chal-lenges of working in water then focus on specific techni-cal issues, ranging from structure and materials to powersystems and payloads. In each of these topics, the relevantscience is paired with practical robotics. The chapters arefilled with visual and textual examples, ranging from basichome-built vehicles to complex, commercial craft.

• Chapter 11 and 12 move from theory into hands-onlearning. Chapter 11 details how to prepare and carry outmissions, particularly those conducted by smaller ROVs.Chapter 12 provides complete plans and instructions forSeaMATE, a build-as-you-learn ROV, then discussesideas and strategies for more advanced projects.

This 770-page resource features over 500 color photo-graphs and illustrations. The wealth of photographs helpreaders connect with actual examples of commercial andscientific subsea robotic craft. The straight-forward illus-trations are designed to expand and explain textual con-


cepts. The textbook concludes withauthor bios, appendices, glossary, andindex.

The varied expertise of the three co-authors combines to provide a veryreadable mix of science, design andfabrication tips, and pedagogy. Dr.Steven W. Moore completed hisPh.D. in bioengineering from theUniversity of California (UC)Berkeley and UC San Francisco andcurrently teaches courses in marinebiology, physics, and electron-ics/robotics at California StateUniversity Monterey Bay (CSUMB).Harry Bohm has a pragmatic back-ground in diving, workboats, andserving as manager for Simon FraserUniversity’s Underwater ResearchLab. He conceived of the Sea PerchROV project that is now in wide usein many science classes and clubsacross the United States. VickieJensen, co-author and editor of thetextbook, earned her maritime water-wings as editor of Westcoast MarinerMagazine, traveling aboard tugs,tankers, fishing boats, dredges, orcharter craft each month. She andHarry Bohm co-authored Build YourOwn Underwater Robot and BuildYour Own Programmable LegoSubmersible. Illustrator NolaJohnston specializes in educationaland interpretive design and illustra-tion, as well as teaching design cours-es. This is her third underwaterrobotics book. Jill Zande, textbookproject coordinator, is the MATECenter's Associate Director and coor-dinator of its ROV competition pro-gram. She has spent the last 10+ yearsworking with her team to excite andengage thousands of students andteachers from around the world inhands-on science, technology, engi-neering, and math learning experi-ences.


Oceans Week in St. John’s,Newfoundland and Labrador focuseda spotlight on underwater vehicles atboth the Ocean Innovation confer-ence and the 6th Biannual NationalResearch Council-Institute for OceanTechnology (NRC-IOT) Workshopon Underwater Vehicle Technologybetween October 17th and 23rd.Now in its eighth year, OceanInnovation was the brainchild ofRandy Gillespie, Director of AppliedResearch at the Marine Institute’sSchool of Ocean Technology. Askedwhy St. John’s has become a center forocean technology development, hesaid, “A large number of individuals

have been working in the oceans sec-tor here for 25+ years. They knoweach other, and that level of familiari-ty makes this place unique. In aCanadian context, the fact that thegovernment of Newfoundland andLabrador has identified the oceantechnology sector as a priority is alsounique.”

The two-day specialist workshop onunderwater vehicle technologybrought Canadian researchers togeth-er “so they find out who’s who, getthem talking to each other, and col-laborations may result,” said ChrisWilliams, NRC-IOT Senior ResearchEngineer and a lead organizer of the

event. Building capacity is anotherobjective. There were 24 presenta-tions including 11 by graduate stu-dents from University of Victoria,Dalhousie and MemorialUniversities.

The recently establishedAutonomous Underwater VehiclesLaboratory at Memorial University isbecoming a hub for AUV develop-ment. Commenting on the facilitiesavailable to the laboratory and theresearch performed there, RalfBachmayer, Canada Research Chairin Ocean Technology and director ofthe lab, said, “I’m not aware of any-place in the world that has compara-


Oceans Week 2010

Spotlight on Underwater VehiclesBy Andrew Safer

Marport Deep Sea Technologies' SQX-500 twin-pod AUV being tested in the Ocean Engineering Basin at the NationalResearch Council of Canada – Institute for Ocean Technology.

Marport Deep Sea TechnologiesAutonomous Underwater Systemsteam.

ble testing facilities, infrastructure,and the application area right at itsfingertips.”

Three St. John’s-based companiespresented on their underwater vehicletechnology: GRI Simulations Inc.’sVROV Field Development Kit,Marport Deepsea Technologies Inc.’sSQX-500 AUV, and Pangeo Subsea’sSub-Bottom Imager.

GRI Simulations’(http://www.grisim.com/) VROVField Development Kit (FDK) sup-ports the design and development ofsubsea oil and gas fields, from sitesurvey through design, construction,production and decommissioning.Stephen Dodd, Vice President,Operations & BusinessDevelopment, explains that the sys-tem builds on the high-fidelitydynamics and graphical capabilitiesof GRI Simulations’ VROVSimulator, a training and rehearsalsystem for ROV pilots.

The FDK links GIS, bathymetry,and model databases to ensure thatfield design models are dimensionallycorrect and realistically situated. The3D visualization incorporatespipeline routes, geological features,pipelines, trees, manifolds and otherobjects in the field. The same modelis updated through the life of theproject, and can be used for accessi-bility testing, flowline crossoverdetection, hazard identification, andmission rehearsal. When switched tothe simulator mode, an ROV pilot-trainee can interact with the 3D pipeand other visualized equipment.Currently in operation on interna-tional projects with two major oilcompanies, the FDK is being extend-ed to life of field support rolesthrough embedded interfaces for his-torical documents and real-time datarelated to engineering analysis.


(L to R): Dean Steinke, Director of Operations, Dynamic Systems Analysis;Stephen Dodd, VP, Operations & Business Development, GRI Simulations Inc;and Chris Collier, Principal Consultant, Hudson Solutions Group, LLC.


For these purposes GRI is partner-ing with Dynamic Systems Analysis(DSA) of Halifax to develop theinterface that integrates DSA’s risermodel and analysis software into theFDK, and with Hudson SolutionsGroup of Houston to enable real-time access and display of historicaldocuments including video and pro-duction process data such as pres-sures, temperatures, and alarm status.

When Marport Deep SeaTechnologies Inc.(http://www.marport.com/) devel-oped the SQX-500 AUV, they mar-

ried the twin-pod design developedby the Woods Hole OceanographicInstitute to a unique 3D thrust-vec-toring system which “allows almostan unprecedented degree of maneu-verability for an AUV,” said NeilRiggs, Vice President, Research andDevelopment and Project Manager,Autonomous Underwater Systems.The unit’s propulsion and controlsystems enable hovering, “turning ona dime,” and crabbing (moving sideto side). The heavy components are inthe bottom pod and the lighter com-ponents are in the upper pod, ensur-

ing the center of buoyancy is consid-erably higher than the center of grav-ity and providing stability in pitchand roll.

The company performed tests andhydrodynamic experiments in thetowing tank, ocean engineering basin,and cavitation tunnel test facilities atthe National Research Council’sInstitute for Ocean Technology andthe flume tank at the Fisheries andMarine Institute of MemorialUniversity. Pressure, drag measure-ment, and full-scale propulsion testswere conducted as well as stability

PanGeo Subsea's Sub-Bottom Imager on work class ROV.


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PanGeo Subsea Sub-Bottom Imager imaged a 13 cm-diameter single-core cable buried at 1m depth

between Norway and The Netherlands.

and propeller design characterizationexperiments. Geodetic OffshoreServices Ltd. (GOSL) of Nigeria ispurchasing the SQX-500 to locate,inspect, and monitor oil pipelinesusing side-scan sonar and video.Harbor acceptance testing is slatedfor January/February. In 2011,Marport Deepsea Technologies plansto develop an SQX AUV capable ofoperating at a depth of 3,000 meters.

PanGeo Subsea Inc.’s(http://www.pangeosubsea.com/)Sub-Bottom Imagerä is an acousticsurvey tool that creates a five-meter-deep by five-meter-wide 3D volumet-ric image of the sub-seabed whichimages buried pipelines and cables,stratigraphy, geohazards, unexplodedordnances, and other manmadeobjects.

The unit which includes a 40-chan-nel acoustic hydrophone array ismounted on the front of a work classROV outfitted for survey work. Asthe ROV moves across the sea floor,data received by the acoustic packageis transmitted to a nearby vessel and

processed in real time to populate the3D image. Assisted by a surveyor, thepilot is able to see the image of theburied cable or pipeline underneaththe ROV, and can continue to trackit. In a commercial pilot arrangedwith Statoil, DOF Subsea, and theResearch Council of Norway in 2009,the Sub-Bottom Imagerä imagedthrough a rock dump covering apipeline in the North Sea. “This wasthe first time to our knowledge thatanybody has imaged a buried pipelinewith a sonar system,” said Gary Dinn,PanGeo Subsea’s Vice President,Technology Development. Theimages also showed the point wheretwo buried pipelines intersected, andrecorded exact distances.

In another demonstration project,in March 2010 the unit imaged aburied cable between Norway andThe Netherlands in conjunction witha NorNed cable survey. After therepair work was completed, the Sub-Bottom Imager™ also verified thedepth of burial at approximately onemeter. “We thought it might be more

challenging to image the oil-impreg-nated cable, compared to steel pipe,”reports Dinn. “This was the first timeanybody has imaged something likethat in the seabed with that degree ofresolution.”

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Gary Dinn, Vice-President,Technology Development, PanGeoSubsea Inc.

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Put in perspective the Canadian Federal Government’sattitude toward the development of the Subsea industry?JR The Government of Canada is putting a sharperfocus on the ocean technologies sector by developing aglobal strategy to support growth of the sector. The newstrategy will guide the work of the Trade CommissionerService in our offices abroad and across Canada. TheDepartment of Foreign Affairs and International Trade(DFAIT) is leading the development of the strategy. I’mdoing this work from St. John’s and based withOceansAdvance, the ocean technology cluster organiza-tion in Newfoundland and Labrador. We have just signedan MOU with OceansAdvance to help connect withindustry across Canada. We are aiming to base the newstrategy on the strengths, objectives and needs ofCanadian companies. The subsea industry is part of whatwe’re looking at in the ocean tech sector. In addition tosubsea technology products and services, we’re also look-ing at innovative Canadian technologies that work at theocean surface and on-board vessels. We’ve had really greatfeedback to date from Canadian companies as well asfrom partners in other federal and provincial governmentdepartments. The marine business is highly internationalso it makes sense for the government to have a globalstrategy on how we can best support development of theCanadian sector.

What is your vision for the development of the SubseaIndustry in the next five years?JR The drivers pushing development of this industryare heating up. These are considerations such as:• increased concerns with security,

• understanding climate change, • concerns about food supply, • the need to better predict tsunamis, • protecting fragile marine eco-systems, • on-going energy supply concerns that push deeper

exploration for hydrocarbon resources and innovationin ocean renewable energy technologies,

• changing shipping routes due to changes in global trade patterns,

• the opening of the Arctic • All of these are an impetus for more technology towork in and understand the changing marine environ-ment.For the Canadian industry, we are aiming to grow exports,support international partnerships for development ofinnovative new technologies, and attract foreign compa-nies that would like to establish operations in Canada andbuild on those partnerships and access our world classR&D infrastructure in this sector. Robust R&D activityand commercialization of new technologies will putCanada at the forefront in terms of being able to respondto emerging requirements. As well, Canadian entrepre-neurs are seeking opportunities for international partner-ing. Increasingly, we’ll all be looking at subsea technolo-gies for international waters – deeper, colder, more remoteand hostile environments. Incidentally, and perhaps as nosurprise, Canadian companies are particularly good atdeveloping technologies that work well in harsh waterenvironments. This is one of the areas of R&D at theNational Research Council’s Institute for OceanTechnology (IOT) where I am based in St. John’s NL,


Five Minutes with DFAIT’s

Jane Rutherford Trade Commissioner & Global Practice Lead, Ocean Technologies

Jane Rutherford is a trade commissioner with the Canadian department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT)and has recently started an assignment as the global practice lead for the ocean technology sector. Jane has worked in varioussenior management roles with the Government of Canada, most recently with the Department of Public Safety, before join-ing DFAIT five years ago. She has a long interest and attachment to the sea from having travelled as a child on a cargo shipalong coastal west Africa and the Congo River, to earning a steering ticket while guiding a bulk carrier through Spain’s CanaryIslands.

— by Greg Trauthwein, Editor


Canada. IOT’s ice tank, towing tank, and wave tank alongwith the flume tank down the road at the Marine Institutemake for an excellent environment to test marine tech-nologies.

What do you see as the top challenges to successfullyreaching this goal?JR The world’s oceans are not unlike outer spacewhen it comes to some of the technology challenges ofexploration and development. However, most of thecountries with space exploration programs aren’t puttingthe same level of support towards oceans exploration. Andthen there are parts of the world that may be facing sig-nificant challenges in coastal and ocean management butwithout the funds or awareness of the types of subsea tech-nologies that could help address the problem. So aware-ness of this technology area and funding for R&D can bea challenge. Those of us in the business have an ongoingrole to promote it! Another challenge, again in the area ofcoastal and ocean management, is interoperability of sys-tems so that as ocean observing projects expand, they can‘talk’ to each other. This underscores the importance of

international collaboration on technology R&D in thesubsea industry.

What government programs are in place, or being created, that are directly geared towards expanding thebusiness of your Canadian companies?JR There are various programs across different partsof the country. For information on these government pro-grams, you can to refer to www.canadabusiness.ca and fol-low the links depending on where you are in the countryand what specifically you’re looking for. When it comes tointernational business development – for Canadian com-panies or companies outside of Canada looking to partnerwith Canadian companies, the best place to look for infor-mation is www.tradecommissioner.gc.ca.

Can you detail, specifically, the funding or programsavailable to Canadian companies that are intended tohelp them expand in the Subsea sector?JR While Canada's very active in terms of marinetechnology as a whole, there are very few programs thatspecifically target the subsea sector. By using the CanadaBusiness or Trade Commissioner links above, you can find

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Jane Rutherford is a trade commissioner with the Canadian department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

contacts who can respond to anyone who has specificquestions.

From where you sit, which geographic regions in theworld (outside of Canada) hold the most interesting prom-ise in this sector? JR Companies with innovative niche technologiesare doing business literally all over the world. Given thecommercial opportunities in this sector, companies are onthe look out for market intelligence on upcoming oppor-tunities – wherever in the world. Companies with tech-nology applications in the offshore oil and gas businessesare following new exploration projects; companies withenvironmental monitoring technology may be interestedin geographic regions that have experienced coastal flood-ing problems, etc. The U.S. and Europe have long beenactive in this sector with mature companies and advancedR&D programs, and Canada has a long history of inno-vation partnering with both. However, as with other sec-tors, emerging economies are also areas of interest: China,India, Brazil are countries with a lot of offshore activitiesor needs requiring advanced technologies.

What do you count as the leading strengths of Canada’sSubsea technology sector?JR There is a lot happening right now in Canada.Canada is a leader in ocean observation systems as well aswith various technologies designed to function in a harshmarine environment – in Canada we know about coldwater, ice, waves and storms. For instance, NeptuneCanada www.neptunecanada.ca is the world’s largestcabled seafloor observatory and is located off the westcoast of the country. We also have a big system in Quebec– the St. Lawrence Global Observatory www.slgo.ca andanother one off the east coast called Smart Baywww.smartbay.ca. Across the country in industrial, uni-versity and government research labs there is ongoingwork on the next generation of sensor technologies, inno-vative platforms such as autonomous underwater vehiclesand even marine mammals. And then there’s the challeng-ing data component from its collection, fusion and com-munications. We’re able to get increasingly complex infor-mation from diverse sources on the marine environmentvia the internet in real time. Because of our naturally coldwater environment, a lot of the Canadian subsea technol-ogy is especially designed to operate in harsh environ-

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ments. We’re looking at things like remote operation and powersupply, and longer deployment functionality for these types ofenvironments. If you want to know if your technology works,come and test it in Canada. We have the R&D infrastructureand expertise to help and you’ll know that if it works offCanadian waters, it’ll work anywhere! We have a great newonline map of the Canadian ocean technology sector that canhelp you find contacts and capabilities. Check it out athttp://ocean.cinmaps.ca.

Is the Canadian government fostering business alliances withcompanies/institutions outside of Canada?JR The Government of Canada is fostering internationalbusiness alliances in the oceans sector. We are also fosteringinternational innovation partnerships or collaborative R&Dalliances. The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service places asignificant focus on international partnering as a ‘win-win’ wayfor Canadian companies and their foreign partners to grow. Wefacilitate relationships based on complimentarity of technolo-gies – whether it’s is for a joint bid on a big project or to advancecommercialization of a promising new technology — we seeinternational relationships as key to success and growth. Canadaalso has bilateral agreements with a number of countries to sup-port technology innovation and collaborative research anddevelopment. Various federal departments have such agree-ments. For instance, the Department Foreign Affairs andInternational Trade Canada currently has four bilateral agree-ments – with Brazil, China, India and Israel — where the gov-ernments of the two countries fund collaborative R&D proj-ects. The National Research Council’s Industrial ResearchAssistance Program also has similar agreements. TheGovernment also has a funding program called Going GlobalInnovation that helps cover the costs of getting Canadian com-panies and researchers together with international partners todiscuss potential R&D collaboration. Companies andresearchers outside of Canada interested in partnering withCanadian entrepreeneurs should contact the Government tolearn more about the opportunities available to them. Find thenearest embassy or trade office to you atwww.tradecommissioner.gc.ca.

How has the global economic slowdown affected any of yourplans for developing the Subsea business here?JR The Government of Canada is moving ahead withdevelopment of a new international strategy for the ocean tech-nology sector. We do see, though, that companies have beenimpacted by the recent global economic challenges. And differ-ent companies have had different experiences. I know of com-panies that have pulled back and downsized due to a drop in

Canadian Company inks a

A Royal Deal

(L to R: Gerben Klein Baltink (TNONetherlands), Jim Hanlon (President, UltraElectronics Maritime Systems), CanadianAmbassador to The Netherlands JamesLambert, Vice Admiral Matthieu Borsboom(Chief of Naval Staff, Royal Netherlands Navy),Alan Barker (President, Ultra Canada), PeterBeerens (TNO Netherlands), Ton van Koersal(TNO Netherlands).

Ultra Electronics Maritime Systems is a leaderin the development and manufacture ofadvanced undersea surveillance systems. InOctober 2010, the company entered into anUnderwater Defense Cooperation Programwith the Netherlands’ Defense MaterialOrganization. This involves support and futuredevelopment of advanced technologies to meetthe Dutch Navy’s needs and builds on a series ofprojects that Ultra has with the Dutch Navy,including a recent contract award for the devel-opment and delivery of Multi-static ActivePassive Sonar (MAPS) systems. The CanadianEmbassy in The Netherlands was very support-ive throughout these initiatives. Ultra is partic-ularly recognized for its high power underwatersonar transducers and sophisticated towed arraysonar systems. It’s an example of a Canadiancompany with advanced subsea technology anda track record of continuing innovation.

www.ultra-uems.ca

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exports. But I also know companies that have decided toenter new markets in the last year or two with a strategyof ‘putting their eggs in more baskets’ and profiting fromother companies’ diminished presence or activity level in amarket.

If you had one paragraph to convince the world to seekbusiness partnerships you, what would it be?

JR Canada is one of the world’s leading maritimenations, with the world’s longest coastline and borderingthree of the world’s oceans. We know the sea. Our inno-vative marine technology products and services are basedon our experiences in one of the most challenging marineenvironments in the world. We are open to the world.Come and work with us.



International Submarine Engineering

Going DeepSince its inception in 1974,

International Submarine EngineeringLtd. (ISE) and its partners have placeda priority on innovation. While thispriority has resulted in many newunderwater products, it has also result-ed in new developments other areas.These include an automotive refuelingsystem developed for Shell Oil, aremote manipulator system developedfor training astronauts on theCanadaArm and technology to auto-mate operations in mines. Recently,ISE has been working with NaturalResources Canada to obtain arcticseabed data for Canada’s claim to theUnited Nations Commission on theLaw of the Sea (UNCLOS). This proj-ect has fostered the development of anumber of innovative products includ-ing the “Catchy” system developed inpartnership with Memorial Universityof Newfoundland. Catchy enables anunderwater submersible to be cap-tured, held in place, recharged andrefreshed with new mission plans. TheCatchy has been a fundamental tool inthe operation of these vehicles in ourarctic since 2009.

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Sonardyne

Positioning for N. Sea Pipe BundlesSonardyne won a contract by Subsea 7 to provide its latest 6G acoustic technology for monitoring the position andstatus of towed offshore pipeline bundle systems. The bundles are manufactured at Subsea 7’s facility in Wick,Scotland, and towed to their final location in the North Sea suspended between two tugs; a technique known asControlled Depth Tow Methodology (CDTM). Under the terms of the new contract, the first tow will take placein the first quarter of 2011 when a 7km bundle will be towed out to the Bacchus field for Apache North SeaLimited. Later in 2011, four 7km bundles will be towed to BP’s Andrew field in the North Sea. The Sonardyne 6Gacoustic equipment installed on each bundle will provide the towmaster with real time information on thepipeline’s position, depth and shape along its entire length. This data will help ensure that the bundle is notallowed to sag or snake excessively during the tow due to the effects of tow speed, tide and sea state and that it is‘flying’ at the required depth to avoid submerged objects. Should corrective action be required, the towmaster is ableto alter the depth profile of the pipeline bundle by various methods including varying the tow speed. Sonardyne hasconsiderable experience of this application for its acoustic technology having first developed bundle monitoringequipment for Subsea 7 in 1993. At that time, depth monitoring transponders deployed at regular intervals alongthe bundle were connected via data highway cable, to master units located on the tow head. These sent data acousti-cally to the towmaster and received commands back, such as to open the valves that controlled flooding of the bun-dles. The technology proved very effective as any damage sustained to a bundle during tow-out is extremely costlyto rectify. For the latest tows, Sonardyne’s new Compatt 6 transponders will be deployed at intervals of around 700to 1000 metres along each bundle. Sonardyne Lodestar attitude and heading reference sensors will also be deployedat each end of the bundles and at specified intervals along them. Lodestars contain highly accurate ring laser gyrosthat will enable the shape and attitude of the bundle to be monitored. The pressure of the carrier gas (nitrogen)within the pipes will be monitored by sensors at each end of the bundle and this data, along with the angle of thetowing wires will also be transmitted. Andrew McKeown, a Surveyor at Subsea 7, said: “This new Sonardyne 6Gtechnology will allow Subsea 7 to provide continuous, stable and repeatable data during the transit of the bundlesto the offshore location. This is a major advance in monitoring the bundle attitude during tow operations and willprovide valid and accurate data for the towmaster to safely control the depth of the bundle.”


The advent of robotics in the mainstream has arrived,and while the inherent challenges of building and operat-ing robots in the marine environment lags robotics foundon land and in the air, Bedford, Mass.-based iRobot isintent on doing its part to move forward the capabilitiesof unmanned underwater systems.

Born from the halls of academia, iRobot was founded in1990 when Massachusetts Institute of Technology roboti-cists Colin Angle and Helen Greiner teamed up with theirprofessor Dr. Rodney Brooks with the vision of makingpractical robots a reality. In 2009, iRobot generated morethan $298m in revenue and employed more than 500.

Tom Frost, Program Manager, iRobot MaritimeSystems, has spent his entire professional career withiRobot, a dozen years spent initially as a software engi-neer, coding for a DARPA project that led to the devel-opment of the Packbot, iRobot’s ubiquitous land-systemthat is designed for the battlefield, and counts more than3,000 units delivered to the military and civil defenseforces worldwide. It was Frost, who as program managerhelped to usher the Packbot from the technology lab intoa manufactured product line that is built and deliveredwith consistency and efficiency, that was chosen in 2008to serve as program manager for the company’s new mar-itime systems offcice, which today includes: • iRobot 1KA Seaglider A long-range, high enduranceUUV that measures temperature, salinity and other quan-tities in the ocean• iRobot 15A Ranger A man portable UUV that sup-ports technology development related to mine warfare,expeditionary warfare, underwater surveil-lance/reconnaissance and other missions• iRobot Transphibian An autonomous UUV and bot-tom crawler capable of supporting a wide variety of

defense, first responder and commercial applications“Today, my role in our maritime group is to oversee

transfer of technology into manufactured products,” Frostsaid. “I have the opportunity to take some great conceptsand superior technology and migrate it into a productthat we are able to manufacture and ship.”

Today the Seaglider is in full production; the RangerUUV is still in the prototype stage, projected to entermanufacturing in 2011.

Challenges UnderwaterWhile iRobot is still a relatively new name in the field of

unmanned underwater systems, Frost counts the compa-ny’s pedigree as a strategic advantage. “We have a historyof delivering high quality robots in quantity,” he said.“iRobot is really one of the only companies that is purerobotics play. We pride ourselves on taking these tech-nologies and manufacturing them in quantity.”

According to Frost, the main challenge in designingrobots for use underwater lies in the ability and ease, orlack thereof, in communication, a factor which demandsthe development of an autonomous or tethered unit.

With the evolution and acceptance of robotics in gener-al in the marine environment, though, expectations con-tinue to evolve, and Frost and the iRobot maritime teamwork around the clock to address emerging demands.

“In addition to the issue of autonomy, one thing that iscommon in all of robotics is the need for more batterylife,” Frost said. “Power (availability and consumption) isalways a factor in robotics, and today in the underwaterenvironment, (customers) are always looking to pack inmore sensors and capabilities, which of course loops backto power.”

While the need for power is echoed across the industry,


iRobotAdvancing Robotics UnderwaterIn an increasingly crowded unmanned underwater vehicles field, iRobot stands out with its robotics pedigree.

– by Greg Trauthwein, editor


Deployment of the Seaglider.

from military to scientific to commercial communities,Frost projects continual improvement in this area. “We’remaking breakthroughs all of the time, and there is a pushfor more efficient batteries across nearly every industry,particularly the automotive industry,” he said. “There is alot of money and pressure toward making better batteries.In my business, we take the best that is out in the field(lithium primary, non-rechargeable for its glider;rechargeable lithium for the Ranger AUV) and continual-ly strive to extend the mission time and capability.”

As mission length increases, additional challengesemerge as well, such as dealing efficiently with the matterof biofouling. “With all long endurance UUVs, biofoul-ing can be an issue, and with Seaglider’s we’re out for upto 10 months at a time,” Frost said. A top considerationin this regard is the depth at which the vehicle operates. Inshallower water, fouling is much quicker and more aggres-sive, whereas the glider’s ability to dive to 1000m helpsmitigate the problem to an extent, as at this depth “itcauses a number of things to shake loose.”

Looking at Robotics as a whole, Frost counts advancesin processor speed as the leading technological factor driv-ing robotics forward during his career. “We are riding adelightful curve on processor speed, with a doubling ofpower every two years that allows us to do much morewith the robots,” he said. Similarly, tremendous strides insensor capacity and performance, advances in laser-basedscanners (smaller, more durable, more accurate) and cam-eras as contributing factors.

“Another big factor, though not a technology, is simplyacceptance,” Frost said. “If you look at the way robotshave been deployed in the last 10 years, there is a muchgreater acceptance of them in warfare and commercialapplications.”

In the FieldiRobot systems are designed for a variety of missions:

military, commercial and scientific, and the company hasa number of significant success stories on its log. Mostrecently, it played a pivotal role in the collection and dis-semination of information following the massive oil out-flow in the Gulf of Mexico.

iRobot’s Seaglider Unmanned Underwater Vehicle(UUV) was used as a platform to collect ocean data in aneffort to monitor the recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill.iRobot worked with Dr. Vernon Asper of the MarineScience Department at the University of SouthernMississippi (www.usm.edu) and Dr. Craig Lee from theUniversity of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory.

In this role, Seaglider measured temperature, salinityand other ocean properties in 3D at depths of up to1000m (3,290 ft.), allowing researchers to collect data atdepths not easily achieved using traditional surface plat-forms or other UUVs, and to potentially detect the pres-ence of oil and its movement in affected areas. Researchersin the Gulf of Mexico deployed Seaglider to locate andmonitor large clouds of dispersed oil droplets believed tobe at depths of approximately 700 meters (2,296 feet).


SeaGlider Poirposing.


“iRobot is really one of the only

companies that is pure robotics play.

We pride ourselves on taking these

technologies and manufacturing them

in quantity.”

• Tom Frost, Program Manager,

iRobot Maritime Systems

1990• MIT roboticists Colin Angle, Helen Greiner and Rodney

Brooks co-found iRobot.

1991• iRobot develops Genghis robot designed for space exploration.

1996• iRobot develops Ariel, a robot that detects and eliminates

mines in surf zones.

1998• iRobot wins DARPA contract to build a tactical mobile robot,

leading to development of iRobot PackBot.

2001• The iRobot PackBot searches at the World Trade Center after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

2002• iRobot launches the Roomba floor vacuuming robot.• The iRobot PackBot is deployed with U.S. troops for the first

time.• iRobot and the National Geographic Society develop a robot that

searches the Great Pyramid in Egypt.

2004• iRobot wins contract to develop Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle.

2005• iRobot launches the Scooba floor washing robot.• iRobot stock begins trading on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange.

2006• iRobot launches the Dirt Dog shop sweeping robot.

2007• iRobot launches the Verro pool cleaning robot.• iRobot launches the Looj gutter cleaning robot.

2008• iRobot expands into maritime robots.• iRobot launches the Roomba pet series and professional series

vacuum cleaning robots.• iRobot wins contract to develop LANdroid communication robot.

2010• iRobot celebrates 20 years• More than 3,500 iRobot PackBot robots delivered worldwide.• More than 5 million iRobot home robots sold worldwide.• iRobot Seaglider helps monitor Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Source: iRobot

“With Seaglider, we are realizing new and importantmission profiles that it can support,” said Joe Dyer, ChiefOperating Officer at iRobot. “Traditionally, gliders haveproven themselves to be very useful tools for researchersand oceanographers to collect ocean data. With this tech-nology, we also see potential for the oil and gas industriesto monitor existing lines and to detect new offshore oilsources.”

Unique to its use in the Gulf of Mexico was the fact thatiRobot did not merely supply the vehicle, it also providedthe glider pilots and made the information gathered pub-licly available via a number of websites.

To date, more than 120 Seagliders have been deliveredto customers worldwide, including the U.S. Navy, gov-ernment agencies and research organizations.

www.irobot.com

Underwater Se

Phot

o C

redi

t: C

odaO

ctop

us


Security ThreatsDetecting ... Deterring ... Defeating

by Rear Admiral Chris Parry

The visual is an underwater and above-water mosaic image of a Korean Fuel

Loading Jetty where any commercial ormilitary vessels can load up with fuel. The

location is south west of Gwangyang inSouth Korea. The picture was taken by the

Coda Octopus Underwater InspectionSystem - its Echoscope 3D sonar and top-

side day/night camera provide a full belowand above water image instantaneously.



Current and emerging threats to ports, harbors, offshore installations and shipping from underwater attackcan only be deterred and defeated through constant vigilance and the intelligent use of advanced technologies.

Our globalized world and its economic prosperity andgrowth are critically dependent on the use of the oceans,with 96 percent of global trade by volume carried by sea.

The sea is, in effect, the physical equivalent of theworld-wide web and the freedom to use the seas in peaceand security remains a vital priority for states and compa-nies. As a result, terrorist and criminal elements have rec-ognized that they can achieve enormous impact, profileand leverage if they can threaten or disrupt internationalsea-lanes and major maritime hubs.

Recent attacks on ships in harbor and in maritime straitsin areas of poor governance – most notably those on theUSS Cole and the MV Limbourg – have shown the scaleof threat from terrorists. As well as this, operations by thenow-defunct Tamil Sea Tigers and the notorious attack onMumbai by Islamic terrorists have demonstrated there isconsiderable potential for an increase in operationslaunched from the sea against coastal cities and widermaritime targets.

Similarly, the extended reach of Somali pirates over1,000 nautical miles into the Indian Ocean through theuse of fishing vessels employed as ‘mother ships’, showsthe potential scope and scale for further criminal activityat sea. Terrorists and criminals will, of course, have seen

the disruption and impact caused – and publicity gener-ated – by the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion in theGulf of Mexico.

As a result of the greatly increased awareness, especiallyin the United States, with its many harbors and ports, allU.S. states whose boundaries include maritime harborsand ports are taking decisive steps to put in place surveil-lance and security measures to deter, detect and defeat thethreats associated with criminal and terrorist activity atsea.

As Israel, India and other countries have discovered, it isclear that in the face of growing terrorist and criminalinterest, sophisticated, integrated surveillance systems willbe required to cope with risks and vulnerabilities in theirincreasingly complex littoral regions, along with morerobust and comprehensive key point and harbor protec-tion schemes.

Even so, in future, attacks from the sea by terrorists —and possibly criminals — against urban and vulnerableeconomic and prestige targets in areas of poor governanceand insufficient security look set to continue, togetherwith operations against isolated offshore platforms andinstallations.

One aspect currently overlooked — and for which there


is significant under-investment in countering — is thepotential for covert underwater attack against ports andother coastal targets. The most immediate threat – whichhas a long history of success – is that of mines or impro-vised explosive devices that can be laid from a wide varietyof commercial and recreational vessels.

These devices might come from redundant or surplusmilitary stocks available in a global black market or fromUnderwater Improvised Explosive Devices (UWIEDs)that can be laid on the sea-bed or attached to structuresand vessels.

As well as the hazards from explosives, the underwaterthreat posed by smugglers and traffickers seeking lucrativeaccess points is growing.

It is already, for example, common practice for drugs,illegal materials and arms to be smuggled in externallymounted pods (‘parasites’) below the waterline of ships’hulls. The examination of hulls before arrival in port orwhile in harbor is a time-consuming and operationallyrestricting exercise, often involving excessive and commer-cially prohibitive delays and the use of divers in near-zerovisibility and sometimes dangerous conditions.

An emerging issue relates to the threat caused by mini-submarines and semi-submersible vehicles. Mini-sub-marines and underwater vehicles (usually for covert andSpecial Forces operations) have proliferated rapidly overthe past decade, with notable examples fielded by Iran andNorth Korea. However, drugs traffickers — operatingbetween South America and the U.S. — have developedand put into use improvised semi-submersible vessels,capable of penetrating conventional coastal and key pointsurveillance and detection systems. Indeed, these so-called‘narco-subs’, comprising light-weight, low detection mate-rials and commercially sourced components, haveacquired steadily increasing levels of reliability and per-formance.

Further exploitation of the underwater environment byterrorists and criminals is likely. Already, recreational andresearch mini-sub variants, with operationally usefuldepth and endurance characteristics, are on the market.The opportunities for covert insertion, attacks on urbantargets, energy installations and shipping accessible fromthe sea and the laying of mines or improvised explosivesare evident.

Consideration also needs to be given to the possibilitythat terrorists might attempt to introduce chemical, bio-logical and radiological (or even nuclear) devices throughthese means. The precautions needed to contain this sortof threat or incident in a busy commercial port (such as

Long Beach, California) or naval bases (such as San Diego,California, or Norfolk, Virginia) would be prohibitivelydisruptive and expensive.

These risks only increase when one reflects on the vastscale of infrastructure that exists in our crowded and lit-toral regions — the U.S. alone has more than 95,000miles of coastline. This region is full of artificial structures,coastal communities, industrial plants, energy installationsand renewable projects.

Admiral Thad Allen, who was, until May 2010, theCommandant of the US Coast Guard, has written that thechallenge of defending coasts is ‘enduring’. He alsoremarks:

“We again find ourselves operating in an environment wherepiracy, illegal migration, drug smuggling, terrorism, armsproliferation and environmental crimes are carried out byanonymous, loosely affiliated perpetrators. (From theForeword to the 2007 US Coast Guard Maritime SecurityStrategy.)”

Indeed, the Maritime Transportation Security Act of2002 delivered comprehensive port security legislation inthe U.S., but this has been only sporadically implementedbecause of resource and enforcement limitations. Thisshortfall leaves U.S. ports exposed to actual attack and tohoaxes. In order to sustain economic vitality, ports andoffshore installations rely on uninterrupted access andguaranteed security of operation. Needless to say, a suc-cessful attack on a major port is likely to lead to opera-tional and commercial disruption on a large scale, possiblyleading to losses of millions or billions of dollars. Even acredible threat or hoax would fundamentally dislocate andrestrict the operations of a port or other critical shore sideinfrastructure.

Deterring – and dealing effectively with and defeating –underwater intruders and mines/UWIEDs depends on anintegrated system of surveillance, detection and classifica-tion.

Effective responses to real or spurious underwater threatsrequire the ability to make informed and rapid decisionsbased on unambiguous information and visual clarity. Inbroad terms, it is necessary for authorities to map andunderstand the features of their underwater seascape andto record the precise features (both natural and man-made) that exist in their area of control.

This understanding can only be achieved through rou-tine, regular route and harbor surveys using high-defini-tion, multi-beam sonars, especially in areas where the


seabed is highly textured or cluttered. Only then cananomalies and intrusive devices — such as bottom-laidmines, attachments to structures and UWIEDs — bequickly and accurately detected, ahead of subsequentremoval, and the veracity of hoaxes checked. The sametechnology can be used in surface vehicles or unmannedunderwater vehicles to ensure that ships’ hulls are free ofunderwater ‘parasites’.

Similarly, protection of critical infrastructure and otherinstallations from underwater approaches by divers andsubmersible vessels can be achieved through staticallymounted arrays of high-definition sonars that can be con-tinuously operated or activated in conditions of highthreat.

As states and ports introduce more effective, integratedsystems for protecting their offshore zones, access andinfrastructure, vulnerabilities are likely to evolve inresponse to improved security techniques and the charac-ter of emerging threats. This means technology companiesthat have the capacity and technological agility to antici-pate future trends and continue to provide leading-edgeproducts will be vital to ensuring the integrity of coastaland offshore installations.

Very few acoustic devices are able to deliver the defini-tional accuracy, visual clarity and speed of classificationrequired to give assurance in this critical area of maritimesecurity. The level of detail and classification requires amulti-beam system, with sophisticated processing power,that can be easily deployed and deliver instantly recogniz-able results.

The Echoscope UIS (Underwater Inspection System)developed by maritime security enterprise Coda Octopus,can be rapidly deployed in a static location or on vesselsranging in size from 20 ft. (6 m) in length upwards andon unmanned surface and underwater vehicles. The sys-

tem offers operators ‘the ability to detect underwaterthreats of any kind, including UWIEDS, in the port envi-ronment, on ships’ hulls or in the vicinity of other fixedstructures.

The Echoscope UIS does not require special operatorskills or training, or prior experience or knowledge ofsonar techniques. Also, unlike other types of sonar, the3D real-time data requires no interpretation or post-pro-cessing of the image because the system has been designedwith interoperability and integration with existing systemsin mind.

Data from the Echoscope system can therefore be usedfor rapid decision-making through display in a wide rangeof formats that can easily be fused with existing databasesand with sophisticated command and control software. Itprovides unusually distinct images and clarity of visionthat enable the detection of devices or intruders by rela-tively inexperienced personnel with a minimum of train-ing and specialist familiarity in the underwater environ-ment.

It is clear that port, coastal and offshore installationsrepresent significant opportunities for attack, disruptionand exploitation by terrorists and criminals. As authoritiesand agencies introduce more sophisticated surface surveil-lance and intercept capabilities, terrorists and criminalsare likely to seek to exploit the underwater environmentin their attempts to conduct attacks against prestige tar-gets and expose vulnerabilities - and increase costs andoverheads - in national infrastructures and in the interna-tional trading system.

The provision of high-definition technologies that allowreal-time visual clarity, instant classification and rapid riskreduction will be central to deterring and detecting futureattacks and in providing continuous assurance to portoperators, shipping companies and major investors.

Effective responses to real or spurious underwater threats require the ability to make

informed and rapid decisions based on unambiguous information and visual clarity.

In broad terms, it is necessary for authorities to map and understand the features of their

underwater seascape and to record the precise features (both natural and man-made) that

exist in their area of control.

This understanding can only be achieved through routine, regular route and harbor sur-

veys using high-definition, multi-beam sonars, especially in areas where the seabed is

highly textured or cluttered.


people & companies

OES Holds Committee Elections

The Oceanic Engineering Society(OES) of IEEE recently held elec-tions. Jerry C. Carroll of Picayune,MS, was elected President of OESfor 2011 and 2012. Serving withMr. Carroll on the ExecutiveCommittee are Dr. Albert (Sandy) J.Williams III of Woods HoleOceanographic Institute as VicePresident for Technical Activities;Dr. Archie (Todd) Morrison III ofWoods Hole OceanographicInstitute as Vice President forConference Operations and Dr.Christian de Moustier of San Diegoas Secretary.

The following individuals wereelected to the OES AdministrativeCommittee for the term from 2011through 2013:

• Robert T Bannon, PA• Pamela J Hurst, Newport, RI• James M Gant, Torrance, CA• Dr. Rene Garello, Brest, France• Dr. Jean-Pierre Hermand,Brussels, Belgium• Edward Gough, Jr., Waveland,MS

Davino Recognized byNavy League Council

Premier Exhibitions, Inc. said thatCEO Chris Davino was presentedwith the Roosevelts’ Science Awardfrom the Navy League Council forhis work over the summer in helpingto preserve the legacy of the RMSTitanic. The award ceremony tookplace November 16, 2010, at theMarriott Marquis in New York City.This past August, Davino broughttogether a team of archaeologists,oceanographers, and scientists for a

20-day excursion to the RMSTitanic wreck site. Having partneredon the mission with Woods HoleOceanographic Institution and theWaitt Institute, the trip has becomeknown as “a mission of firsts” as rev-olutionary technologies wereemployed, including acoustic imag-ing sonar and exceptionally high-res-olution 3-D imaging, to produce thefirst comprehensive view of theentire RMS Titanic wreck site. Theteam was able to map the site withgreater accuracy than that achievedon any previous wreck site explo-ration.

Richard Heller, the New YorkNavy League Dinner Chairman, saidthat it was Chris Davino's energyand focus that brought about therecent successful dive of the RMSTitanic. "By bringing together indi-viduals from each of these presti-gious organizations to digitally mapwreckage of the RMS Titanic likenever before, Chris has helped to

Bowtech MakesExecutive Appointments

Stephen Bowring ManagingDirector (far left) and MikeWinstanley, Sales Director (farright) congratulate Michael Parkin(center left) and Brian Hector(center right)

Bowtech Products announcedthe appointment of Brian Hectoras Technical Director and MichaelParkin as Engineering Manager.Hector joined Bowtech over 16years ago following his graduationfrom Robert Gordon’s Universitywhere he studied for his BEng inElectronic and ElectricalEngineering. Since then he has alsoobtained a MechanicalEngineering qualification. He andhis team have designed systems forinspection of most hazardous areasincluding Offshore,Oceanographic, Military andNuclear industries, all ensuring thesafety of the crews and the valuableassets they operate. In the last 5years, as Head of Engineering, hehas been instrumental and guidedhis engineering team to bring theintroduction of the company’shighly successful range of AquaVision professional underwatercameras and LED lights. Takingover the management of theEngineering Department will beParkin. He has been a valued mem-ber of the Engineering team forover six years.


create a data base that will be studiedfor years to come. He well deservesthis award."

Gowdy Joins GlobalDiving & Salvage

Seattle-basedGlobal Divingand Salvagehired ReneeGowdy as LeadE s t i m a t o r ,responsible fordeveloping esti-mates and pro-posal production within Global’sMarine Construction Division forFederal, State, Local and civil cus-tomers as well as other key markets.He was previously employed byGeneral Construction and KiewitBridge and Marine.

TSS: New FacilityTeledyne TSS opened a new facility

that enables its TSS 440 pipe andcable trackers to be precisely calibrat-ed for specific targets. Samples ofpipe or cable provided by the cus-tomer can now be analyzed in thenew facility so that an error matrixcan be created for the user’s own TSS440. This makes it possible for burialdepths of a particular pipe or cable tobe measured to an accuracy of fivecentimetres or five percent of range sothat compliance with installationcontracts can be verified. The firsttests undertaken at the new facilitywere carried-out for DeepOcean, thesubsea division of the Trico MarineGroup. The company had suppliedsamples of armored three-core cablethat is being installed on a wind-farmproject in the German sector of theNorth Sea.

Sea-Bird, WET LabsGraduate StudentEquipment Loan Program

WET Labs and Sea-Bird are solicit-ing innovative proposals from out-standing graduate students studyingin the U.S. for study of environmen-tal variables in oceans, estuaries,rivers, lakes, or laboratories. Awardrecipients will receive loan of Sea-Bird and/or WET Labs equipmentfor up to a 1-year study period.Proposals can be submitted foreither/both of the following:

Annual grant proposals are dueDecember 31, 2010; grants will be

announced February 15, 2011. Sea-Bird and WET Labs may also issue anRFP for a specific field of study; theRFP will contain submission andaward timelines.

Proposals will be judged on:• Scientific merit• Innovation• Demonstrated need for equipment• Ability to obtain quantifiableresults within defined period

It is expected that 4 awards will bemade during the 2011 calendar year.

www.seabird.com/StudentGrants.htmor

www.wetlabs.com/StudentGrants.htm

Dr. James E. EckmanNew California Sea Grant DirectorCalifornia Sea Grant announced the selection of its new director, Dr. JamesE. Eckman, a biological oceanographer and longtime senior science admin-istrator at the Office of Naval Research in Arlington, Va. "Jim Eckmanbrings a fine mix of stellar leadership skills and excellent research credentialsthat will enable Sea Grant to continue its upward momentum," says ScrippsInstitution of Oceanography Director Dr. Tony Haymet. "We look forwardto a new era with Jim at the helm."Dr. Eckman comes to Sea Grant having led ONR’s flagship MarineMammals and Biological Oceanography Program (and its predecessor pro-grams) for the last 13 years. The marine mammal program, with an annualbudget of about $14 million, supports basic and applied research related tounderstanding the effects of sound on marine mammals and the interac-tions between marine biota and sound or light.Dr. Eckman has also, in recent years, led ONR’s participation in the feder-al, multi-agency National Oceanographic Partnership Program, which coor-dinates the nation’s oceanographic research and education programs andpromotes partnerships among academia, business and federal agencies.Prior to working at ONR, Dr. Eckman was a professor at the SkidawayInstitute of Oceanography in Savannah, Georgia (1984-97) and heldadjunct faculty positions at the University of Georgia in Athens (1988-99)and University of South Carolina in Columbia (1985-99). Much of hisresearch activities during this time focused on benthic ecology and its rela-tionship to the physical environment, particularly boundary layer flows andsediment transport. His official first day at the helm of California Sea Grantwill be Jan. 3, 2011.


people & companies

BioSonics, EchoViewHost HydroacousticWorkshops

Representatives from BioSonicsand Echoview will offer a hydroa-coustic training opportunity inJanuary 2011 in Seattle. BioSonics’next three-day hydroacoustic work-shop will occur January 24-26immediately followed by a three-dayEchoview training workshop, featur-ing senior Echoview consultant IanHigginbottom, on January 27-29,2011. Both companies recognizethat time is money and also appreci-ate that proper training is critical toget the most from your acoustic data.So the idea was born to provide asingle, convenient location wherehydroacoustic users could takeadvantage of a comprehensive train-ing program that includes theory,application, data collection and pro-cessing techniques. The BioSonicsworkshop will cover hydroacoustictheory, hands-on experience in datacollection and processing tech-niques. Echoview's workshop willcover the essentials of acoustic dataprocessing and also the advanced fea-tures of the software. Both BioSonicsand Echoview are offering specialtuition incentives and information isavailable at either company’s website.

www.biosonicsinc.comwww.echoview.com

Bluefin Wins EconomicImpact Award

Bluefin Robotics was named aGold Winner in MassEcon’s (TheMassachusetts Alliance forEconomic Development) SeventhAnnual Team MassachusettsEconomic Impact Awards, the awardwhich recognizes companies from

across the state that have made out-standing contributions to theMassachusetts economy. Over thelast year, Bluefin has renovated a54,000 sq. ft. building in Quincy’sFore River Shipyard into a state-of-the-art facility for its business.Bluefin will move its Cambridgeheadquarters and East Bostonmarine operations outfit to the newSouth Street address in November.On November 15, 2010, Bluefinmoved its HQ and marine opera-tions facilities to a new location justoutside Boston. The new address is:Bluefin Robotics Corporation, 553South Street, Quincy, Massachusetts02169; T. +1 (617) 715-7000, F. +1(617) 498-0067.

Fathoms Surveys forMarine Renewable Sites

Fathoms recently undertook twocomprehensive surveys for theEuropean Marine Renewable EnergyTest Center (EMEC) based inOrkney. The results of these surveyshave enabled EMEC Ltd. to extendits capabilities in the marine renew-ables sector, generating electricityfrom devices moored to the seabed.The first survey covered two specificareas; one in Scapa Flow and theother further to the north inShapinsay Sound. The former will beused for testing wave energy devicesand the latter is more suited to tidalstream devices. Both areas requireddetailed and precise surveying so thatdesigners and engineers responsiblefor mooring the devices could fullyunderstand the seabed morphologyand thus come up with the bestmooring solutions.

Although some data was availablebefore these surveys were undertak-

Teledyne OdomHydrographic enlistsSONARTRONIC

Teledyne Odom Hydrographicretained the consulting services ofHenning Pedersen ofSONARTRONIC, located inAarhus, Denmark. Pedersen willbe assisting with the company’smarket development activitiesthroughout Europe and theMiddle East.

Before establishingSONARTRONIC, Pedersenserved as the Sales Manager ofRESON; the Sales Director andpart-owner of MARIMATECHand previous to that the ProjectManager and later Sales Managerof NAVITRONIC. Collectively,Pedersen has more than 25 years ofexperience within the hydrograph-ic industry.


en, Fathoms helped the EMEC staffwith the selection of the most suit-able areas within the general loca-tion. This involved a considerableamount of desk-top study work withexisting data and possible options.Furthermore, the decision on thechoice of equipment and methodol-ogy was very much a joint one, withEMEC relying on the input andexperience of the skilled Fathomsstaff.

Adil Wins Bridge Energy Contract

ADIL, the independent energyconsultancy, won a contract withBridge Energy ASA to manage thedevelopment of the Vulcan East gasfield, in the Southern North Sea.ADIL will provide people and sys-tems to manage all developmentactivities linking a subsea tie-back toexisting infrastructure in the vicinityof the field which is located in block49/21. Vulcan East was discoveredin 2006 and Bridge Energy ASAanticipates first gas in the second halfof 2011.

SchlumbergerInaugurates BrazilResearch,Geoengineering Center

Schlumberger inaugurated a newresearch and geoengineering centerin Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The BrazilResearch and GeoengineeringCenter is designed to promote theintegration of geosciences and engi-neering to improve hydrocarbonproduction and recovery from thecomplex deepwater reservoirs andpre-salt carbonates offshore Brazil.The Brazil Research andGeoengineering Center covers

Joining ForcesTDW, Offshore Independents

TDW Offshore Services AS (TDW) joined forces with OffshoreIndependents BV to offer integrated solutions for companies keen to retaina full range of pipeline services and emergency pipeline repair systems froma single source. The two companies agree that there is a gap in the marketfor an organization that offerspipeline recertification and projectmanagement services, in addition tocore inspection, repair and mainte-nance services, and expertise in emer-gency pipeline repair systems.“Together we offer a truly compre-hensive range of special services tothe world’s pipeline industry,” saidDirk Rook, Commercial Director ofOffshore Independents. “TDW hasan excellent reputation globally forits pipeline pressure isolation tech-nology that they have used with greatsuccess to facilitate the safe repair ofpipelines onshore and offshore.TDW’s products and services are theperfect complement to our range ofpipeline recertification, project man-agement and engineering services.This gives us the opportunity to bet-ter assist our clients as they strive toprepare for the unexpected,” headded. Expro Inks Deal withPetrobras Expro announced its LatinAmerica Connectors &Measurements team has been award-ed a new master service agreement(MSA) from Petrobrás for subseaelectrical systems. As part of the con-tract, valued at $2.5m over threeyears, Expro will provide on-site fieldsupport for all Petrobrás projectsusing its market-leading Tronic con-nectors for medium and high-pow-ered subsea systems.

Rook

Sim

people & companies

10,000 sq. m. in floor area, and isthe first such Schlumberger facilityin the southern hemisphere. Whenfully staffed, up to 300 scientists,engineers and technical staff workingin multidisciplinary, collaborativeteams will work on the developmentof innovative solutions to the techni-cal challenges associated with thecomplex formations found deep off-shore Brazil. Continuing a themethat now runs across allSchlumberger research centers, thenew Brazil facility is located close tothe leading academic expertise of theFederal University of Rio de Janeiro,and is located on the same campusthat houses the Petrobras CENPESResearch Center.

Technip Wins North Sea Deal

Technip won a contract worth

approximately $95m by Total E&PUK Limited, as operator of the IslayGas Field, to deliver a full EPCIproject in the UK North Sea. TheIslay field is located in the North Sea,440 km north-east of Aberdeen, in120 m of water depth. The contractwill involve the world’s first subseaimplementation of Technip’sreelable, electrically trace heatedpipe-in-pipe (ETH-PIP) technolo-gy. Technip Wins Pipelay ContractOffshore Ghana Technip was award-ed by GNPC a lump sum contractfor phase 1 of the Natural GasTransportation and Processing proj-ect, 60 km offshore Ghana.

Small SubmarineIncorporates HD LBV

SeaBotix teamed with SEAmagineHydrospace Corp., manufacturers ofone-atmosphere submersibles, to

Crowley Recognized by NOAA

Crowley Maritime Corp. wasselected as a 2009 Company AwardWinner for the U.S. NationalOceanic and AtmosphericAdministration (NOAA) and theNational Weather Service'sVoluntary Observing Ship (VOS)program. The selection was basedon Crowley's 38 vessels providing15,798 timely weather observa-tions for the U.S. VOS program in2009. Particularly impressive wasCrowley's Resolve, a pusher tugresiding in Alaskan waters, whosecrewmembers alone made 1,738observations last year, ranking herthe fourteenth-highest highestreporting vessel in the entire pro-gram.

The VOS program, which wasestablished in 1853, relies on vol-unteer crewmembers on nearly1,000 ships around the world tomonitor the weather at their loca-tions and submit the observationsto national meteorological services.This data is used to create marineweather forecasts and is archivedfor future use by climatologists andother scientists.

"Our vessels' crewmembers havebeen contributing first-handweather data to VOS for decades,"said Ed Burdorf, manager ofmarine operations for Crowley."Crowley is proud of our historywith the program and we are com-mitted to continuing to support it.We see the impact it has each dayon our own vessel operations, andwe are very appreciative of thisrecognition."


MTNW Wins Award from US NSFMeasurement Technology

NW (MTNW) won a con-tract from the NationalScience Foundation (NSF)and the University-NationalOceanographic LaboratorySystem (UNOLS) toupgrade winch monitoringtechnology across 15 federal-ly funded research vessels.This award brings newMTNW hardware and soft-ware technology to the sup-port of winch operations.

“The recent change in the operating safety standards for UNOLS vesselshas required a technology upgrade on every active vessel,” said TomRezanka, Managing Director of MTNW’s Line Control Instruments.“Our technology exceeds the newly-adopted standards and will bothincrease safety for personnel and enhance marine sensor deployments.”


create a system for Mike Caplehorn.The Deep-C, number 9 inSEAmagine’s lineup, is its latest two-man Ocean Pearl model which isABS-Classed and rated to a depth of320m. SeaBotix worked withSEAmagine engineering, includingPresident Will Kohnen, to integrateits 320m-rated LBV300 HD includ-ing a purpose-built TetherManagement System (TMS) withROV garage and a tractor drive todeploy and retrieve the LBV. One fea-ture, a SeaBotix Guillotine Cutter,was added at the drum. Since the pri-mary use for the LBV is to film inand around shipwrecks, the ability tocut the LBV tether should Deep-C beirreversibly entangled was critical toachieve ABS Class for the sub-mersible.

The LBV300 HD employs a Sonyblock camera installed within thecamera enclosure, and it has the same180-degree tilting capability as thestandard cameras. The video feed isvia SeaBotix’ 8mm fiber-optic tetherwith 100Kg working load. By build-ing the system into the LBV CameraEnclosure without changing the vehi-cle profile, HD LBVs can also carryand simultaneously run other largesensors on a lower Tool Skid.

Email: info@ seabotix.com

Tritech CompletesDistributor Seminar

Tritech International completed itsthird annual Distributor Seminar.International guests representing partof Tritech’s Global DistributorNetwork attended the week-longSeminar at the company’s design andproduction site in Ulverston,Cumbria. As part of the Seminar,Tritech held on-water demonstra-

tions of new and established productsat The Dock Museum, Barrow-in-Furness. This included the SeaKingHammerhead DST sonar, Tritech’shigh resolution, 360-degree mechan-ical scanning imaging sonar.Deployed on a tripod targets cap-tured by the SeaKing Hammerheadincluded the steps of an originalVictorian graving dock, the dry-docksite the Museum is built on.

Iver2 for CaliforniaPolytechnic State U.

OceanServer Technology said thatCal Poly agreed to purchase a secondIver2 AUV for research purposes. Thefirst Iver2 AUV was purchased in2008 and has been used for a varietyof research applications includingone project that required the vehicleto operate under the ice in the Arctic.The new vehicle will also be a multiuse platform in a number of researchefforts including marine life tracking(such as sharks). The EP42 vehiclewill be outfitted with a DVL for pre-cision navigation and acoustic cur-rent profiling, along with a dual portcamera system and a low-poweracoustic modem.

The EP42 Expandable Payload(EP) platform includes a dedicateduser CPU with disk to enable theinstallation of a user-selected operat-ing system, sensor drivers and behav-ioral software.

In addition, the EP vehicle shipswith a well-documented

OceanServer Wins NavyAUV Contract

OceanServer Technology deliveredtwo multibeam sonar equippedAUV’s to the Navy SpecialWarfare(NSW) Command. TheseAUV’s were competitively procuredand operationally tested prior todelivery to the NSW Command atthe Stennis Space Center inSeptember of 2010. Additionally theOffice of Naval Research (ONR) hascontracted with OTI for a third vehi-cle to be delivered in December2011. This is the fifth such award toOceanServer Technology (OTI) overthe past three years and represents themost sophisticated vehicle developedby OTI to date. It is fully equippedwith Side Scan Sonar (SSS), DopplerVelocity Log (DVL), AcousticDoppler Current Profiler (ADCP),Conductivity, Temperature andDepth (CTD) sensor, and Multi-beam Imaging sonar.

Underwater Maintenancein GOM

Hydrex recently carried-out a fullinspection and remove all foulingfrom two drilling vessels in the Gulfof Mexico to reduce the weight anddrag of the vessels and increase theiravailable cargo capacity. An inspec-tion team and two cleaning teams,each consisting of seven members,were mobilized by Hydrex. The scopeof work consisted of a comprehensiveUWILD inspection of both drillingvessels, an inspection of the weldseams in particular, replacement ofanodes wherever needed, blanking alloverboard lines in order to enableinspection from the inside and hullcleaning the underwater parts of theunits.


products

ROS Introduces MANTIS HD CameraRemote Ocean Systems introduced the MANTIS HD,

a color zoom camera designed to provide high definitionvideo in true 1080i resolution for near or far underwaterinspection and monitoring. The MANTIS HD has a

10:1 optical zoom lens(12x digital), a wide 86degree diagonal field ofview underwater, tele-macro capabilities andauto focus for viewingwithout additional focaladjustments. The MAN-TIS HD outputs in HD-

SDI format. Depth rated to 4000m (13,000 ft.), theMANTIS HD allows the user to remotely control all ofthe camera’s many options via RS-485. The camera isdesigned to be mounted to a fixed surface or as an integralpart of a lighting and positioning system.

Email: sales@ rosys.com

Hong Kong Marine DepartmentUpgrades to EM 3002

Hong Kong Port is one of the busiest container ports inthe world. In terms of vessel arrivals and departures, cargoand passenger throughput, it is also one of the major portsof the world and is a gateway serving the southern parts ofMainland of China. The Hong Kong Marine Departmentis the administrator of the port, with the principal func-tions to ensure safe operation of the port and all HongKong waters as well as to operate the Hong KongShipping Register and safeguard the quality of Hong

Kong registered ships. In the context of navigational safe-ty, the Hong Kong Hydrographic Office (HKHO) - anestablishment under the Hong Kong MarineDepartment, has taken on a role primarily as provider ofnautical information for port users. To achieve this, theHKHO carries out hydrographic surveys continually togather relevant data which include water depths andseabed nature. The hydrographic survey requirements fora port this size are extremely demanding and for this rea-son in 1998 the HKHO purchased a dual head EM 3000high resolution multi-beam system for one of the threesurvey vessels carrying out the above mentioned tasks. InJuly 2010 Kongsberg Maritime’s Singapore office was offi-cially awarded the contract to upgrade the HK MarineDepartment EM 3000 system to the latest EM 3002 highresolution multi-beam system.

High-Pressure and Seawater ResistantLVDT Position Sensors

Macro Sensors, specialists in the manufacture of LVDT-based linear position sensors, custom designs High-

YSI: Oil-in-Water Sensor Adapter KitThe YSI Sensor Adapter expands water quality monitoring to include a Turner Cyclops-7 submersible sensor. By

plugging the sensor adapter into an optical port on a YSI sonde, hydrocarbons can be added to water quality param-eters in profiling or continuous monitoring applications. Hydrocarbon monitoring in water is of growing importancenear oil platforms, marinas, and spill-affected waters. Turner sensors have been used in the coastal industry to detecthydrocarbons. The crude oil sensor is useful for detecting oil throughout the water column in offshore monitoring.Closer to shore, where CDOM interference is likely, the refined fuels sensor has a built-in rejection filter to maxi-mize signal response. Because the Turner probe is seamlessly integrated into the YSI instrument, hydrocarbon dataare logged and transmitted along with water quality data.

The HKHO survey vessel shown here fitted with dual headEM3000 high resolution multibeam system, which isbeing upgraded to the EM3002.

Pressure and Seawater Resistant LVDT Position Sensorsfor incorporation into sub-sea measurement systems usedto monitor structural movement for long-term FiniteElement Analysis of offshore platforms, pipelines, der-ricks, moorings and other critical high-stress members on

offshore oil platforms. The High-Pressure and SeawaterResistant LVDT Position Sensors can also be used tomeasure the position of the valves, called chokes, on sub-sea oil well control towers (called Christmas trees), locat-ed at the wellhead, as well as controlling or measuringposition of robotic arms and actuators.

As seawater applications often require a design servicelife of as much as 20 years while being exposed to seawa-ter pressures up to 7500 psi, Macro Sensors High-Pressureand Seawater Resistant LVDT Position Sensors aredesigned from 316SS and Inconel 625 for pressure andcorrosion resistance. Macro Sensors High-Pressure andSeawater Resistant LVDT Position Sensors also resolvethe problem of getting a signal back to the surface formonitoring, recording and/or controlling some physicalaction taking place on the surface or sea water, even ingreat water depths.

To minimize the number of pressure-sealed connectionsand I/Os, a 4-20mA two-wire, loop-powered I/O can beutilized, which is then, converted to a RS485 signal fortransmission to the surface. Typically, a digital converteris contained in a high-pressure sealed bottle located near-by. A 4-20mA I/O also minimizes any noise over longtransmission lines. Offsets can be easily made in the dataacquisition system on the platform above.

www.astsensors.com

DT-X SUB: New AutonomousSubmersible Echosounders

Seattle-based BioSonics debuted its DT-X SUB, a self-contained,programmable echosounder for scientific data collection. The systemconsists of a scientific echosounder with data storage and power sys-tems integrated and packaged in a compact, waterproof housing. It isdesigned to be lightweight, and has no external cabling. It is intend-ed for monitoring and assessing all types of aquatic organisms, fromzooplankton to marine mammels. According to the company, increas-ing demand for information on aquatic animal’s temporal behaviorand distribution over time drove development of the DT-X SUB. Theunit offers solid state RAID storage and fully programmable dutycycle and echosounder configuration.

Email: emunday@ biosonicsinc.com

Concept drawing ofDT-X SUB showndeployed from aseafloor tripodmount to collectdata on all targetsin water column.



products

FlowQuest 600H Long-range HorizontalAcoustic Current Profiler

LinkQuest added a new member in its FlowQuestacoustic current profiler family. The new FlowQuest600H long-range horizontal Acoustic Current Profiler is

designed to preciselymeasure water velocitiesand water level in hori-zontally-oriented instal-lations. It can beinstalled on an irrigationchannel bank, a bridgeabutment, a river bankor a fixed platform. Thespecified range of the sys-

tem is 120m with velocity accuracy of 0.25% +/- 2 mm/sand surface tracking (water level) accuracy of 0.25% +/- 1mm/s. It is designed with the capability of significantlylonger range, high accuracy and highly competitive cost.

Email: sales@ link-quest.com

HPA Chooses RESON SonarAfter having tested different suppliers Hamburg Port

Authority (HPA) chose RESON to supply sonar solutions

for its four survey vessels. A contract for three large sonarsolutions was placed and included RESON’s latest devel-oped product, the SeaBat 7125SV2 which will beinstalled soon. The contract also includes two upgradesfor 8101 and 7101 as well as three 210 degree options.

www.reson.com

Aquavision Underwater LightingBowtech Products Ltd. announce the expansion of its

AquaVision range of underwater vision and lighting sys-tems. The LED-6000-AC is its brightest 120VAC under-water LED light to date. The bright 6000 lumens whitelight produced is ideal for color video inspection or view-ing tasks. The hard anodized aluminum housing is avail-able in either 3000 or 6000 meter depth rating. It is retro-fittable to existing 120V AC systems.

The LED-1600-IR isits new infra-red LEDlight, ideal for non-intru-sive observations ofmarine ecosystems Thislight features the latestLED technology; it is fit-ted with a cluster of Near

Oculus High Definition CameraHadal Technologies released its Oculus

High Definition camera. The Oculus HDcamera is designed for straightforward inte-gration on any fiber optic equipped subseasystem. Oculus provides a broadcast videostandard HDSDI (High Definition SerialDigital Interface) signal over fiber opticcable directly from the camera, with no needfor additional signal conversion. Requiringonly power and serial control, the Oculusprovides uncompressed 1080i video, 10xoptical zoom, and complete auto or manualcamera control all in a compact eight inchlong, four inch diameter, 6000 meter depthrated package.

Email: sales@ hadaltech.com

LED 6000


IR LED’s with a wavelength of850nm which produces a high out-put of IR light with better transmis-sion through the water column.The new LED-1600-UV “BlackLight” is for oil leak detection. Itfeatures the latest LED technologyto produce and emit only UV light.As a result, far more usable UV is present for your inspec-tion task without the requirement for heavy and costlyballasts and filters as is the case with outdated Mercury

Vapour discharge lamps.The LED-430 is the smallest in

its range of LED lamps, measuringless than 130mm and weighingonly 146g. It delivers a brightwhite light of 430 lumens and israted for use up to 300m depth,ideal for colour video inspection or

viewing tasks especially for diving and inspection ROVapplications.

Email: Bowtech@ bowtech.co.uk

BARTT Diver Interception Tool for Sonardyne Sentinel

Sonardyne International added new functionality andcapability to its Sentinel Intruder Detection Sonar System.The Bearing and Range to Target (BARTT) device can beused to provide security boat crews with guidance to theposition of an underwater target being tracked by theSentinel system. Information is supplied to the crew viasimple, clear graphical and textual displays on a largetouch-screen smart phone or similar device. The data isprovided via a GPRS connection with the Sentinel com-mand workstation and now provides a vital link to ensurethat once detected, intruders can be deterred or appre-hended. The new BARTT system is designed to be moreeffective and secure than boat guidance provided overradio. The Sentinel operator simply selects an intrudertrack to be intercepted and the track position data is thenautomatically transmitted to the BARTT mobile deviceand updated every sonar ping. The mobile device then usesits own position provided by its built-in GPS receiver tocalculate range and bearing to the intruder. This updatescontinuously as the patrol boat approaches the intruder’sposition. The mobile device also sends its own positionback to Sentinel, where it is displayed on the commandworkstation. The Sentinel operator can, in this way, moni-tor the movement of both the target and the interceptingvessel.

www.sonardyne.co.uk

LED 430

products


CSIP’sLightweight ElectricManipulator Arm 5E

Since the launch of the market’s first 5-Function Electric UnderwaterManipulator Arm, CSIP has developed alightweight version of the product follow-ing a customer requirement. CSIP claimsthis to be the only 5-Function Electric Manipulator Armavailable globally. With the ability to design and manu-facture systems that are specific to the needs of its clients,CSIP were commissioned to design and engineer a light-weight arm to be fitted to an AUV. Using mostly 6082 T6anodized aluminum alloy to construct the arm, it weighsjust 12KG in water, 4.5KG lighter than the original armlaunched in 2009. The upper arm has been designed witha sandwiched closed cell foam core structure, addingbuoyancy, and all component voids are retained as atmos-phere air spaces as opposed to the more traditional oilfilled and compensated spaces.

OSIL Offer New Slick Sleuth forHazardous Environments

OSIL (Ocean Scientific International Ltd.) andInterOcean Systems, Inc. launched a new oil spill detec-tion system, the Slick Sleuth SS300-EX, for use in ATEXZone 1 / Class 1 Division 1 locations. Slick SleuthAutonomous Oil Spill Detection Stations (ADS) wereoriginally launched in 2008 by InterOcean, and provedextremely popular and successful at providing instantdetection and notification of oil spills. The latest model

Kongsberg ‘SiteCom’ Gains TractionKongsberg Oil & Gas Technologies entered into an agreement with Statoil to extend the use of the Kongsberg

SiteCom real-time drilling data solution, Discovery Web data browser and SmartAgent calculation tools across all ofthe leading global energy company's well operations. The new agreement, signed in August 2010, is for three years,with an option to extend for an additional two years. SiteCom has been designed to facilitate safer, faster and betterinformed drilling decisions. It achieves this by integrating real-time data, historical data, reports, files and chat fromall sources on the rig and makes them available to a wider community of professionals and stakeholders at the com-pany offices or in other remote locations anywhere in the world. All this is done through a single, fast and user-friendly web-based interface. Statoil expanded its use of SiteCom by deploying Discovery Web and SmartAgentsalongside SiteCom. Discovery Web is a vizualization tool that makes all curves, survey data, mud log data, rig activ-ity, image logs and key performance indicators available in a user-friendly, web-based browser. SiteCom SmartAgentsare easy-to-connect custom modules designed to perform real-time calculations required for better interpretation, tocheck data quality and to help manage the performance of the vendors and service companies working on the proj-ect.

www.kongsberg.com

enables them to be used in hazardous environments.Manufactured to IEC/ATEX requirements, the intrinsi-cally safe housing is made from flameproof cast alu-minum. Suitable for the most rugged environments, theunit can be powered by a solar recharge system, or viaplant AC or DC. Mounted above the water level (typical-ly 1.5 m), the Slick Sleuth SS300-EX is easy to operateand maintain.

Email: sales@ osil.co.uk

H2000 ROVDOER Marine announces the Ocean Explorer H2000

ROV: a high power, versatile yet compact system fordepths to 2000m with a 1000m option. Standard equip-

ment includes a hydraulic valve network comprised ofdual six function valve packs. A typical configuration sup-ports a five function manipulator with one spare, leavingseven available valve stations each with 3500 PSI @3GPM capability. These can be used for a wide variety offunctions including bio boxes, sample trays, rotary clean-ing brush, releases, light bar actuation, or other customtooling. Image and data collection is supported by threesimultaneous video signals, six data channels (2x RS485and 4x RS232), Ethernet, and is HD fiber ready. The sixthrusters, quad configuration plus dual verticals, provide327 pounds of forward thrust. Payload is 160 pounds(72kg) with a shaft output of 7.5 hp.

Email info@ doermarine.com

Turner Designs Launches PhytoCytTurner Designs introduced

PhytoCyt Flow Cytometer, a cellanalysis system specially designed formarine applications and developed inpartnership with flow cytometry inno-vator Accuri Cytometers, Inc.Compact (23”W x 17”D), lightweight(less than 30 pounds), sturdy, easy-to-use and with no special power require-ments, the PhytoCyt is designed towork as well on board a ship as in atraditional laboratory. Its designenables Turner Designs to offer thePhytoCyt at a substantially lower pricethan most other flow cytometers avail-able today. The PhytoCyt is also effi-cient to maintain and service, result-ing in a very affordable overall cost ofownership. The PhytoCyt Flow Cytometer includes blue and red lasers, two scatter detectors, and four fluorescencedetectors. The optical filters and lasers used in the system have been optimized for the detection of the endogenousfluorophores common to phytoplankton including phycoerythrin, chlorophyll, and phycocyanins. One of the detec-tors has been optimized for green fluorescence detection which allows labeling with exogenous reagents, if desired.The unique peristaltic pump system used for sample delivery allows the volume sampled, and thus absolute countsof populations, to be determined while still maintaining the advantages of hydrodynamic focusing for small particledetection.

www.accuricytometers.com


products


MS-310eMicrosalinometer

RBR released the next version of itsmicrosalinometer, the MS-310e. Thelatest is the addition of an Ethernetinterface to remotely control the

measuring cycle. Using the RBR soft-ware, Ruskin, and the network con-nection, the MS-310e is capable ofmeasuring directly from sample bot-tles, pipelines, saltwater reservoirs,fish tanks, and calibration baths with-

out the operator being present at themeasurement site. Through theEthernet connection the MS-310e iscommanded to fill or flush the meas-uring cells remotely. The number ofcycles of fills and flushes before ameasurement is defined by the opera-tor.

Email: info@ rbr-global.com

IXSEA for UAE Navy Deal UAE Systems Integrator Company

Abu Dhabi Systems Integration LLC(ADSI) has chosen, on behalf of UAENavy, IXSEA navigation equipmentfor work it is doing for the country’snavy. ADSI is the Combat SystemIntegrator (CSI) of 12 Ghannatha-class missile boats, which will useIXSEA’s MARINS InertialNavigation Systems (INS), andupgrading 12 Ghannatha-class trans-port boats, which will use PHINSsystems.

Saab Seaeye Expands Saab Seaeye will take responsibility

for the Saab group’s underwater vehi-cle division which currently formspart of Saab Underwater Systems inMotala, Sweden. International salesand marketing functions and equip-ment manufacture will move fromSweden to be integrated into SaabSeaeye’s center of operations atFareham, UK. An engineering capa-bility for the underwater vehicledefense market will be created withinSaab Dynamics in Linkoping,Sweden to become the Swedish officeof Saab Seaeye. “The combinedresource will create a powerful plat-form for growth that will better serveboth the civilian and military mar-ket,” says Dave Grant, MD, SaabSeaeye.


MTR MARKETPLACE • PRODUCT & PROFESSIONAL SERVICES DIRECTORY

PRESSURE TESTING 20” ID x 48” x 20 KSI 9 1/2” ID x 21” x 20 KSI 6” ID x 24” x 30 KSI with feed-thrushttp://deepsea.com/pressure.html


Log onto SeaDiscovery.com to explore these new job openings.STAFF ACCOUNTANT

Job Location: USA,Hydroid seeks a highly motivated Staff Accountant who willperform assigned accounting and related clerical support func-tions. This position’s primary responsibilities include projectbudget maintenance, review of cost allocations to ensureaccurate controls and reporting of project performance,research and data management.This position may be considered entry level however the suc-cessful candidate must be detail oriented and be proficient inMicrosoft Office Excel spreadsheet program. Familiarity withmanufacturing ERP programs a plus.BS degree in Accounting or Finance preferred. Equivalentexperience in a manufacturing environment will be considered. Applicants selected may be subject to a government securityinvestigation and must meet eligibility requirements for accessto classified information.Hydroid offers an attractive starting salary and competitivebenefits package including medical, dental and 401K withmatch.All qualified candidates should send their resumes, includingsalary requirements, to:Hydroid, Inc.6 Benjamin Nye CirclePocasset, MA 02559Attn: Human ResourcesOr, email to [email protected] HYDROID is an Equal Opportunity Employer, M/F/D/VVisit us at www.hydroid.com for information.

Human ResourcesHydroid, INC.6 Benjamin Nye CirclePocasset, 02559 Email: [email protected]

PROPOSAL COORDINATOR

Job Location: USA,Hydroid is seeking a Proposal Coordinator to join our growingmarketing & sales department. The successful candidate willsupport marketing and sales in all pricing and proposalefforts. Prior experience required in estimating, preparingtechnical and cost proposals, quotations, database manage-ment, development of pricing, maintaining pricelists, and salesstatistics.Candidates must have; a Bachelors Degree plus 5 years expe-rience or equivalent in estimating and proposals; excellent oraland written communication skills; the ability to handle multipletasks in a fast-paced, deadline-oriented environment. A highlevel of proficiency with MS Office Suite and other softwareapplications is expected.We offer an attractive starting salary and competitive benefits

package including medical, dental and 401K with match.All qualified candidates should send their resumes, includingsalary requirements, to:HYDROID, INC6 Benjamin Nye CirclePocasset, MA 02559Or, email to [email protected] is an Equal Opportunity Employer, M/F/D/VHuman ResourcesHYDROID, INC6 Benjamin Nye CirclePocasset, 02559 Email: [email protected]

ELECTRO-MECHANICAL ASSEMBLER

Job Location: USA,The successful candidate will have electro-mechanical assem-bly experience with the ability to follow assembly draw-

ings/process sheets - able to trace electronic circuits andwiring diagrams. Must be proficient using hand tools and pos-sess soldering skills; certification is a +. Will train candidatesfor this position with related experience.Position requires good communication skills, documentedcomputer skills with Office Suite, IE, and ERPs. The ability towork within a dynamic group of highly motivated individuals isnecessary. 2-3 years of previous electronics experience ismandatory.Position may require heavy lifting and boating. Water safetyskills are a plus. The ability to obtain a security clearance isrequired.Hydroid offers an attractive starting salary and competitivebenefits package including medical, dental and 401K withmatch.All qualified candidates should send their resumes, includingsalary requirements, to:HYDROID, INC6 Benjamin Nye CirclePocasset, MA 02559Or, email to [email protected] is an Equal Opportunity Employer, M/F/D/VHuman ResourcesHYDROID, INC6 Benjamin Nye CirclePocasset, MA 02559Email: [email protected]

MTR MARKETPLACE • PRODUCT & PROFESSIONAL SERVICES DIRECTORY


Advertiser’s IndexFor Fast, Free Information from Advertisers visit www.maritimeequipment.com/mt

Page Company Website Phone#

11 . . . . .AIRMAR Technology Corporation . . . . . . . . .www.airmar.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(603) 673-9570

60 . . . . .American Society of Naval Engineers . . . . .www.navalengineers.org/launch2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Please visit us online

1 . . . . .Channel Technologies Group . . . . . . . . . . .www.channeltechgroup.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(805) 683-1431

3 . . . . .C-Nav . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.CnavGPS.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(337) 210-0000

3,61 . . . .DeepSea Power & Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.deepsea.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(800) 487-3775

4 . . . . .General Oceanics, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.generaloceanics.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(305) 621-2882

19 . . . . .Innomar technologies GmbH . . . . . . . . . . . .www.innomar.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49 (0) 3 81 44 079 0

4 . . . . .LYYN AB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.lyyn.com/rozalia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Please visit us online

15 . . . . .Marine Sonic Technology, Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . .www.marinesonic.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Please visit us online

13 . . . . .Marine Technology Society . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.mtsociety.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(410) 884-5330

23 . . . . .Markey Machinery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.markeymachinery.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(800) 637-3430

45 . . . . .Ocean Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.oceanbusiness.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Please visit us online

17 . . . . .OceanServer Technology, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . .www.ocean-server.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(508) 678-0550

38-39 . .OceanTechExpo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.oceantechexpo.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(561) 732-4368

C3 . . . . .Reson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.reson.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Please visit us online

2 . . . . .Saab Seaeye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.seaeye.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Please visit us online

19 . . . . .Shark Marine Technologies Inc. . . . . . . . . . .www.sharkmarine.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(905) 687-6672

C4 . . . . .Sub-Atlantic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.sub-atlantic.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(713) 329-8730

5 . . . . .Subconn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.subconn.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(781) 829-4440

7 . . . . .Teledyne Odom Hydrographic . . . . . . . . . . .www.odomhydrographic.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(225) 769-3051

C2 . . . . .VideoRay LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.videoray.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(610) 458-3000

9 . . . . .YSI, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.ysi.com/hydrocarbon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(800) 363-3269


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MARIN’s 9,000th Test Model

World’s Deepest TLP Earlier this year, the world deepest TLP (5,187 ft) was tested at MARIN for Chevron U.S.A. Inc. and FloaTEC. The‘Big Foot’ TLP represents MARIN’s 9,000th test model since the maritime research institute opened in 1932.Extended Tension Leg Platform (ETLP), designed by FloaTEC, will be located at the ‘Big Foot’ Field development atthe Walker Ridge Block 29 in the Gulf of Mexico. The platform will be a local host with Dry Trees and the associatedTop Tensioned Risers (TTRs), with full drilling, workover and sidetrack capability on the topsides. Chevron is theoperator of Big Foot and the co-owners are Statoil USA E&P and Marubeni Oil & Gas (USA) Inc.

(Source: MARIN)

Documents

MTR September Cover - Magazines