Contents Marine Technology Reporter 2009

lanuary/February 2009

c o n t e n t s

Marine Technoiog/ Reporter • Volume 52 • Number i

per Year

Despite a global credit crisis and swooiung oil prices, a new study from

Douglas-Westwood — The World Deepwater Market Report 2009-2013 — forecasts the deepwa-ter oil & gas sector will spend more than $27 billion per year.

Floating Production Projects

Now What?

Jim McCaul, president of I M A and a noted authority on floating production trends and projections, predicts that the world financial turmoil w i l l have an uneven and short term impact on the world's Floating Production Projects. — By Jim McCaul

Interview

Bourbon C E O : Fundamentals are Strong

MTR recently spoke with Jacques de Chateauvieux, the CEO of Bourbon and one of the most prolific investors in new, high-tech offshore vessels. With biUions at stake, de Chateauvieux maintains that fundamentals for long-term growth in the offshore O&G sector remain strong. — By Greg Trauthwein

Region Report: GulF of Mexico

GOM Prepared for Unknown Challenges

While the Gulf of Mexico is particularly susceptible to fluctuations in the price Oil & Gas, industry leaders are convinced that astute business practices and improved tech-nologies and efficiencies will keep product flowing. — By Matt Gresham

Pictured in the background is the Mini B, a SCUBA system specially designed to give seafarers and marine workers the ability to access the underside of their vessel in an emergency. Intended for use at depths of less than 9 m, Mini B systems have been designed in the UK to be kept available for immediate use and to enable the wearer to enter the water with sufficient diving time to perform basic tasks. See full details on the system in this month's product section.

March 2009

c o n t e n t s

Marine Technology Reporter • Volume 52 • Number 2

Offshore Renewable Energy

1 2 Can it Happen Here?

An Interview with Sam De Bow Jr., the Dhector of Rhode Island's New Center of Excellence for Research on Offshore Renewable Energy (RORE) .

^ — by Steve Withrow

ROVs & AUVs

1 8 Tech Advances IVIatch Strong Demand

Recession. What Recession? Though the economic drawdown is certainly unwelcome in any industry, manufactucrs of ROVs and AUVs are riding strong demand.

Profile: iRobot

Cleaning Up Underwater

iRobot, best known for its consumer floor cleaning robots and land-based military sys-tems, last year made a strong play into the subsea market. Vice Admiral Joe Dyer, presi-dent of iRobot's Govemment & Industrial Division, explains.

— by Greg Trauthwein Technology Development

R O V L A T I S Debuts

A new smai t ROV has been developed by the Mobile and Marme Robotics Research Center (MMRRC) at the University of Limerick.

— by Daniel Toal & Simon Marr Education Insights

4 0 A Look Inside NOCS

The National Oceanography Center Southampton (NOCS) is a world-renowned,

multi-g^^.^,^ . faceted and dynamic institution. Profiled are recent and evolving activities.

by Rory Howlctt

Pictured in the bacltground: For a sharit to eat an actor gently, takes five brushless DC thrusters with velocity feed-back for precise and rapid control in all directions. When the Bollywood movie, LUCK, was filmed in South Africa, a Saab Seaeye Falcon ROV was strapped beneath a giant 4.2 m long Latex and Polyurethane replica of a tiger shark

April 2009

Marine Technoiogy Reporter • Volume 52 • Number 3

1 3

4 0

OtTshore Renewable Energy

Activity S e t to Increase

Despite a global economic slowdown, low energy costs and some recent technological setbacks, it appears the future for wave and tidal current stream projects is bright.

— by Adam Westwood Offshore Floating Wind Turbines

Call of the S e a

Worldwide potential for offshore wind onergy is enomious Vehicles

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"PAIV"-ing the Way

Development update on a new autonomous vehicle designed to meet new challenges off-shore.

Offshore O&G

by James Jamieson, Subsea 7 & Dr. loseba Tena, Seebyte

Putting thjé Platform on the Seabed

the company's global leader in this regard, discusses with MTR the great strides this subsea technology has made - and needs to make - in the coming years.

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New Bedford Ponds Bathymetry

When a local community needed a seamless survey of a critical water supply, it rutned to OceanServer, YSI and the U.S. Navy.

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Pictured in the bacitground: ItHG Engineering Business recently delivered a pair of massive deepwater pipeline ploughs, designed to handle pipeline diameters up to 1.55 m in water depths to 1,000 m. For more information, turn to page 12

May 2009

Marine Téchnolog^ Reporter * Volume 52 • Number 4

»alva&:«

Captain Willard F Searle, USN (Ret)

Remembering a Marine Saiyage Giant

Former tj.S; Navy Supervisor of Salvage, Captain Bill Searle| passed away at the age of ; 86 on March 31, 2009, following many years fighting Parldn^on's disease.

— by Jim Shirley Bluefin's HAUV

Military

Demand, Commercial Promise

Bluefiii; and a number of technology partners have spent mo(re than seven years design-: ing and; developing the HAUV, primarily for subsea security purpose. David Kelly, President & CEO of Bluefm, discusses with MTR the statu? of the project and the possibihties of the vehicle finding work in the commercial jnarket.

by Greg Trauthwein Book

The Day We Lost the H-Bc^mb

The Day We Lost the H-bomb tells the story of the 1966 séareh for a lóst nuclear

weapon i n the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Spain, a dmission is,widely regarded .as the largest salvage effort in Navy history — by Barbara Moran Diving

Analysis of a Diving Accident

•Ih'thc world of commet;cial diving, there are numerous types of diving accidents that can occur all too easily, espfecially i f a diving contractor or diver becomes careless.

However, in a mature ihdustry such as ours, in most cases we know the pitfalls and how to avoid becoming a statistic. As a company, or as a diver, if yjDU follow the ADCI Standards, the chances of experiencing an accident arc greatly[reduced.

— by Steven M. Barsky

Pictured in the background:Schilling Robotics unveiled a new manipulator arm, the Aii,A§ 7Ï? Dexterous Grabi . seven-function dexterous is designed to lift 250 kg of weight at its full extension of 65-ih,; For more information, visit www.Schilling.com.

October 2009

c o n t e n t s

Science

Robot Fish Makes Waves at Bath

Researchers at the University of Bath have created a new subsea vehicle with a swimming motion inspired by Mother Nature.

Application

Fiefld SwappabBe Sensor Heads

Field swappable sensor heads offer a six distinct advantages, according to the author. — by Robert Haydock, President & Owner, AML Oceanographic

•

Five IVlinutes With

The Honorable Shawn Skinner

Minister, Responsible for Rural Secretariat discusses investment in and development of the region's subsea and ocean industries.

— by Greg Trauthwein Ocean Observation

The Arctic is Hot Cagain)

Interest in the Arctic continues to grow as the ice recedes, and the technology cluster in and around St. John's, Newfoundland finds itself in hot demand for its expertis in work-ing on, around and under the ice. \ [ — by Greg Trauthwein Ocean Observation * Y M IWf • M

Gliders: A New World of Capabilities

Ocean gUders are evolving from academia into a host of new roles in military, commer-cial and oceanographic operations. — by Eric Siegel, GM, Nortek USA

Pictured in the bacltground is what is reported to be the World's First Full-Scale Floating Wind Turbine. For more details, turn to page 10. (Photo credit: Oyvind Hagen, StatoilHydro)