Marine technology specialists, Seatronics, an Acteon company, has increased its investment in Sonardyne hybrid navigation technologies following the purchase of four SPRINT Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) and four Syrinx Doppler Velocity Logs (DVLs). The significant equipment investment, which also included six ROVNav 6 acoustic transceivers, will be added to Seatronics’ existing SPRINT rental pool in Aberdeen from where it will be made available to support oil and gas field development projects across the globe.

Fugro is to join a campaign to find the lost First World War Australian submarine, HMAS AE1. From its advanced survey vessel, the Fugro Equator, skilled survey personnel from Fugro will use a state-of-the-art multibeam echosounder to conduct a bathymetric survey and a sophisticated autonomous underwater vehicle for close examination of the search area.

Registration for Oceanology International 2018, the world's premier event for ocean technology and marine science is now open. Taking place on 13-15 March 2018, the free-to-attend exhibition and conference will bring together the latest technologies and thought leaders worldwide, giving buyers and suppliers the opportunity to do business, network and learn in one location.

C-Kore Systems, a UK based company, has recently celebrated the deployment of its 100th C-Kore unit. This milestone was reached on a fault-finding campaign with a major oil company in the North Sea. The units have simplified subsea testing in over 30 different fields worldwide and helped both major oil companies and their installation contractors on installation/construction and fault-finding campaigns. The easy-to-use units save customers time and money by considerably reducing the time needed for electrical testing, providing quick and accurate insulation resistance and continuity measurements of electrical lines.

Soil Machine Dynamics Ltd (SMD) has successfully completed an upgrade to the MD3 (multi-depth) plough recently acquired by Orange Marine. The plough, which was delivered to the SMD Services team for refurbishment in July, received a full control system upgrade and extensive overhaul. SMD Services’ dedicated team of engineers based at Port of Tyne in South Shields assessed the equipment and devised a detailed refurbishment strategy to enable it to work as new. The project involved replacing the plough’s original control system hardware which had become obsolete. SMD also supplied a passive scissor frame assembly to be fitted to the launch and recovery system.

Trelleborg’s offshore operation is committed to continuing its work in Mexico to help educate and develop specifications aimed at improving fire safety solutions used in harsh offshore environments. To this end, Hans Leo Hals, Managing Director for Trelleborg’s offshore operation based in Norway, met with leading oil and gas representatives in Mexico over a number of months to support in improving the safety of Mexico’s offshore assets in the Gulf of Mexico.

Global subsea equipment specialist, Ashtead Technology, has boosted its rental fleet with an investment of £1 million in the latest iXblue technology over the past 12 months. iXblue is a leading global provider of innovative subsea solutions for navigation, positioning and imaging. Ashtead Technology is currently the only rental company to offer the iXblue GAPS-NG system with the new Telemetry capability, a high performance Ultra Short Baseline (USBL) positioning system for locating subsea assets. The company purchased two of the systems in January this year.

Trelleborg Sealing Solutions launches a unique rotary seal with “outstanding performance and reliability” when running at greater speeds and higher temperatures. The innovative Turcon® Roto Glyd Ring® V is a premium double-acting rotary seal, which is primarily intended for double-acting pressure applications within severe working conditions that require extended rotary service. The seal, specifically engineered for machinery where a high Pressure-Velocity (PV) value is required, allows equipment to run at the highest possible speeds in extreme pressures allowing for an extended service life.

Trelleborg’s offshore operation recently developed a new Rotating Buoyancy Module system for buckling mitigation for subsea pipelines. The advanced solution is engineered to roll on the seabed to reduce lateral friction and berm creation thereby creating repeatable and predictable pipeline behavior.

We are pleased to invite you to the OTO’18 (OCEANS’18 MTS/ IEEE Kobe / Techno-Ocean 2018) which will be held May 28~31, 2018 in Kobe, Japan. The event is hosted by three joint-organizers – the IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society (IEEE/OES), the Marine Technology Society (MTS) and the Japanese Organization of the Consortium for Techno-Ocean 2018 (CJO).

UK-based subsea engineering specialist Soil Machine Dynamics Ltd (SMD) has successfully completed first stage testing in a pioneering project which is set to uncover valuable European mineral resources. SMD is technical lead on the VAMOS (viable alternative mine operating system) project, a 42-month international research and development venture, which is part-funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. At a cost of approximately 12.6 million Euros, SMD and its partners in the VAMOS Consortium, have designed and built a robotic underwater mining prototype with launch and recovery technology to perform field tests at four EU mining sites.

UUV Aquabotix Ltd (ASX:UUV) (“Aquabotix" or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the addition of W.S. Darley & Co. (Darley), a 100-year-old designer, manufacturer and distributor of firefighting, defense and emergency services equipment, as a distributor for Aquabotix in the United States. Through this partnership, Aquabotix will work closely with Darley Defense, a specialty division of Darley that markets new and existing products to the U.S. Department of Defense, to provide its underwater vehicles and camera systems to the U.S. Navy.

Phoenix International Holdings, Inc. (Phoenix) recently completed a seachest cleaning and hull inspection for the M/V Sanco Star. While performing these tasks, divers also inspected running gear of the vessel and reported to the client that both propellers were covered in hard marine growth. As a result of that inspection, Sanco Star requested that Phoenix divers return back to the vessel to clean and polish both propellers.

Two secondary schools local to Aberdeen, (Culsh and Inverurie) are each seeking a mentor to assist their respective teams in the MATE international robotics competition (Marine Advanced Technology Education). The competition is stewarded in Scotland by Robert Gordon University. A mentor (not necessarily a technologist) would offer guidance to a student team to refine clear thinking, offer suggestions where appropriate and of course offer encouragement in building and developing their entry. It is suggested an initial visit and 1 or 2 hours per month, but essentially be available by phone or email.

Greensea, creator of OPENSEATM, the universal ma-rine industry operating platform, has recently announced the appointment of Karl Lander as Account Executive. Prior to joining Greensea, Karl spent two decades with the United States Coast Guard. Most recently, he was the Executive Officer aboard the USCGC Healy, where he was responsible for the in-ternal operations of an 85-member crew and managed a 137-member cross-functional team during a 64-day scientific expedition to the North Pole. Karl earned a M.S. in Engineering and Technology Management from Portland State University in Oregon, and a B.S. in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. He is a Certified Surface Supplied and SCUBA Diver with experience in military and scientific expeditions.

Subsea Technology & Rentals Ltd (STR), a specialist in the design, production and rental of advanced subsea technology are delighted to announce its strategic partnership with SENSYS, who are a leading provider of geomagnetic and electromagnetic ground survey systems and components for land, aerial and marine environments.

UK Subsea company Rovco has secured a six-figure investment from London-based Sustainable Ventures to help fast-track its ambitious growth plans. The investment will support Bristol-based Rovco as it enhances its range of subsea AI and 3D services and captures a larger share of the global offshore survey market. Through its Accelerator programme, Sustainable Ventures will also assist Rovco in building a high-profile team of industry focused non-executive directors and advisors, while supporting on additional raises of up to £3m over the next two years.

The government this week announced an investment of over £19 million into NOC platforms and sensor development through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF).