On behalf of the entire Hydro international team, may I wish you a healthy and prosperous New Year 2004! And to those readers who celebrate the start of a new year on a date other than 1st January, our best wishes are meant for you too, both for now and on that special day. As
Hydro international is mailed to 170+ countries, I realise that this may pertain to a number of you.
This issue pays special attention to AUVs (and ROVs). All have their potential and areas of application. Projecting the recent developments in these UUVs, what might we expect from the future? Will the developments in UUV technology have an influence on numbers of survey ships? It may be argued that specially designed survey ships will be needed only for special waters, special tasks or special environments. Most likely ‘general purpose’ ships will become capable of launching AUVs in the future.
Overcoming the difficulties in launching and recovering this equipment is a challenge to the industry, as is the endurance of AUVs. Improved solutions will be needed. Since the O&G industry is moving to deeper water, new solutions will be required for tasks presently carried out by divers. Modern techniques and insight into wave climate and wave forecasting may help both in the operation and in design parameters. It is argued that both classification and insurance bureaux can/should use more recent climate analyses of wave height; such analyses give sometimes different wave height than more traditional methods do.
The capabilities and advantages of UUVs (e.g. better data (near seafloor acquisition), AUVs being more efficient then deep tows, extremely useful for covert operations) are enthusiastically described in ‘Hallelujah’ papers. These (potential) capabilities will push the technology forward. But there is always another side to the medallion in this light we would like to draw your attention to the article entitled ‘AUV Sea Trials and Tribulations’ which places a few question marks against utilisation. Common sense tells us that we need oil now and will continue to do so on into the future. This involves work for the offshore industry (and for UUVs). The article entitled ‘Ocean Survey Ð The World Market’ in this issue gives a well-documented look at growth in the market.
Another driver in UUV-technology will be the military and concern regarding terrorist activity. This concern resulted in the ISPS-code (International Ship and Port Security Code) which will come into force with unusual speed on 1st July 2004. It will too have an impact upon survey ships and their crew, already overloaded with administrative duties. The impetus behind the ISPS code will also focus attention on the difficulties faced by the present mine countermeasure capabilities of mine-hunting vessels in ports and shallow waters. Clearly, there seems to be a bright future for defence UUVs.
The Editorial Advisory Board of Hydro international has a rotational membership; among other reasons for this is our wish to present a wide range of ‘Insider’s Views’ columns from VIPs in our field. Such rotation means that we both welcome new members and have to say goodbye to those who have completed their tour of duty (or tour of honour Ð depending how you look at it). We are now releasing from their tasks Dr Lee Alexander and Andrew McNeill. We most heartily thank them both for their time, input and their ‘Insider’s Views’. I hope that they will continue to support us from a more distant position.

Enjoy reading,