http://www.hydro-international.com/ News from www.hydro-international.com. 15 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6207-Registration_REMUSHUGIN_AUV_Users_Conference_Opens.html Kongsberg Maritime and its subsidiary Hydroid, Inc have opened the registration for their AUV Users Conference at the Villa Marigola in Lerici, Italy, from 14 to 17 October 2013. The conference is open to all users of Kongsberg and Hydroid AUVs, with limited availability for non-users interested in learning more about the vehicles. Wed, 22 May 2013 15:33:00 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6206-Underwater_Inertial_Navigation.html Advanced Navigation has announced the release of their Sublocus underwater navigation systems. This is an underwater inertial navigation system featuring north seeking fibre optic gyroscopes and accelerometers with a GPS receiver and pressure depth sensor. These are fused together in Advanced Navigation's fusion algorithm to deliver positional accuracy of 0.08% of distance travelled. Wed, 22 May 2013 14:48:34 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6205-Sonic__and_UHR_Upgrade_for_Rental_Pool.html UK-based Swathe Services has just purchased the newly launched Sonic 2020 multi-beam and ultra high resolution upgrade for the Sonic 2024 to add to its rental pool. Wed, 22 May 2013 14:37:38 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6204-Caspian_Sea_UnderIce_Studies.html ASL Environmental Science’s latest project in the Caspian Sea is with KazEcoProject for CMOC/Shell in the NE Caspian Pearls Lease Block. Canada-headquartered ASL is collecting and analysing data for input into engineering design. Remote sensing data from high resolution satellite images (SAR and optical) and ice charts will be analysed along with ice draft data collected from 2 Ice Profiler and 2 ADCP moorings. Wed, 22 May 2013 14:26:36 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6203-Scholarships_for_UCL_MSc_Hydrographic_Surveying.html Up to GBP17,500 in scholarships are available for students embarking on University College London, UK, MSc programmes in Surveying and Hydrographic Surveying, September 2013 entry. The awards will be based on excellence, as demonstrated by academic record and professional experience. Tue, 21 May 2013 16:24:50 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6202-Successful_Sonar_Trials_with_Naval_Undersea_Warfare_Center.html A Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with Kraken Sonar from Canada and the U.S. Navy’s Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) in Newport, Rhode Island turned out to be successful. During 26 AUV missions NUWC and Kraken collected Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Sonar (InSAS) data in Narragansett Bay and in Block Island Sound against both deployed targets and targets of opportunity. Tue, 21 May 2013 15:03:38 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6201-Extended_Features_for_SeaZone_HydroSpatial_Base.html SeaZone HydroSpatial Base with new tile cache and improved tile selection is available. Features such as soundings, restricted areas, lights, navigational buoys, pipelines, cables and many more are now available for viewing purposes at no cost. The tile cache has also been redesigned to show as much information as possible when selecting an area of interest. Tue, 21 May 2013 14:08:04 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6200-SonarWiz_Supports_NOAA_Survey_Guidelines.html Chesapeake Technology Inc. (CTI) has added new features to its SonarWiz to support the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) survey guidelines. The two areas of specific compliance where SonarWiz is emphasising on with this release are: creating a set of contacts (targets) with NOAA contact naming convention, and presenting sonar imagery with a range-restriction when towfish altitude drops below 8% of sonar range. Tue, 21 May 2013 13:54:21 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6197-Seminar_on_Sea_Level_Network.html SHOM manages the network of reference tidal observations (REFMAR). SHOM is organising for the first time a conference on this subject, titled "REFMAR days" from 17 to 21 June 2013. These events bring together data producers and users of water heights. Many subjects such as the changing sea level or warning and risk prevention by submersion systems are to be discussed. Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6198-Nautical_Chart_for_Arctic_Updated.html NOAA Office of Coast Survey has released a new nautical chart for the Arctic, which will help mariners navigate the Bering Strait. Chart 16190 (Bering Strait North) incorporates precise depth measurements acquired recently by NOAA Ship Fairweather hydrographic surveys. In the former charts, many of the old charted depths were from 1950 and provided incomplete information about the depths or possible hazards on the sea floor. Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6199-SPAR_Europe_and_European_Lidar_Mapping_Forum_Call_for_Papers.html SPAR Point Group, organiser of SPAR Europe 3D Measurement & Imaging Conference and European Lidar Mapping Forum (ELMF), has announced a Call for Papers for the 2013 events which will take place from 11 to 13 November 2013 at the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam (PTA) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Fri, 17 May 2013 16:58:05 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6195-th_Extraordinary_IHC_Preparations.html At the XVIIIth IHC in April 2012, it was decided to hold an extraordinary IHC to cover, amongst other emerging items revision of the capacity building strategy and assessment; a report on C-55 and a progress report on electronic charting. The 5th Extraordinary International Hydrographic Conference (EIHC) is to be held from 6 to 10 October 2014 in Monaco and there is an option for companies to display. Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6196-Seaglider_Technology_Marketed_by_Kongsberg.html Kongsberg Underwater Technology, Inc. has completed negotiations with the University of Washington’s Center for Commercialisation to obtain the sole rights to produce, market and continue the development of Seaglider technology. iRobot had a licence however the company halted the maritime activities. Kongsberg Underwater Technology reckons the Seaglider technology offers interesting perspectives. Also, co-operation with existing Seaglider users will be initiated. Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6194-Award_for_Hydrographic_Lidar_Scanner.html On 15 May 2013, RIEGL won the Geospatial World Award in the category Geospatial Technology Innovation Surveying at the Geospatial World Forum Conference in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, for the RIEGL VQ-820-G. According to RIEGL, the device is the first ‘tightly coupled’, shallow water, land and smart echo waveform Lidar sensor. The topo-hydrographic scanner demonstrated its ability during several live demonstrations over the course of the last few months. Thu, 16 May 2013 11:58:36 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6193-Autonomous_WiFicontrolled_USVs.html Deep Ocean Engineering (DOE, Inc, USA) has added two vehicles to its product line, the dual-hull H-1750 and the mono-hull I-1650. Both vehicles are controlled wirelessly by a dedicated WiFi link and have ranges up to 2km. GPS-enabled autonomous movement is an option where the flip of a switch will send the vehicle onto a predetermined path for a multitude of sampling techniques such as SVP, ADCP, and CTD or even harbour security. For user-controlled navigation, HD video is transmitted back to the pilot box mounted monitor and is used for obstacle avoidance. Thu, 16 May 2013 10:15:14 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6192-Marine_Measurement_Forum_Links_Maritime_Science.html Organised and hosted by underwater technology specialists MacArtney at the MacArtney Group's UK facilities in Aberdeen, the 52nd Marine Measurement Forum (MMF) recently brought together the scientific measurement community for a day devoted to the informal sharing of knowledge and ideas within the realm of marine scientific measurement. Thu, 16 May 2013 10:05:16 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6191-RV_Zeeleeuw_to_Serve_for_Kenya.html The Flemish government's oceanographic research vessel RV Zeeleeuw was officially handed over to the Republic of Kenya on 3 May 2013. The ship will sail under the Kenyan flag and will be named RV Mtafiti, which is Swahili for ‘researcher’. Wed, 15 May 2013 15:31:05 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6190-Indonesias_Largest_Port_Extension_for__million_TEU.html Royal HaskoningDHV from The Netherlands has won the multi-million US dollar contract to supervise the construction of the extension of the main port of Jakarta, Indonesia, Tanjung Priok. The contract is part of the North Kalibaru Terminal Development and the first phase includes the development of a new 4.5 million TEU container terminal allowing the economic development of Indonesia to continue. Wed, 15 May 2013 14:44:40 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6189-Geotechnical_Investigation_for_Navitus_Bay.html UK-headquartered Coastline Surveys has completed a geotechnical investigation of the seabed cable route at the proposed Navitus Bay offshore wind park, off the south coast of England. The company provided geotechnical expertise to examine the viability of the proposed cable route that will transport energy from the wind park to shore. Wed, 15 May 2013 14:25:00 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6188-Survey_Vessel_for_North_China_Sea.html Survey ship Hydro 0503 has recently entered operation after being officially handed over to the Navigation Guarantee Centre of North China Sea (NGCN). Her operating area is Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea, including the Binhai New Area, and she will be mainly used for large-scale survey, far offshore taskss and maritime security including emergency sweeping surveys. Tue, 14 May 2013 14:23:51 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6187-New_S_ENC_Data_Protection_Scheme_Certificate.html The IHO Scheme Administrator Certificate expires in August 2013. The new IHO Certificate (which expires in 2033) is now available for download. The S-63 document describes the IHO recommended standard for the protection of ENC data. Tue, 14 May 2013 14:02:51 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6186-Ultra_Highresolution_Sonar_Head.html Kongsberg Mesotech Ltd., the Canadian subsidiary of Kongsberg Maritime, has released the 1171 Series multi-frequency high-resolution fan/cone sonar head. The scanning sonar head is intended for applications where data and image clarity supersede any other requirement, including underwater construction support, site clearance and bridge and pier inspection. Tue, 14 May 2013 13:50:35 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6185-Accelerating_Support_for_Engineering_and_Design_Centre.html Investing in the future of engineering, UK-based Sonardyne International Ltd. has recently made a substantial donation to the Alton College Fundraising Appeal for a new Engineering and Design Technology Centre. The donation brings forward the centre’s building completion date to Autumn 2013 and will enable the college to teach 310 students a year, inspiring young people to choose careers in engineering and design technology for years to come. Tue, 14 May 2013 13:41:58 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6184-Geomatrix_Purchases_New_Energy_Source.html Director Tom Nicols of Geomatrix took delivery of his company’s first CSP seismic energy source from Applied Acoustics at Ocean Business in Southampton recently. Geomatrix, based in Leighton Buzzard, UK, specialises in the sale and rental of an extensive range of land and marine geophysical products, so the new energy source provides a welcome addition to its oceanographic equipment rental pool. Mon, 13 May 2013 14:32:16 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6183-MetOcean_Expands_Organisation.html Canada-based MetOcean is growing its organisation, hiring Emily MacPherson and Laura Squires for the marketing and sales team. Emily MacPherson will be responsible for the expanding Buoy and Profiler product portfolio and brand marketing and advertising for the company. Laura Squires joins the MetOcean’s Sales and Marketing department, and is responsible for the Tracking and Locating product line and the coordination of internal sales logistics. Mon, 13 May 2013 14:20:48 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6182-AAM_Launches_Shallow_Water_Survey_Service.html Geospatial services company AAM, headquartered in Australia, has launched a dedicated shallow water survey team, with hydrographic surveying expert Andy Waddington appointed to lead the team. Under Waddington’s leadership, the newly formed team will provide innovative geospatial solutions to support government, environment, resources and infrastructure projects in shallow water environments. Mon, 13 May 2013 14:12:58 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6180-Back_Deck_Handling_Systems_Contract_for_New_Seismic_Vessel.html Kongsberg Evotec, Norway, is to provide the complete back deck solution for handling up to 20 streamers simultaneously aboard a GC Rieber-owned new-build seismic exploration vessel, awarded by builder Kleven. Each streamer winch can contain up to 12,000 metres of streamer cable, giving this vessel high 3D capacity. Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6181-HIPS_and_SIPS_Training_for_Fototerra.html Following the recent purchase of CARIS software by Fototerra, CARIS has completed two weeks of training for Fototerra and Petrobras personnel in Macaé, Brazil. The software sale and training was coordinated by CARIS's strategic alliance partner, Intelligent Maritime Solutions (IMS). Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6179-Fugro_Performs_Strongly_in_Geotechnical_and_Survey,_Weaker_in_Subsea.html Fugro, headquartered in The Netherlands, has issued an interim business update. The oil and gas market, which is the main market in which the company operates, continues to be strong in most segments relevant to Fugro. Following the global pattern of economic development, the second largest market is infrastructure which - with the exception of Europe - shows some improvement. The overall backlog continues to be healthy and is strengthening further. Wed, 08 May 2013 09:52:10 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6178-Reduced_Production_of_Dutch_Charts_in__Series.html The Netherlands Hydrographic Office is reducing the production of charts in the 1800 series, for light SOLAS vessels, inland shipping and leisure. New charts would normally be published in spring but changes in the vessel traffic on the North Sea and cost-saving measures by the Netherlands Ministry of Defence are at the root of this change. Wed, 08 May 2013 09:32:54 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6177-Constructionphase_Surveys_for_Humber_Gateway_Offshore_Wind_Farm.html Gardline’s Marine Wildlife’s Department, UK, has been contracted by E.ON, Germany, to carry out construction-phase environmental surveys for the Humber Gateway Offshore Wind Farm. The field work started in late April 2013 and is predicted to finish in March 2015. Wed, 08 May 2013 00:00:00 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6176-Sediment_Analysis_Unveils_Historic_Life_in_Black_Sea.html Marine paleoecologist Marco Coolen from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, USA) was amazed about the variety of past plankton species that have left behind their genetic make-up (i.e. the plankton paleome), as data mining showed. Tue, 07 May 2013 16:57:09 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6175-Marine_Industry_Employs_Boattowed_Detectors.html Many marine service companies are acquiring boat-towed metal detectors and magnetometers to assist in salvage operations and geophysical surveys. These devices can locate a variety of targets including sunken vessels, ship anchors and propellers, pipelines, cables and metal debris which must be removed from an area before dredging. The two primary pieces of equipment used in these operations are a magnetometer and the pulse induction (PI) metal detector. Tue, 07 May 2013 16:44:30 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6174-Galileo_and_GPS_Synchronise_Watches.html To ensure the early interoperability of Europe’s satellite navigation with GPS, the four Galileo satellites have begun broadcasting the ‘offset’ between the parallel navigation systems’ timings, accurate to a few billionths of a second. With satellite navigation based around the highly accurate measurement of signal times, both Galileo and GPS have their own internal reference time systems used to synchronise all system clocks and signals. Tue, 07 May 2013 16:31:11 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6173-Joint_Venture_for_Offshore_Survey.html MMT Group (Sweden) and Reach Subsea AS (Norway) have signed a Letter of Intent for the purpose of establishing a new joint venture within offshore survey operations. The companies have, together with the engineering company Kystdesign, developed a new generation of high-speed survey ROVs called 'Surveyor', with the intention to build the first unit in 2013 and be ready for offshore operations in 2014. Tue, 07 May 2013 15:52:46 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6172-SeaRobotics_Delivers_USV_to_NATO.html SeaRobotics Corporation, based in Florida, USA, has delivered an Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) in its 5.7m hull series to the NATO's Center for Marine Research and Experimentation (CMRE). This general-purpose USV will be utilised to improve payload capacity and efficiency of the impressive, fully autonomous mine neutralisation system developed at CMRE. Mon, 06 May 2013 09:22:26 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6171-Saab_Seaeye_Opens_US_Office_in_Houston.html Saab Seaeye has expanded its international presence by opening an office in Houston, Texas, USA. The company is already one of world's largest manufacturers of electric remotely operated underwater vehicles with distributors in 26 countries and over 700 systems sold worldwide. Mon, 06 May 2013 09:13:18 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6170-Two_New_Hydrographic_Survey_Boats_for_the_Congo_River.html The Alu Marine shipyard, France, has completed the construction of two survey launches for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This order was attributed to Alu Marine in spring 2012 following a public tender from the 'Congolaise des Voies Maritimes' (CVM). These survey boats will carry out hydrographic surveys in the maritime pound of the Congo River to guide dredging and marking for the DRC's Multimodal Transport Project. Fri, 03 May 2013 13:06:49 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6168-Biggest_Test_Tank_for_UUVs.html Located in Linköping, Sweden, a test tank measuring 6m deep and 10m in diameter and containing 470 cubic metres of water will allow new underwater systems technology to be trialled and tested in a controlled environment rather than in a lake or at sea. Saab sees the facility bringing significant savings in terms of both time and costs, whilst offering a unique opportunty to develop and trial underwater systems that will strenghen its future product portfolio. Thu, 02 May 2013 00:00:00 +0200 http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id6169-Ralph_Rayner_Named_as_Nonexecutive_Chairman_at_Sonardyne.html Sonardyne International, UK, has appointed Dr Ralph Rayner as its new non-executive chairman. Ralph was previously a non-executive director of the company and succeeded outgoing chairman Barry Clutton on 1 May 2013. Previously finance director and then managing director prior to his appointment as chairman in 2009, Barry has retired after 16 years with the company. Thu, 02 May 2013 00:00:00 +0200