The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has approved the final development and operation plan for the first phase of Statoil’s Johan Sverdrup field project offshore Norway. The agency also approved associated plans for installation and operation (PIO) for transportation pipelines and power supply from shore.

Ross Anderson graduated from the Premium ROV Course in 2014 and now works for Aleron Subsea in Aberdeen. Here we look at how his training at The Underwater Centre prepared him for his exciting new subsea career and what it took to get that all-important first job in the ROV industry... Before starting his ROV career, Ross ran his own successful bike shop business and was a racing bike mechanic so came to the industry with a great deal of technical aptitude and a can-do attitude. When Ross started looking around for a new career challenge, he stumbled across ROV pilot training and knew this could be the ideal career for him – combining challenging, varied work with travel prospects, flexible work patterns and a good salary.

Whether finally seduced by the relief a merger can usher in or surrendering to the security of making a joint venture permanent, the more distressed companies in the oil patch are de-stressing themselves by succumbing to the safety that mergers and acquisitions (M&A) offer. As companies have readjusted to a world where $60 oil can quickly become $40 oil, businesses – particularly the hard-hit, physically challenging services sector – have been watching their dollars dwindle from each bottom line. The biggest companies have seemed safe enough, but there’s been plenty of angst to go around.

Italy’s Saipem has been awarded by the Kuwait National Petroleum Corporation (KNPC) for Package 4 and Package 5 of the Al-Zour New Refinery Project (NRP), located 90 km south of Kuwait City, for a total amount of approximately $1.3 billion, Saipem share.

Eni has made a world class supergiant gas discovery at its Zohr Prospect, in the deep waters of Egypt. The discovery well Zohr 1X NFW is located in the economic waters of Egypt’s Offshore Mediterranean, in 4,757 feet of water depth (1,450 metres), in theShorouk Block, signed in January 2014 with the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) following a competitive international Bid Round.

Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) is working closely with the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) – Division Newport to enhance the features of the company's AN/AQS-20A minehunting sonar. Together, the team is analyzing the system's synthetic aperture sonar to fully optimize its ability to capture and process high- and low-resolution images of mine threats undersea.

Underwater Intervention 2016
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China International Diving and Salvage Offshore Summit 2015

6-8 November 2015 – Xiamen, China

For some 30 years SEALAB I has sat with little attention, now on the heels of its 50th anniversary, a group of volunteers has undertaken the task of restoring this historical vessel and re-commissioning it in the configuration as it served as America's first underwater house. Be part of the effort to help fund this project. Click the link below for more information and to donate to the cause.

This fall, a small fleet of robots were sent an urgent message: "Run away!" The sea gliders deployed by the Office of Naval Research raced south, outrunning the freezing ocean. Working both in concert and isolation, these and many other autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are used to explore the changing environment of the Arctic. The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International brought ocean engineer Hanumant Singh and Office of Naval Research Arctic Program Officer and Science Advisor Martin Jeffries together to talk about how robots are used to study the ice.

Fifty years ago, some historic stuff was happening off the coast of Southern California during a sea-floor mission that was like a corollary to the moon landing, with its own brand of small steps for man and giant leaps for mankind. The steps, and the leaps, were taken by divers who lived for days at a time in a cylindrical shelter called SEALAB II, a 200-ton prototype that was about the size of a city bus and looked something like a customized railway tank car. At the end of August 1965, this underwater version of a space station was set up on the seabed about a mile offshore from La Jolla, near San Diego, California.

New York Sea Grant, the Great New York State Fair, and the Great Lakes Research Consortium are pleased to announce the schedule of in-water ROV Demo Days presented by four area school districts and SUNY Oswego at the 2015 Great New York State Fair.

While the world goes crazy for drones, a hardworking set of marine robots are helping scientists learn more about our global waterways. Aquabots are the most advanced way to measure the reaches of the ocean, rivers and lakes, Matthew Dunbabin, a principal research fellow at the Institute for Future Environments at the Queensland University of Technology, told Mashable Australia.

The first man to notice New York City’s $1.6 billion problem was a utility worker. Standing near the Hudson River in 1988, he saw it was at low tide, which revealed a separate body of water bubbling up near the shore and spilling into the main current. That didn’t seem right at all. The worker notified the city’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Back then, New York was using copper sulfate to control algae in the Delaware Aqueduct supply, one of the city’s three main arteries for water. At 85 miles long, it’s also the longest continuous tunnel in the world.

TLex DEEP BLUE have released a new Military dive watch called the Sun Diver, 1000 meter water-resistant watch with a stealthy black PVD case. Features of the Sun Diver Mil. include: an AISI 316L Stainless steel case measuring 46mm with a thickness of 14mm and an overall length of 52.5mm. Its weight is 220g.

Deep Trekker introduced a new Underwater Drone To Help Fish Farming and Aquaculture specialists. Highly affordable, easy to transport, and simple to operate, the flexible new aquatic drone can assist with a wide range of aquaculture needs, from net inspection and feeding to routine monitoring and the removal of expired stock. Available immediately to customers worldwide, the new Deep Trekker product will help fish farms and aquaculture operations cut costs and improve operational efficiency and yields.