Fugro has been awarded a contract by Ophir Equatorial Guinea (Block R) Limited for the provision of survey services for the development of large scale assets and infrastructure offshore Equatorial Guinea. Under the contract Fugro will deploy three of its specialist vessels - Fugro Searcher, Fugro Scout and Fugro Frontier - to perform autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) surveys as well as geotechnical, environmental and metocean surveys.

India's oil demand is poised to reach 10 million barrels of oil per day (MMbopd) by 2040 -- up from 3.8 MMbopd last year -- as domestic energy consumption looked set for strong growth over the next 25 years, boosted by rising incomes and population as well as increased urbanization and industrialization, the International Energy Agency (IEA) commented Friday on its launch of the "India Energy Outlook 2015" report.

U.S. energy firms cut oil rigs for an 11th week in the last 12 this week, data showed on Friday, a sign drillers were still waiting for higher prices before returning to the well pad en masse. Drillers removed 10 oil rigs in the week ended Nov. 20, bringing the total rig count down to 564, oil services company Baker Hughes Inc said in its closely followed report.

Underwater Intervention 2016
Call for Papers

TechStart grants are available to entrepreneurs and companies across Maine who are seeking to develop their inventive ideas into new, innovative products or services. Business Accelerator grants are available to startup/ early stage companies that have been awarded MTI Development Loans and to companies that have recently been chosen for a federal Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I or Phase II grant and/or a Broad Agency Announcement award.

The Coast Guard is monitoring salvage efforts of a 42-foot fishing vessel that sank Friday at its mooring ball in Stonington, Maine. The Coast Guard Sector Northern New England command center in Portland, Maine, was notified that the Marley Gabriella sank in about 70 feet of water with nearly 700 gallons of diesel fuel onboard. No one was aboard the Marley Gabriella when it sank.

It’s not often that you get to say "We fixed a waterfall today at work." Let’s face it, that’s not within the normal parameters of most occupations. But this summer, that’s exactly what we did! I’ve mentioned before, working as an inshore diver means that you have a lot of different jobs that come up, all with their own challenges, whether it’s lifting a boat off the bottom, or more mundane tasks like pounding bolts in a marina extension. And like most jobs, this one had its own quirks that made it memorable.

Offshore or Inland. Where would you prefer to dive? Inland commercial diving is often overshadowed by the offshore world. Divers sometimes interpret the offshore jobs as wide open opportunities, limitless salaries and waves of adventure. But lakes, rivers and marine facilities can take divers just as far in their careers. Let’s look at inland diving perceptions more closely.

Kraken Sonar Inc. ("Kraken") (TSX VENTURE: PNG) announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Kraken Sonar Systems Inc. has released SoundPix® -- an innovative solution for next generation seabed mapping. "Seafloor mapping is one of the oldest professions known to humankind," said Karl Kenny, President and CEO of Kraken. "For thousands of years, mariners have been measuring the depths under their vessels. Today's ocean surveying market is valued at over US$3 billion per year. Kraken's customers and prospects have asked for a high resolution seabed mapping solution that leverages our Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS) technology. With SoundPix®, we've given it to them -- hydrographic surveyors can now increase the quantity of seafloor data, significantly improve data quality and lower data acquisition costs -- all in real time. We are extremely excited by the market potential for SoundPix®."

GAC EnvironHull’s cutting-edge underwater hull cleaning system, HullWiper, has won the Technical Innovation category at the 8th Sea Maritime Awards Asia presented in Hong Kong last night. The Seatrade Maritime Awards Asia brought together more than 400 industry leaders to celebrate outstanding performance and achievements of accomplished individuals and companies from the maritime sector.

Seatronics, an Acteon company specializing in marine equipment, has triggered a Percussion Actuated Non-electric (P.A.N.) disrupter subsea, with its Predator ROV, while maintaining station keeping during a live fire mission. Seatronics established the Predator ROV Elite System as a Bomb Squad Capable Improvised Explosive Device (IED) ROV, specifically designed to perform demonstrations in conjunction with Great Eastern Group (GEG) for the US Maritime Bomb Squads.

SeeByte, ASV and the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) have carried out trials on a software that could better enable a fleet of robotic vehicles to work together to perform tasks such as seeking and tracking whales and dolphins. This software acts like a ‘central brain’, making decisions about where the robots should go based on the changing environment around them, which is measured using in-built sensors.