US Coast Guard Not Ready to Invest
In Shoreside Arctic Infrastructure
Due to lack of funding and a tough fiscal climate in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Coast Guard does not expect to invest in shoreside Arctic infrastructure in the near future, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Bob Papp said last Friday.

The Coast Guard has "no organic land infrastructure" existing in the Arctic and is "locally insufficient" in icebreakers, Adm. Papp added.

The Polar Star is being refurbished for next year, while the Polar Sea is being dismantled to be used for parts. The Coast Guard has requested $8 million in fiscal year 2013 to begin constructing a new icebreaker. 

When asked about sequestration's effects on the Coast Guard's budget and eight cutters, Papp said the service was evaluating different scenarios as it waited to see what develops, calling the looming cuts "amorphous."

The U.S. Coast Guard needs better communications in the Arctic, Adm. Papp said. Future infrastructure and technology requirements will be addressed in the service's forthcoming Arctic strategy.

Rescue 21, the Coast Guard's very high-frequency FM distress network, exists throughout most of the continental U.S. but does not cover Alaska. This is because that region previously did not have much offshore activity, and setting up such a network there would be costly and challenging.

Since Arctic operations are available only in the summer, the Coast Guard would not need to use this system year-round. So as a substitute for shoreside facilities, a large cutter with worldwide command and control communications is positioned in the region.

"I'm confident in the future we're going to need some permanent infrastructure, but I'm not in a position right now to say exactly what that is or how much of it we're going to need," Papp said. "Our further operations and Arctic strategy will address that."

After struggling with its identity over the past few years and trying to avoid overlap with the U.S. Navy, the Coast Guard has moved its focus to maritime governance. Papp said he didn't want the Coast Guard to be another Navy—it must be a standalone service focusing on proper training and regulation enforcement.

Iver2 AUV Now Available With EdgeTech 2205 
OceanServer Technology's (Fall River, Massachusetts) Iver2 AUV can now be equipped with an EdgeTech (West Wareham, Massachusetts) 2205 high-resolution side scan sonar.

With the EdgeTech 2205, the Iver2 AUV can gather high-resolution acoustic imaging in surveys of littoral waters. The 2205, designed specifically for use on AUVs, represents EdgeTech’s latest generation of electronics, transducers and software optimized for the  size and power constraints of a small-platform footprint.

Recently, an Iver2 AUV with the integrated EdgeTech 2205 successfully conducted surveys in coastal areas in Florida, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The data demonstrated the ultrahigh-resolution underwater imagery of the EdgeTech dual simultaneous 400/900-kilohertz system produced on board the Iver2.

Caption: A marine archaeologist utilizing the Iver2 AUV in the Adriatic Sea.

Source: OceanServer press release

Kreuz Subsea Orders Panther XT Plus ROV
Singapore-based Kreuz Subsea recently took delivery of a Panther XT Plus ROV, manufacturer Saab Seaeye Ltd. (Fareham, England) said last week.

The ROV will be deployed from Kreuz Subsea’s dive support vessels in diving operations throughout the region. The first planned mission is in Myanmar, where a Kreuz client is seeking a work-class package.

The delivered Panther XT Plus comes with two Schilling Robotics' (Davis, California) Orion manipulators, a Tritech (Westhill, Scotland) Super SeaKing sonar, various cameras, and a tether management system with A-frame launch and recovery system, and control cabin.

The deal was struck with Oceanvision, Saab Seaeye’s distributor in Singapore and service and support center in the region.

This is Saab Seaeye's second sale to Kreuz, the first being a Cougar XT.

Source: Saab Seaeye press release

Kongsberg Acquires Oil and Gas, Renewables Firms
Kongsberg Maritime AS (Kongsberg, Norway) has acquired Trondheim, Norway-based InTurbine, a renewable and wind power consultancy firm. Kongsberg Oil & Gas Technologies AS (Kongsberg) is also in the process of purchasing Apply Nemo AS (Lysaker, Norway), an independent supplier of  engineering services, products and solutions for subsea oil and gas applications.

The Apply Nemo AS acquisition is expected to be completed in early January. The company has 172 employees and is well established in the North Sea and Australia.

InTurbine joined Kongsberg Maritime's Merchant Marine Division in Trondheim at the beginning of the month. It will support the operations and expansion of Kongsberg's recently opened Centre for Wind Farm Management.

The Wind Farm Management center, a joint venture between Kongsberg Maritime AS and its parent company Kongsberg Gruppen ASA (Kongsberg), was established to develop solutions for wind farm control, condition monitoring and the operation of wind turbines globally.

Source: Kongsberg Maritime AS, Kongsberg Oil & Gas Technologies AS press releases

UUVs to Replace Navy Mine-Hunting Dolphins in 2017
The U.S. Navy will replace 24 of its 80 mine-hunting dolphins with Mark 18 Mod 2 Kingfish UUVs starting in 2017, The San Diego Union Tribune reported.

The Kingfish UUV, developed by the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Point Loma in California, has been in limited use by the Navy for more than two years. Based on a Hydroid (Pocasset, Massachusetts) REMUS 600, it is 12 feet long and can run for 24 hours.

The U.S. Navy has found that dolphins' echolocation enables them to locate sea mines. Other marine mammals, like the California sea lion, also have demonstrated the ability to mark and retrieve objects in the ocean. Eighty bottle-nosed dolphins and 40 California sea lions are trained, studied and deployed under the Navy Marine Mammal Program.

The Navy has not determined whether the Kingfish program will cost more than this $28 million program. The benefit of the UUVs is that they can be manufactured quickly and readily deployable, especially compared to the seven-year period required to train dolphins for mine hunting.

Sea lion jobs will not be cut, and unemployed dolphins will be assigned to other work, the Navy said.

Source: The San Diego Union Tribune, U.S. Navy

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