International – January 2019
First UK Company Signs on to
Participate in Plastic Reduction Plan
Spinlock is the first company from the Isle of Wight to sign onto a global commitment to eradicate plastic waste and pollution at source. The New Plastics Economy Global Commitment aims to create a new normal for plastic packaging. Targets will be reviewed every 18 months and will become increasingly ambitious. Businesses that sign the commitment will publish annual data on their progress to drive momentum and transparency.
ROV Operator Opens Office in Middle East
ROVOP has expanded in the Middle East, opening a new base staffed by operations director Doug Middleton and business development consultant Michael O’Donnell. The Middle East operation will provide ROV services in the drill support, IRM and construction markets within the oil and gas sector via a diverse fleet of ROVs.
Climate Change Services Group Begins in Japan
The Carbon Trust and ClassNK Consulting Service signed an agreement to develop a commercial partnership offering climate change and sustainability services. The partnership will explore opportunities to deliver advice and consulting to Japanese businesses, as well as in selected markets across Asia. Companies will have access to technical advice and support for setting their own climate change targets, reporting environmental impacts and achieving reductions.
Hyperbaric Rescue Facility and Lifeboats
Complete Mating Trials in 11 Hours
JFD successfully completed mating trials with its portable hyperbaric rescue facility (HRF) with Boskalis DSV BOKA Atlantis. The mating trials with the HRF and two self-propelled hyperbaric lifeboats (SPHLs) were completed in a period of 11 hr. During the trial, JFD successfully mated with the port and starboard SPHLs to the portable HRF. The entry locks of the SPHLs were pressurized to 305 msw, equivalent to the equipment’s maximum working depth. The speed with which the SPHLs are mated is critical, as transferring the divers as quickly as possible can be vital to saving their lives.
Corrosion Control Service Offered in Middle East
Unique Group and Deepwater Corrosion Services Inc. will offer corrosion control solutions in the Middle East. Deepwater’s solutions include cathodic protection (CP), permanent CP monitoring, CP design and engineering and corrosion inspection and survey. The company also offers sacrificial (SACP) and impressed current (ICCP) systems that can be retrofitted.
Autonomous Systems Collaboration is Underway
Sonardyne, L3 ASV and the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) will focus on longer-term navigational accuracy for AUVs in deepwater, while reducing power requirements and increasing autonomy in marine operations. The P3AUV project will involve trials using Sonardyne underwater positioning technology on NOC’s autosub long-range (ALR) and L3 ASV’s C-Worker 7 ASV. The project recently completed trials in Loch Ness.
Innovation Centre Opens in Southern Sweden
Kalmar opened its new Innovation Centre in Ljungby, southern Sweden. Approximately 200 people will be based at the facility designed to support new collaborative ways of working with modern architecture and cutting-edge technology. Kalmar intends to strengthen its R&D capabilities and prototype production and testing for its mobile equipment portfolio. The center will also serve as a key hub for developing Kalmar’s digitalization capabilities, zero-emission machine product portfolio and automation technologies.
Ashtead Acquires Canadian Company
Ashtead Technology has acquired Canadian underwater inspection company Welaptega. The transaction comes just 10 months after the company completed a joint venture with Forum Energy Technologies, creating an independent provider of subsea survey and ROV equipment services with a fleet of 19,000 assets worth more than £100 million. The acquisition is Ashtead’s third deal since it was acquired by Buckthorn Partners and APICORP in 2016.
Actuator Launched for Oil and Gas Exploration
New technology developed by MacArtney and ION Geophysical, including a SailWing actuator and control system designed to ensure the correct positioning and stability of seismic survey source arrays, has been launched to gather data for enhanced exploration and production of oil and gas. The SailWing actuator and its control panel are designed to control sources towed from a seismic vessel that gathers data intended for 3D interpretation of the subsurface.
Marine Catalytic Reduction Market
Is Expected to Reach $5 Billion by 2024
A recent report by Global Market Insights suggests that the marine selective catalytic reduction system market will exceed $5 billion by 2024. According to the report, increasing maritime nitrogen emissions and concerns over its adverse effects on human health and the environment will drive growth and product adoption, as well as rising concerns about NOx emissions coupled with stringent legislation. The report notes that the IMO introduced a limit to nitrogen emissions by engines with power output more than 130 kW.
Canadian Microbiological Monitoring Company
Acquires Microbial Division of aqua-tools
LuminUltra, a Canadian specialist in microbiological monitoring tools, has completed acquisition of the Rapid Microbial Solutions (RMS) division of France-based aqua-tools. The acquisition includes the award-winning B-QUA ballast water test kit and ATP (adenosine triphosphate) measurement products. aqua-tools continues to operate as a separate business, focusing solely on its infection control solutions.
Open Call for Scottish-Japanese Collaborations
The second call for a three-year initiative that forges R&D partnerships between Scotland and Japan is now open. In the first phase of the initiative Scotland and Japan invested £8.8 million into five collaborative R&D projects. The second call focuses on the blue economy and topics in renewables, aquaculture and carbon capture storage. The current market value of the blue economy is valued at £50 billion, and the global market is projected to reach £140 billion by 2035.
Subsea Cable Specialist Expands into Israel
Hydro Group is expanding into a new market with Israeli-based distributor Aretha Technologies Ltd., which will offer subsea electrical and optical cables, ROV tethers and other Hydro Group products. Established in May 2018 by Ofer Kleiner and Moshe Eisenkraft, the firm based in Kfar Saba, Israel, is the official agent for engineering firms active in the defense, aerospace and renewable energy industries.
Norwegian Company Checks Ballast Installations
Optimarin ventured on board Subsea7’s Seven Pacific to demonstrate upgrades of existing ballast systems to full U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) compliance. Optimarin was the first manufacturer to achieve USCG approval in December 2016, and it originally installed its UV-based technology on board the offshore construction and pipe-laying vessel in 2015. Since then, the 667-m3 system has been running smoothly, with minimal maintenance. Optimarin now has more than 500 operational units, of which approximately 250 are retrofits. The Norwegian-headquartered firm has performed about 50 of the simple USCG upgrades to existing systems.
Oceaneering Expands in Chandigarh, India
The company’s engineering support team is expected to grow to 30 engineers by the end of 2019. The team provides services across all integrity engineering trades, enabling standardization and full life-cycle project execution. Chirag Jayswal has been appointed senior integrity engineering manager. With Oceaneering since 2010, he will transition from his current role within the offshore design center, where he led a team of engineers.
James Fisher Completes South China Project
James Fisher Ocean Team (JFOT) has completed its first excavation for COOEC Subsea in the South China Sea, and the team is gearing up for additional projects in 2019. JFOT was established to provide service in China from experts in global controlled flow excavators (CFE), James Fisher Subsea Excavation (JFSE), which has worked in the region since 2009. The project for COOEC Subsea in Zhujiangkou Basin, 170 km southwest of Hong Kong in the South China Sea, was for post-lay trenching of 7 km of subsea cable.