Ocean Business – April 2019
Student Mentorship Program Educates About Pollution Control Technology
Ship & Shore Environmental Inc. launched an engineering mentorship program for high-school, undergrad and graduate students interested in careers in engineering, environmental or other STEM-related fields. The program will continue throughout 2019 and aims to raise environmental awareness, educate youth about the importance of pollution control technologies and offer opportunities to gain real-world and practical experience.
Secure Satellite Network Operational
The final satellite is in place linking the Iridium Certus NEXT constellation together, and COMSAT now offers this service to aero, land-mobile, IoT and maritime users. The U.S.-based satellite connectivity business is the exclusive service provider for Air Force Space Command’s (AFSPACE) Enhanced Mobile Satellite Services (EMSS) program. The multi-service platform supports connectivity needs regardless of location, terrain and weather.
Project Allows Use of DAT in Shallow Water
Logan Industries successfully completed a reduced bore direct acting tensioner (RB-DAT) project to enable the use of the DAT in shallow water. The project required making an existing deepwater DAT suitable for shallow waters using the existing rod and barrel, external footprint and interface points, while maintaining the same pressure rating and tuning the operating characteristics from deepwater to shallow water.
Deep Ocean Engineering Receives USV Order
Three USVs have been ordered with request of full autonomy through waypoint navigation and a mission planning system. Two Phantom H-1750s and one I-1650 are integrating this technology for features such as obstacle avoidance, malfunction correction, dealing with unexpected events and return-home functions. The waypoint route is continuously modified to plan around obstacles detected with long-range sensors.
Pollution Control Tech Installed on Newbuilds
Viking Jupiter, the 47,800-gt cruise ship built at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Ancona, Italy, for Viking Cruises, has been delivered with a Thordon Bearings seawater-lubricated propeller shaft system. It is the sixth Viking cruise ship to be fitted with the COMPAC bearing arrangement.
Two 930-passenger sisterships, Viking Tellus and Viking Venus, slated for delivery in 2021, have also been specified with the pollution-free Thordon system. Newbuilds of the same class have also been ordered for delivery between 2022 and 2027.
Luxury Polar Cruise Ships Equipped with Sonar
FarSounder’s forward-looking sonar will be included on the new luxury expedition cruise vessel by Mystic Cruises, the World Explorer. This latest technology in navigation and obstacle avoidance will be a welcome addition to this state-of-the-art vessel, as the World Explorer will embark on a variety of unique voyages to include exploring to the polar regions and many out-of-the-way places all around the world.
Ballast Treatment System Reduces Holding Time
Optimarin Ballast Systems (OBS) have gained approval from the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), reducing the required holding time from 72 to 24 hr. for all salinities. The certification means the systems are optimized for short shipping routes in the U.S., with reduced time between ballast water treatment and de-ballasting.
USCG requires a holding time post-treatment for environmentally friendly UV systems to ensure all cells are inactive before testing. With increased UV doses by OBS 35-kW lamps, the holding time can be reduced.
KVH Reaches Milestone
For Broadband Systems Shipped
KVH Industries recently shipped its 9,000th mini-VSAT Broadbandsm system. KVH’s TracPhone V-series antenna systems are designed to provide satellite broadband connectivity to commercial vessels and leisure yachts around the world by utilizing advanced satellite technology, including high-throughput satellites (HTS).
Kraken Earns $2.3 Million
From Ocean Infinity Warrants
Kraken Robotics has received $2.3 million from Ocean Infinity from the exercise of 5,760,000 warrants. The warrants were issued in connection with the company’s private placement of units to Ocean Infinity in June 2018. The warrants expire in June 2021 and had an exercise price of $0.40. Kraken’s board of directors has also approved the issuance of 500,000 options to certain external consultants. These options will have a three-year term, and the exercise price was set at the company’s closing stock price on the TSX-V as of March 5, 2019.
Phoenix to Build a Variety of Submarine Rescue
Tools for Australian Defense Department
The Commonwealth of Australia Department of Defence has awarded Phoenix International a contract for a submarine rescue service, to include the acquisition and support of the SEA1354 Ph 1 Submarine Escape, Rescue, and Abandonment System (SERAS). The SRS will be delivered on a four-year acquisition schedule, and the contract includes design and construction of a submarine rescue facility, a 600-m-capable remotely operated rescue vehicle, a shallow-water submarine rescue bell, a launch and recovery system, a hyperbaric suite for decompression of rescued submariners, and an ROV.
LNG Dual-Fuel Conversion Dredger Launched
Nineteen months after the contract was awarded, the conversion of a dredger to dual-fuel capability combining LNG and MGO is close to completion. This is the first conversion of its kind to take place in Europe. Damen will deliver a turnkey package that includes engineering, procurement and support. The previous propulsion system of Dragages-Ports’ Samuel de Champlain was diesel-electric-burning MGO, and the contract included the change of generators to dual-fuel models and the installation of onboard LNG storage facilities.
Pipelay Barge Fleet Doubles in Size
Chet Morrison Contractors has acquired two pipelay/construction barges and a saturation diving system, effectively doubling the size of its pipelay barge fleet and increasing its saturation-diving capabilities. The acquisition includes: LB Super Chief, a 265-ft., pipelay barge with a 100 KIP pipe tensioner; DLB Subsea Vision, a 415-ft. pipelay and construction barge with a PDI large-diameter pipelay system and a 300-t crane and a moonpool; and a 12-man ABS-classed portable IMCA-compliant diving system capable of diving to depths up to 1,000 ft.
Alaska Pilot Boat Fitted with Stabilization System
The new pilot boat for the Southwest Alaska Pilots Association has a vessel stabilization system supplied by Humphree USA. The new 75.7-ft. aluminum Galveston-class pilot boat was designed by C. Raymond Hunt and built by Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corp. It is powered by twin 1,400-hp. EPA Tier 3 diesels with water jet drives, with a top speed of 28 kt.
New COVE Tenant Works on Big Ocean Data
IBM Canada has joined the ocean business park at the Centre for Ocean Ventures and Entrepreneurship (COVE). IBM is one of Canada’s top 10 private R&D investors and last year contributed more than $478 million to Canadian research activities. IBM, along with COVE, Dalhousie University, the Ocean Frontier Institute, the government of Canada, local industry and the province of Nova Scotia, is collaborating on the rollout of DeepSense, a big ocean data innovation environment.
US Icebreaker Returns after Antarctic Mission
The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star returned to its home port in Seattle, Washington, after supporting the annual delivery of operating supplies and fuel for National Science Foundation (NSF) research stations in Antarctica. The Polar Star crew departed Seattle November 27, 2018 to assist in the annual delivery known as Operation Deep Freeze, the logistical support provided by the U.S. Armed Forces to the U.S. Antarctic Program. The crew supported the NSF by cutting a resupply channel through 17 mi. of Antarctic ice in the Ross Sea to escort a supply vessel to the continent.
iXblue Supplies Tech for New York Yacht Club
iXblue is now the official supplier of New York Yacht Club American Magic, a professional sailing team seeking to win the America’s Cup.
iXblue has provided the team with Hydrins inertial navigation systems and Quadrans gyroscopic compasses. Using iXblue’s fiber-optic gyroscope technology, Quadrans compasses and Hydrins inertial navigation systems are solid-state and well suited for the harsh environment of a racing yacht.