Big Blue World issue 5 - September 2022

Big Blue World

Welcome

It is October already and at last [hurray] SUT members are beginning to reconnect with the outside world in person. It’s been a long and challenging time.

Last month the Aberdeen Branch ran their first face-to-face Subsea Awareness Course, since the start of the pandemic. The London and South East branch also held a ‘Something Old, Something New’ presentation evening. The LSE’s infamous Quiz Night is being held on the 11th October, so if you are in London or planning to be in London enter a team, join a team, pop in and network. Singapore Branch, chaired by James Christie, their technical evening presentations are back up and running with the 29th September as their first since in person event since 2019. While SUT Perth WA, are not only running training courses they are also hosting a Golf Day. Houston Branch under the guidance of Tricia Hill, are filling up their calendar, with training courses, including a Halloween Speed Networking event! Not to mention other global branch events, courses and conferences. You can’t say that SUT Branches are standing still.

Thank you all for having the steam and perseverance to continue hosting events and training courses; as well as the foresight to plan for the future. I’d also like to thank the people and organisations that sponsor SUT events. Thank you.

It’s not only the time to come out of our home offices, it is also the time for new committees. The North East of England branch elected a new chair, Vahid Walker who has hit the road running and has started planning their new event ably helped by the new committee. Vahid has taken over from Martin Bingham, who I think has certainly earned his SUT t-shirt . Thank you, Martin and your committee. This year’s SUT Annual General Meeting, is being held on the 6th December, at the Institute of Physics in London. If members of our various branches wish to attend, please email Cheryl Burgess, at cheryl.burgess@sut.org

It is also worth a mention that if you are interest in standing for the SUT Council please email Cheryl Burgess. Information on nominations, application form and eligibility is on the SUT website in your members area.

Not only is it a time for change for the Society but it is also a time of change for the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, with the unexpected death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen, was not only the sovereign head of a nation, but she was also a daughter, a wife and mother, grandmother and great grandmother to her family. We all know what influences that these roles play in people’s lives and the space that they leave behind.

If like me the next couple of months are going to be busy, so please let us know what you are all up to, or anything that you feel others would like to read about in the next issue of Big Blue World please email Emily Boddy.

Sue John SUT Chair of Council & Vice President

Welcome to our new Corporate Members

The Society offers enhanced communication with other companies, government, organisations and individuals working in the area of underwater technology in specialist disciplines.

Educational Support Fund News

The judging committee of the SUT’s Educational Support Fund reviewed a record number of applications from undergraduates and graduate Masters students from several countries. The standard of applicants was very high. The academic degree programmes students were focusing on was diverse and the career aspirations of the applicants inspiring.

SUT judging committee are delighted to announce the recipients of the ESF 2022 are: Francesca Fehlberg and Ryan Lin.

Francesca will be attending Bangor University, Wales working on her MSc Marine Environmental Protection and Ryan will be attending Imperial College to study in a MSc programme which collaborates with Ramboll to support a design project for floating wind turbines.

The SUT is pleased to announce that from 2023 doctoral postgraduate applicants will be able to supply for ESF support with the Bil Loth Memorial Grant. Bil, a past President of the SUT and well-known international academic was passionate about education; an advocate or young engineers and loved attending the ESF awards and meeting the recipients.

The Society for Underwater Technology would like to thank those who have contributed to fund-raising for this grant as well as those who may wish to do so in the future supporting the work of doctoral students (www.justgiving.com/ fundraising/bil-loth).

For more information on the Educational Support Fund and making donations, please contact jane.hinton@sut.org

Click here to find out how your organisation can join the SUT as a Corporate Member and what benefits you could get.

Francesca Fehlberg

Ryan Lin

UT2/Underwater Robotics - The magazines of the SUT

The Marine Technology Society Journal is the flagship publication of the Marine Technology Society. It publishes the highest caliber, peerreviewed papers, six times a year, on subjects of interest to the society: marine technology, ocean science, marine policy, and education. The Marine Technology Society has published the MTS Journal under its current title since 1969.

read

latest issue.

Gwyn Griffiths Award for Underwater Robotics

‘The standard of entries for the SUT’s Gwyn Griffiths Award for Underwater Robotics was extremely competitive this year, and the nominees of high calibre, which challenged the judges to select this year’s winner,’ said Neil Bose, Chair of SUT’s Underwater Robotics Panel, and Vice President (Research), Memorial University, Newfoundland and Labrador’s University. ‘On behalf of the Panel, the judges and SUT we would like recognise the talent, innovation and qualities of all the entrants working in underwater robotics.’

The Panel is delighted to announce the winner of the GGURA, Rustom Jehangir from Blue Robotics Inc in Torrance, California.

On being informed of the Award, Rustom said, “Wow! I’m honoured and humbled to receive this award bearing Gwyn Griffiths’ name, given all that he accomplished and contributed to the field of marine robotics. ‘I consider this award to be an honour for my whole team.”

Getting to know Rustom we asked:

What inspired your interest in subsea engineering?

I went to school for mechanical and aerospace engineering and was initially interested in drone aircraft. I worked in that field for several years at a start-up company developing a large multicopter helicopter for military applications. While doing that, I stumbled into subsea engineering. At the time (around 2013), a friend and I were both looking for a fun robotics project to do on the weekends and decided that we would make a solarpowered robotic surfboard that could cross the ocean. We thought we could achieve that on a small budget and we dreamt of sending it from California to Hawaii, a trip that would take several months at the slow pace we could maintain with solar power.

We started working on this project and we found all of the components that we needed, like the solar panels, GPS, microcontroller, and satellite radio, but struggled to find thruster motors to propel it. We could only find very inexpensive options that wouldn’t survive for long in the ocean, and very expensive options designed for military-grade applications. We scoured the internet for options and couldn’t find anything,

but we did find a lot of other people looking for the same thing. Some of them were on robotics teams and some were hobbyists. At that moment we decided to solve that problem and design an affordable, capable thruster for marine robotics that anyone could use. We were successful and launched Blue Robotics through a Kickstarter campaign in 2014!

So, to answer your question, I was initially inspired by our solar surfboard project and then jumped headfirst into subsea engineering by starting a company. At the time I had no experience with subsea engineering and had to learn quickly! Eight years later, we have made over 70,000 thrusters and have a team of 55 people designing and building a wide range of products that enable marine robotics applications.

How did you become involved in robotics?

I’ve been interested in robotics since I was young. I watched a recorded documentary about the AUVSI International Aerial Robotics Competition (IARC) many times and dreamed of being a robotics engineer someday. I got actively involved in university when I joined an IARC team. We never actually competed, but it re-sparked my interest and taught me many of the basics.

What advice would you give to someone interested in a career in this field?

Great question! I have a few pieces of advice. (1) Expose yourself to a diversity of experiences and classes to be wellrounded. This is particularly important in robotics because it doesn’t fall into any of the traditional mechanical, electrical, or software paths, but rather into all of them. I took software engineering courses in school and learned electrical engineering on the job and it was critical for my current role. And (2), don’t feel excluded from this industry if you’re not an engineer or scientist - we need people of all different backgrounds and specialties. We have engineers designing our products, but we also have marketing team members, assembly technicians, human resources, graphic design, and many more. All of those skills and expertise are necessary to our business and contribute to our mission.

Any advice on innovation and starting your own company?

Yes, my biggest piece of advice on this is to find a “blue ocean market” in which to start your business. Let me explain that. What I often see with people starting companies is that they look at the market and existing successful companies and they try to imitate them or do things a little bit better than them to capture market share. You shouldn’t be looking for who you want to compete with but, rather, you should look for holes in the market where there is a need but no competition at all. This is a “blue ocean market” and it’s much easier to start a company if you can find a space like that to work in. We found this with our original thruster product. There were no similar products at the time but there were many interested customers. We didn’t have to compete with anyone - we just opened up new market possibilities. I encourage you to try to do the same.

What’s next for you and Blue Robotics?

We’re eight years into our journey and I’m having more fun than ever! I truly believe in our core mission of making affordable, capable components and systems to enable people to do more with marine robotics and we’re going to keep doing that. We’ve learned a lot and we can keep doing it better and better. The ocean is a big place and there’s a lot of room to grow and a lot of opportunities.

SUT and MTS Announce Winner of the 2022 Captain Don Walsh Award for Ocean Exploration

A leader in her field and a pioneer in applying new technologies, particularly marine technology, to challenging research questions.

Her work post-Deepwater Horizon proved critical to the understanding of microorganisms in degradation of oil

The Society for Underwater Technology (SUT) and The Marine Technology Society (MTS) are proud to announce that the 2022 Captain Don Walsh Award for Ocean Exploration has been won by the internationally recognised oceanographer Samantha (Mandy) Joye, a Regents’ Professor in the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of Georgia, USA, whose work has revealed unexpected connectivity between elemental cycles, unanticipated feedbacks between geological elemental and microbial dynamics, and fundamental controls on microbial populations and their activity.

Joye is an internationally recognized educator, deep ocean explorer, oceanographer, and environmental advocate. She is an expert in ocean biogeochemistry and microbial ecology and her work has focused on the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of California, and along the North American Atlantic Margin. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on deep water habitats and extreme environments and tracks the cycles and fate of hydrocarbons, nutrients, sulfur, metals, and trace

Samantha (Mandy) Joye

gasses and interrogating the microbial communities that cycle these materials.

For the past two decades, Joye has studied natural seepage and chemosynthetic habitats in the Gulf of Mexico. She has led exploration missions across the Gulf of Mexico to discover and document otherworldly environments, including mud volcanoes, brine pools, and gas hydrate sites. Her research during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill environmental response significantly advanced the understanding of the critical role of microorganisms in degradation of oil and factors that enhance microbial degradation and optimize their environmental response.

Awarded jointly by the Marine Technology Society and the Society for Underwater Technology, this esteemed award is named after American oceanographer, explorer, retired naval officer, and marine policy specialist Captain Don Walsh. Walsh and co-pilot Jacques Piccard were aboard the bathyscaph Trieste when it made its daunting record descent on January 23, 1960 into the deepest point of the world’s oceans – the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench. The award recognizes outstanding, sustained, international contribution to the development, application, and propagation of marine technology toward the advancement of ocean exploration.

“

I am so incredibly honored to receive the 2022 Don Walsh Award for Ocean Exploration,” Joye said. “Don Walsh’s contributions to marine technology and ocean science are unparalleled – he is an inspiration to me, and to so many others. I want to thank MTS and SUT for honoring me with this award, and for empowering our community to develop and deploy new technologies that enable ocean discovery.”

“Dr. Joye’s contributions to the advancement of ocean exploration are significant and exemplify the qualities MTS and SUT are proud to recognize with this award. We are excited to see her innovative techniques and application of marine technology continue to impact the ocean community,” said Zdenka Willis, MTS President.

Moya Crawford, SUT’s President, added: “I am particularly struck by the relevance Dr. Joye places on science and its interface with engineering. This form of collaboration is vitally important when working in our global ocean.”

The Award was instigated in 2020 – the inaugural winner was Dr. Edie Widder a MacArthur Fellow, a deep-sea explorer, and conservationist who combines expertise in oceanographic research and technological innovation with a commitment to reversing the worldwide trend of marine ecosystem degradation. This was followed in 2021 by a joint award to Victor L. Vescovo and Patrick Lahey for the 2019 Five Deeps Expedition and further dives of scientific and historical interest in subsequent years.

Captain Don Walsh

SUT-US 2022 Scholarship Awards

9th September 2022

SUT-US is excited to announce the recipients of the 2022-2023 SUT scholarships. Each of the six hardworking and deserving students have demonstrated a passion for Underwater Technology and academic excellence. SUT is happy to support each of the students as they follow their endeavors and continue their post-secondary education. Recipients were officially awarded during the online Scholarship Awards Ceremony on September 9th.

The 2022-2023 SUT-US Scholarships were awarded to the following students:

Sara Stewart, Fishery Biology, Texas A&M University

Sara is a PhD fisheries biologist candidate who was recently chosen to serve at The Louisiana Better Bycatch Reduction Device (BRD) Project, introduced by Sea Grant. The initiative has allowed her and many others to explore BRDs within the Gulf shrimping industry while having the opportunity to participate in a graduate studies program. Sara explains that the SUT scholarship will “assist with the loose ends a returning student will inevitably run into” and that the funds “goes further than many realize”.

Dominic Bush, Maritime Archaeology, East Carolina University Maritime Archaeologist PhD candidate, Dominic, is currently enrolled in East University’s Coastal Resource Management Program. Throughout his previous educational experiences, he has taken advantage of opportunities to participate in underwater archaeological projects in North Carolina and throughout the Pacific Ocean. Currently, Dominic explains, that his research is “focused on the management of submerged World War II sites, particularly as it relates to effects of corrosion and microorganisms”.

Lindsay Wentzell, Maritime Studies, East Carolina University

Lindsay is a third-year PhD Maritime Studies candidate who attends East Carolina University. Her graduate studies program has allowed her the opportunity to explore her research interests of marine resource extraction methods. Lindsay explains how her present studies is focused on “examining the reaction of 19th century Provincetown maritime industry to a decline in whaling” and investigating “adaptive efforts for self-preservation, such as ‘plum pudding’ voyages”.

Peter Komolafe, Hydrographic Science, University of Southern Mississippi

Peter is currently pursuing his master’s degree in Hydrographic Science at The University of Southern Mississippi. Prior to enrolling in the program, Peter was involved in various spatial studies where he conducted geophysical surveys off the Gulf of Guinea. Under the supervision of Dr. Hiroji, Peter continues to do seafloor surveys where he “uses multibeam backscatter and investigates ways to assess and improve the positional accuracy of multibeam bathymetry”.

Izzy Wang, Oceanography, Texas A&M University

Izzy is a second-year Oceanography masters student attending Texas A&M University. She is continuing to follow her passion by participating in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ocean Acidification Program. The program strives to further assess the risks and impacts of ocean acidification and devise adaption strategies. Izzy explains that she has “really enjoyed working with and learning about physical oceanographic equipment” and hopes to “contribute to innovations in the field”.

Ashley Herrmann, Marine Biology & Marine Fisheries, Texas A&M University Galveston

Ashley is currently attending Texas A&M University Galveston as a double major in Marine Biology and Marine Fisheries. She has taken several opportunities for on-campus research including the Black Mangrove Growth and Blenny Jaw Development projects. Ashley recalls a time at the Sea Life Facility where she “cared for many cold stunned sea turtles and took their measurements for the gulf center for sea turtle research facility”. Inspired by her experiences, Ashley hopes to continue her education through a graduate program focusing on environmental studies.

2nd Annual Online Engineering Competition

The Society for Underwater Technology in the US (SUTUS) is organizing its 2nd Annual Online Engineering Competition, a global virtual competition for (A.) college students competing with other college students, undergraduate, and graduate students, (B.) young professionals with 0 to 3 years of professional experience, and (C.) young professionals with 4 to 10 years of professional experience.

The participants will propose a solution to the predefined problem statements in the following categories:

• Subsea O&G Wells

• Submarine Underwater Rescue in Shallow Water

• Underwater Thermal Garments

• Bring your Own Problem - “BYOP Shark Tank”

• Underwater Service Robots

Competitors in the category “Young professionals with 4 to 10 years of professional experience” can only submit in “Bring your Own Problem - “BYOP Shark Tank.”

The competition is scheduled to begin on October 3rd, judging on November 7th, and announcing the winners on November 11th of 2022.

Forthcoming Events

Sponsor the 2023 International SUT OSIG Conference 12-14 September 2023 | Imperial College, London

Sponsorship opportunities are detailed on the OSIG2023 website and in the brochure (click below to read). There are many opportunities to support the conference, and we are also happy to discuss other suggestions.

Should you wish to support this ‘best in class’ international conference and discuss sponsorship opportunities, please contact osig2023@sut.org or go to www.osig2023.com

Make connections that matter at MCEDD 2023

MCE Deepwater Development (MCEDD) returns to London in March! MCEDD will bring experts from across the global industry together for expert led sessions with real world applications.

2023 Call for Papers Now Open (deadline 7th October 2022)

• The 2023 agenda includes innovative contracting, enablers to FID, the energy transition and energy security, marine construction and more. See the complete list of topics here.

• A formal paper is not required! To be considered for a speaking slot, please submit the information requested and include a brief description of your topic.

your paper here

is happy to be the Learned Society

of this event

A green approach to collecting environmental data for a blue economy

Ocean data plays a key role in the development of a sustainable blue economy. The data is used to underpin economic growth, assess changes to the marine environment (installation and removal of offshore energy assets), and ensure the oceans remain healthy.

Marine mammals observed with XOCEAN USV cameras during operation

Consideration is often given to the impact from the installation of new assets (turbines, cables, pipes, platforms) to support the use of ocean resources. However, similar consideration should be given to the removal of existing infrastructure during decommissioning phases. Installed assets may be used by aquatic communities as noted in a study of the Block Island Wind Farm, the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States, which was conducted over a four year period by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).

Uncrewed Surface Vessels (USVs) that use a hybrid power system and are relatively compact and lightweight when compared to traditional crewed vessels provide an ideal platform to collect environmental data around offshore infrastructure. For example, the XOCEAN XO-450 model USVs are only 4.5m long (approximate length of a car) and can get significantly closer to a turbine or platform (~10m) than a conventional ship. The size and weight of the USV mitigates any risk to the assets and generally improves safety with the project team working remotely from shore.

By combining the hybrid power system with electric thrusters and reduced speeds (3 knots) carbon emissions are minimized and later offset for fully carbon

neutral operations. Radiated underwater ocean noise is also reduced to limit any disturbance to marine life. The USVs also provide a flexible platform capable of supporting a range of instruments. Using high end commercial sensors on the USVs, such as the Simard EK80 to survey fish populations, Valeport’s SWiFT SVPplus Chlorophyll to measure the biological health of the marine ecosystem, and others, the ocean data can be collected in a ‘green’ and environmentally friendly way.

The ability to minimize vessel interactions with marine life, and especially protected species, during operations is also inherent to the USV design with the benefits mentioned above. Continuous operation and monitoring of the USVs by qualified mariners with ‘over the horizon’ remote access to the USV visible light and thermal cameras allows for 360° views, and other inputs for full situational awareness. This means measures can be taken to minimize risk and to maintain recommended distances from protected species. The camera views are monitored simultaneously by all project team members, including Protected Species Observers (PSO) and/or trained and designed crew lookouts.

By engaging technologies, such as low carbon USVs, agencies, energy developers, and others, can acquire the data needed for ocean industries, ensure the protection of species at risk, and support the sustainable development of the blue economy.

Matt Holland, Sales Manager Americas, XOCEAN

Forthcoming Events

Register to attend

Oceanology International Americas: Connecting the Ocean Technology, Engineering & Science Communities across the Americas & Asia

Welcome to Oceanology International Americas, the event for all those involved in exploring, protecting and sustainably operating in the world’s oceans and waterways. Oceanology International Americas delivers access to comprehensive, innovative solutions, content and expertise, all unified by the use of ocean technology.

Taking place in the ocean tech hub of San Diego, join us in 2023 to learn from ocean leaders from across the globe, boost your technical and blue economy knowledge, and connect with your industry colleagues.

Oi Americas is the communities meeting place, a place to reaffirm connections and form new relationships in a face-toface environment.

We connect manufacturers and suppliers of ocean solutions with a complete spectrum of scientific, government and industry stakeholders, technologists and engineers from over 15 distinct ocean sectors, all in the one location. These connections can unlock the innovations necessary to meet the needs of climate change adaptation, ocean health, the energy transition and market developments in the Blue Economy.

This cross-sector audience enables collaboration, problem solving and improvement to long-term strategies and policy for better ocean health, sustainable operations and the discovery and innovation of new solutions and technologies.

A Catalyst for Innovation

Attracting attendees from varied ocean industries including offshore oil and gas, marine renewables, maritime security and marine science, Oi Americas provides the opportunity for buyers and suppliers to meet, learn and do business in one location.

As a catalyst for innovation, bring your ideas and help set the stage for positive change in and around the world’s oceans.

The three-day conference and exhibition will welcome thousands of attendees from 30+ countries, to learn from over 100+ technical, strategic, and training conference presentations and discover more than 130+ exhibitors showcasing the latest ocean technologies and solutions.

Reasons to Visit

• Find new solutions – Discover and evaluate the products, solutions and innovations that will transform your business throughout the Exhibit Hall

• Build your network – Make the best connections in the Exhibition and through networking tools like B2Match, allowing pre-scheduled meetings with key contacts

• Gain Blue Tech knowledge – Keep up to date with market developments and the latest trends in ocean technology and marine science

• Discover Innovation – Find innovative solutions from new-to-market technologist and tech-accelerators in the Future Tech Hub

• Boost your Expertise – Learn by attending the Technical Sessions, drop by the Ocean Futures Theatre to hear Keynote speakers and participate in Industry Workshops and Townhalls

• Networking Opportunities – Meet new and established suppliers from around the world and build relationships with our program of networking and social events

Who will you meet?

Oceanology International Americas is the leading forum where Industry, Government and Academia meet to share knowledge and connect with the world’s ocean technology, engineering and science communities.

Join us in San Diego to accelerate your success, discover the latest solutions and learn for the industry leaders that are driving the changes required for a healthy and sustainable ocean and blue economy.

Sonardyne Ranger 2 acoustic tracking technology

Marine Institute’s RV Tom Crean set off on its first survey mission late July, complete with Sonardyne’s Ranger 2 USBL system. Photo from Marine Institute.

Ireland’s new state-of-the-art multi-purpose marine research vessel RV Tom Crean has entered service equipped with Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL) underwater positioning technology from ocean science company Sonardyne.

Delivered in July, the 52.8 m-long vessel delivers significantly enhanced capability to Ireland’s Marine Institute and other state agencies and universities.

The RV Tom Crean provides up to 3,000 scientist days per year for fisheries surveys, seabed mapping, deep water surveys, oceanographic and environmental research. The Ranger 2 USBL positioning system selected for the RV Tom Crean will play a key role in underpinning the delivery of these ocean services on a national level.

Ranger 2 can accurately track and simultaneously communicate with multiple underwater scientific instruments, vehicles or towed platforms, at ranges up to 10,000 m depending on its configuration. For vessels equipped with a dynamic positioning system, Ranger 2 also can provide accurate and repeatable position referencing, in any water, without interrupting target tracking operations.

The equipment supplied to the RV Tom Crean includes a through-hull deployed HPT 5000 USBL transceiver, control room hardware and software, and a deep rated WSM 6+ transponder, a popular choice for tracking targets out to 4,000 m range.

In its primary role, the RV Tom Crean’s science crew will use Ranger 2 to precisely monitor the position of any underwater platform deployed from the vessel. This includes the Marine Institute’s remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Holland 1, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), CTDs (conductivity, temperature and pressure sensors) and towed sleds and dredges, together with any equipment temporarily embarked to support science cruises.

Furthermore, the vessel will be able to share its underwater tracking and communications hardware with another of the institute’s vessels, the RV Celtic

technology selected for new Irish research vessel

Explorer, because it also has Ranger 2 on board. The RV Celtic Explorer has used a Ranger 2 system to great advantage since 2011, so much so that the Ranger 2 for the RV Tom Crean was one of the first items of science equipment to be procured.

Aodhan Fitzgerald, Research Vessel Operations Manager at the Marine Institute, says, “The Sonardyne Ranger 2 USBL system on the RV Celtic Explorer has served us well over the past decade, supporting some exciting scientific research. Consequently, the installation of Ranger 2 on the RV Tom Crean is a big increase in capability and considerably increases our flexibility to support the

diverse community that use our ships for research.”

Geraint West, head of science at Sonardyne, says “Ranger 2 USBL is in service with national and notfor-profit ocean institutes the world over, supporting operations ranging from seafloor geodesy through to autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) survey missions, in any ocean, in any water depth. Its capability and flexibility is invaluable to marine scientists and oceanographers where efficient use of vessel time and accuracy of observations are paramount.

“In a year when our Ranger 2 technology was used to help find the wreck of Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance in the Antarctic, it’s a timely entrance for the RV Tom Crean. He was one of Shackleton’s right-hand men and is often unsung outside of Ireland. Crean was known for his dependability, resourcefulness and inspiration to others – an inspired choice then for the Marine Institute’s new vessel.”

The Tom Crean was designed by Norwegian ship design consultants Skipsteknisk AS and built by Spanish shipyard Astilleros Armon Vigo S.A. It will be a modern, multipurpose, silent vessel, be able to go to sea for at least 21 days at a time, including in harsh sea conditions. The vessel replaces the 31 m Celtic Voyager, which was Ireland’s first purposebuilt research vessel when it was commissioned in 1997.

How Ocean Energy Sets the Stage for Affordable Offshore Wind Energy

At this year’s Oceanology International 2022 conference in London, one panel discussed the scale of the challenge presented by the surging demand for offshore wind projects in the coming years.

No, not the challenge of installing tens of thousands of megawatts of offshore wind turbines across myriad sites and seas. The panel was focused on the immense amount of data-gathering at sea that must take place before construction can ever begin. To name just a few tasks, the work requires years of validated met-ocean data and bathymetric, geophysical, UXO, and geotechnical surveys. The list goes on.

That work requires continuous power and data collection on the open sea, and the costs can add up quickly. Today, the only options are people-, capital- and carbon-intensive operations such as manned boats with diesel generators to deliver power to remote devices in the ocean. There’s a better way emerging in the form of unmanned surface vessels (USVs) equipped with sensors that can do the work, but a big problem has stood in the way: no power to continuously operate the USVs.

Until now. C-Power, with its autonomous offshore power systems (AOPS), is providing the power and data needed to unlock the future of large-scale offshore wind site development. It is exactly the type of use case C-Power’s SeaRAY AOPS was designed to serve.

Powering the vast and ever-growing array of USVs, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), sensors and monitoring equipment used in the ocean across all industries is a big opportunity for AOPS deployment. Where will the power come from to keep these systems running in the middle of the ocean 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year? How will they transmit the data they collect to the cloud for analysis? That’s the job of an AOPS, regardless of whether the device it’s powering is recording environmental conditions at an offshore wind site or looking for methane leaks at an offshore well.

The variety of tasks offshore wind developers must complete in early-stage project development beg for autonomous, robotic and digital solutions. When doing work on a project 20 to 50 kilometers offshore, it is unnecessarily expensive and inefficient to send autonomous systems back to port or manually retrieve them to be charged or collect their data. To realize the full value of these sensors and monitoring equipment, there must be a charging network in the field to keep them running.

The best solutions will be autonomous, robotic, digital AND permanent residents in the ocean.

Today, offshore wind is slowed by operating in what we call Ocean Economy 1.0, which is people-, carbon- and capital-intensive. Offshore wind needs to unlock the advantages of Ocean Economy 2.0, which creates and harnesses the power of the internet of ocean things.

C-Power’s systems are the missing piece of the puzzle, providing in-situ power, energy storage, and rea-time data and communications support that will enable the internet of ocean things and the future for offshore wind development.

University of Washington-APL Shows First Commercially Sold C-Power System in Action

A next-generation SeaRAY autonomous offshore power system (AOPS), nicknamed the TigerRAY, has gotten wet!

The TigerRAY was built for the University of Washington Applied Physics Lab (APL) to conduct a U.S. Navy-sponsored R&D project to investigate at-sea charging of unmanned underwater vehicles.

The lab recently released video of the TigerRAY test deployment, showing a use case in action for how C-Power systems will power the future of the ocean economy and national defense.

As seen in the video (click to watch!), it took only a handful of APL faculty and students to deploy the system from a small boat. C-Power’s systems are easy to transport and deployable anywhere in the world, unlocking innovation in critical industries such as offshore energy, defense and security, aquaculture, science and research, and communications.

The video also highlights how operators on shore can control a remotely operated underwater vehicle to dock in a cassette on the seafloor to recharge and upload its data. In an upcoming demonstration of a larger SeaRAY AOPS in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy and Navy at the Wave Energy Test Site in Hawaii, a Saab Seaeye will perform the same operations autonomously.

The SeaRAY changes the ocean from a power desert into a power- and data-enriched environment, reducing operational costs, carbon emissions and complexity for offshore, island and coastal applications.

These C-Power systems provide in-situ power, energy storage, and real-time data and communications support that will advance the marine economy toward a future of autonomous, connected and resident technologies. The systems are designed to support unmanned offshore activities, including subsea vehicles, sensor packages and operating equipment.

Investment in Sonardyne’s PIES shows confidence in marine seismic market

Marine technology company Sonardyne has seen an uplift in orders for its Pressure Inverted Echo Sounder (PIES) technology into the exploration and reservoir surveillance market in the first half of this year. The announcement was made on the opening day of the International Meeting for Applied Geoscience and Energy (IMAGE) in Houston where the company was exhibiting in late August.

Sonardyne’s PIES technology, which helps geophysicists to better understand the physical processes that occur in the deep ocean, has been acquired by a string of companies performing both towed streamer and ocean bottom node (OBN) deployments, highlighting increasing activity in the sector.

Among those investing in PIES are marine geophysics data and services company PGS Geophysical and ocean bottom nodal firm Magseis Fairfield. Geophysical services provider PXGeo has also ordered a number of Sonardyne’s PIES.

PIES is a long endurance, self-contained oceanographic instrument for precisely measuring average sound speed in the water column as well as water depth information. By collecting these observations as seismic data is being acquired, PIES helps to reduce uncertainty in the imaging data, helping to provide a clearer image and guide operational decisions

“PIES continuously measure the two-way travel time of sound waves propagated through the water column from the seabed to the sea surface as well as the pressure (depth) at the seabed,” explains Sonardyne sales manager Trevor Barnes. “This data is used to calculate a continuous time history of the average water velocity and tidal variation throughout the entire water column. By doing this, these environmental variations can be removed from the reservoir imaging data, providing geophysicists with a clearer image of their reservoirs.”

PIES are regularly used across the marine seismic market as well as by oceanographic institutions interested in understanding the ocean. The instrument can be deployed on the seabed by ROV or freefall deployed from a surface vessel and configured for autonomous monitoring campaigns lasting several months to several years.

An embedded acoustic modem also allows users to retrieve data wirelessly on-demand, or adjust monitoring regimes, from crewed or uncrewed survey vessels. PIES can also be deployed in wired configurations, allowing a constant data feed to topside facilities.

Investment in Sonardyne’s PIES is a sign of improvement in the marine geophysics data market. Image from Sonardyne.

Forthcoming

11th International SUT (China) Technical Conference

Qingdao, Shandong province

Hosted by:

SUT China Branch

China University of Petroleum (Beijing)

China University of Petroleum (East China)

the theme of “Ship and Ocean Engineering”, this conference invites distinguished experts and scholars from universities, research

and enterprises in the field of marine engineering around the world to participate and to discuss new ideas, research findings, resource development, technology utilization, etc. Specifically, in order to expand the scope of SUT China and its influence, this conference will specially devote sub-forums for the new topics of “Underwater Survey and Communication”.

The AOG Energy 2023 Subsea Forum is Australia’s leading event for subsea professionals to join forces and identify the challenges and opportunities ahead, as well as showcasing technology and innovation for the underwater sectors. AOG Energy is a free to attend, three day event that explores the multifarious aspects of the subsea industry and creates an environment to share knowledge and encourage debate between peers, academics, and industry professionals.

Recent world events have focussed attention on the future of energy security, decarbonisation, and the need for transition to potential new clean energy sources. Learning to live with the effects of a pandemic has also added pressure on international markets and the economic strain is being felt by almost everyone.

Australia has been world leading in developing its capability in LNG, which continues to play a crucial part of the future global energy mix

Topics

Cost efficient subsea developments

innovation and technology

control systems and

systems and

and analytics

operations and

planning and

SUBSEA FORUM CALL FOR SPEAKERS

The subsea industry is a key enabling sector that will ensure the fields feeding LNG trains are developed, maintained effectively, and operated efficiently for many years to come, followed ultimately by decommissioning.

More importantly, the subsea sector’s knowledge, expertise and technology will play a significant part in the future decarbonisation of the offshore energy mix. Areas such as Offshore Wind, Wave power, CCS/CCUS and Hydrogen are important for Australia’s future, and the subsea sector is eager to rise to the new challenges and opportunities.

Managing our oceans ’ resources and protecting the environment are also key areas for us and future generations to consider and debate

DUE: 30 SEPTEMBER 2022

Evaluation Criteria

Submissions referring to case studies will be highly regarded

Prior to submission, company and joint venture clearance must be obtained. Any perceived problems concerning clearance should be outlined when the paper proposal is submitted Ideally your submission will not have been presented before and should contain new information

wind and legislation

power

Thanks to the generosity of our hosts and sponsors, delegate attendance will be complimentary. Submission portal here | Question? email us here

by Operator Sponsor

Forthcoming Events

Subsea Controls Down Under Conference 2022

This international conference is scheduled to take place from 25 – 27 October, at the Parmelia Hilton in Perth, Australia, starting with the “Ice-Breaker/Networking Function” on October 25, followed by the conference which spans across 2 days.

This international conference in the field of “Subsea Controls & Data Acquisition” is aimed at the diverse disciplines engaged in subsea controls technology. The goal is to share experiences by networking, discussing global and regional challenges, showcasing ways of bringing new ideas and technology to the market, sharing learnings and providing an understanding from an operator’s viewpoint on how the industry can benefit from operational and project experiences.

Forthcoming

Reports of Recent Events

SUT YES! Technical Evening: Life Experience of Offshore Industry Professionals

27th July 2022 | The Shoe, Yagan Square, Perth Report by Elena Gerginov, SUT YES! Committee Member

Having not held an ETM in the last couple of years, and acknowledging the success of SUT’s ETMs, the SUT YES! Committee decided to hold its own ETM targeted at sharing the personal experiences of industry professionals.

The Event was held on Wednesday 27th July 2022 at The Shoe bar in Yagan square in the Perth CBD. Following the successful Networking event we held last year at this venue, it was our first choice for our ETM. Once again, The Shoe made the event planning and execution very easy. Approximately 25 attendees were present for the event, with another handful unfortunately absent.

We engaged a Marine Engineer / Naval Architect, an Offshore Renewables Principal Engineer and a Pre-com and Comm SME Principal Engineer to share their career progression in the Offshore Industry and any advice for young professionals. The presentations were very well received, with both laughs and thought provoking messages provided. We heard about how varied a career in this industry can be and how many doors can open if you maintain your networks. The audience was given the opportunity to ask some questions via Slido which created furthing stimulating discussion.

The presentations ran a little overtime but there were no complaints from the audience as indicated by the flow of questions. The Shoe were very accomodating and held off bringing the food out by a half hour, to allow us to finish the presentations. Following the formal part of the night, some pizzas were very eagerly eaten and everybody enjoyed the networking time.

Reports of Recent

We would like to thank SUT YES!’ annual sponsor, Woodside without whom the event would not have been possible.

Thank you to our presenters, in the middle: Nitin Repalle, Matthew Allen and Andrew Duff. Thank you to the YES! Committee members for organising the event: Flora Chiew and Tina Yang on the left; Elena Gerginov and Anand Jyothi on the right.

Reports of Recent Events

Aberdeen Subsea Awareness Course

12-16 September 2022, Palm Court Hotel

September saw the return of our very popular Aberdeen Subsea Awareness Course, following a nearly threeyear hiatus, we finally returned to in-person training & site visits!

The awareness course was very well received by our delegates, some of whom had been waiting almost three years to join the course, so it was great to hear the feed-back that the course was worth the wait!

Our expert presenters covered topics such as what is subsea, field developments, offshore renewables, flow assurance, power cables, pipelines & risers, controls, umbilicals, decommissioning, CCS, Hydrogen and Electrification. A massive thank you to Paul Benstead, Eammon Sheehan, Graham Whitehead, Craig McKay, Kevin Hannigan, Jonny Tennant, John Butler, Simon James, Martin Smith, Ryan Fernando, Paul Cumming, Keith Anderson, Craig Peters, Paul Yeats, Mark Gilmartin, Andy Angus, Bob Crowe, Gregory Ogbeifun, Steph Kiltie & Caragh McWhirr and, of course, our supporting companies, BP, Wood, TechnipFMC, Global Maritime, Xodus, Boskalis & special thanks to Baker Hughes, Aker and Rovop for the excellent site visits.

Special thanks also to Paul Benstead, Graham Whitehead and Euan Fowler, our volunteers who help pull these courses together. And of course, thank you to our excellent delegates for attending!

Due to demand, we will be running the course again from spring 2023, visit our website for more information.

Reports

Thank you to our sponsors!