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www.sea-technology.com October 2015 / st 9 soundings )) AAWA Seeks to Make Autonomous Ships Reality. Inmarsat is participating in the Advanced Autonomous Water- borne Applications Initiative (AAWA) recently launched by Rolls-Royce. The project, funded by Tekes (Finnish Fund- ing Agency for Technology and Innovation), will bring industry partners together with universities, research institutes, ship owners and other stakeholders to explore the economic, social, legal, regulatory and technological factors that need to be addressed to make autonomous ships a reality. Inmarsat will provide the satellite communications link and platform essential to remote control capability. AAWA will build on existing ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore communica- tion platforms and their effectiveness for supporting remote-control functionality. The initiative will run through 2017. )) New Report on Marine Tech Trends. The Global Marine Technology Trends 2030 report indicates that momentum and capa- bility for a signifcant evolution in ship design and operation is now building. By 2030, the fastest and most radical impacts are likely to be in the development of naval ships and systems where maritime autonomous systems are driving the biggest revolution in maritime security in more than a century. The report is the culmination of a collaborative project between Lloyd's Register, Qin- etiQ and the University of Southampton looking at the future for commercial shipping, navies and the health of the oceans. The report identifes two groups of technology drivers and the technologies that drive safety, commercial and operational performance. )) Healy Reaches North Pole Unaccompanied. The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy arrived at the North Pole September 5, becom- ing the frst U.S. surface ship to do so unaccompanied. This is only the fourth time a U.S. surface vessel has reached the North Pole, and the frst since 2005. Healy's crew and science party, totaling 145 people, departed Dutch Harbor, Alaska, in August in support of GEOTRACES, a historic, international effort to study the geochemistry of the world's oceans. This National Science Foundation- funded expedition is focused on studying the Arctic Ocean to meet a number of scientifc goals, including the creation of baseline measurements of the air, ice, snow, seawater, meltwater and ocean bottom sediment for future comparisons. As the Arctic region continues to open up to development, the data gathered on board Healy during this cruise will become ever more essential to understanding how the scientifc processes of the Arctic work, and how to most responsibly exercise stewardship over the region. )) New US Chief of Naval Ops. Adm. John M. Richardson began serving as the 31st Chief of U.S. Naval Opera- tions on September 18. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1982 with a B.S. in physics and holds master's degrees in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institu- tion, and national security strategy from the National War College. Richardson served on teams that have been awarded the Presidential Unit Citation, the Joint Meritorious Unit Award, the Navy Unit Commendation, and the Navy "E" Ribbon. )) Subsea Gas Compression First. Statoil and its partners have put the frst subsea gas compression facility online at Åsgard in the Norwegian Sea. Subsea compression will add 306 million barrels of oil equivalent to total output over the feld's life. This subsea technology milestone opens new opportunities in deeper waters, and in areas far from shore. Subsea gas compres- sion will enable a future subsea processing plant to facilitate remotely controlled hydrocarbon transportation. Current topside operations will thus be moved to the seabed, allowing oil and gas to be recovered that would not otherwise be proftable. )) Robot Tech Informs 3D Undersea Map. The frst true 3D picture of submarine canyon habitats has been pro- duced using marine robotics and ship-based measurements. The information captured in this new set of maps rang- es in scale from a 200-km canyon down to the size of an individual cold-water coral polyp, and will be used to in- form the management of the only English Marine Conservation Zone in deepwater. This nested map is the result of a recent scientifc expedition to the Whittard Canyon in the Bay of Biscay, led by the U.K. National Oceanog- raphy Centre. By using unique robot technology to collect data in these hard to reach areas, the results of this expedi- tion will lead to a better understanding of the biodiversity patterns in the canyon and the processes that drive them. )) Updates to Sentinel V. Teledyne RD Instruments has made two major updates to its Sentinel V ADCP: a complete update to the frmware and the user software interface program, ReadyV; and an update to the post-processing Velocity software package. This provides for much more fexibility in the setup of the instrument, including two completely inde- pendent ping profles, a much improved Web interface, and a new post-processing software package for its Sentinel V and Workhorse ADCP. The frmware upgrades allow a user to use any Web browser on their computer, laptop, tablet or phone. The software upgrades include a fully integrated version of WavesMon software for advanced waves processing. )) Florida Partnership for Sustainable Aquaculture. FAU Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute (HBOI) and Amy's Island Seafood have designed and implemented a method of aquaculture that produces safe, sustain- able seafood for local consumers in Florida. The products, such as cobia, will be traceable from inception to plate, ensuring a high level of quality. For instance, the recent addition of cobia broodstock to the operation will allow quality control of cobia from egg to market. This project has implications for sustainable, responsible aqua- culture nationwide. Amy's Island Seafood's frst batch of cobia will be ready for market by the end of the year. ST