Sea Technology

AUG 2012

The industry's recognized authority for design, engineering and application of equipment and services in the global ocean community

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soundings )) Shell's Arctic Drilling Rig Slips Mooring Offshore Alaska. A Shell Oil Co. (Houston, Texas) drilling rig, the Noble Discoverer, slipped its mooring and began drifting toward Unalaska Island, raising concerns about the company's drilling plans for the Arctic. The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) received a report in July stating that the Noble Discoverer dragged anchor 175 yards. USCG inves- tigations found no reports of injuries to the crew or pollution or damage to the rig, which has been towed back to its original mooring point 500 to 700 yards from shore in Unalaska Bay. An ROV aboard the Noble Discoverer was used to inspect the hull after the vessel was reanchored and the crew reported seeing no evidence of damage to the hull. USCG will review that footage and inspect the interior of the vessel's hull. Divers have been contracted by Shell to inspect the exterior hull of the vessel. The crew aboard the Noble Discoverer stated that although they came close to land, they did not feel any impact or vibration to indicate a grounding. The vessel's deepwater mooring location is a common anchorage for large commercial vessels. Winds of 27 mph, with gusts to 35 mph, were reported at the time of the incident. )) Project Deploys First Seabed Sonar to Measure Environmental Effects of Marine Energy. U.K. scientists will measure the effect of tidal and wave energy conversion devices on the marine environment and wildlife using sonar technology that has been successfully deployed on the seabed, the National Oceanography Center (NOC) said in July. The researchers from the universities of Bath and Aberdeen, together with the acoustic and technical teams at Marine Scotland Science, have combined two sonar systems—an Imagenex Technology Corp. (Port Coquitlam, Canada) Delta T multibeam sonar and a Simrad (Horten, Nor way) EK60 multifrequency sounder—on a seabed frame placed within 25 meters of an OpenHydro Ltd. (Dublin, Ireland) structure at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, Scotland. As part of the FLOWBEC (Flow and Benthic Ecology 4D) project led by the NOC, this deployment will monitor fish and diving seabirds that pass through or feed in the location. The sonar systems, which are normally mounted on a ship as separate units looking down at the seabed, have been adapted to operate autonomously for several weeks while facing upward. An NOC-deployed marine radar has also monitored activity on and above the sea surface, mapping currents and waves, and tracking the behavior of birds and marine mammals. )) AUV Designed From Common Household Appliances, Recycled Material. Students from the University of the West of Eng- land Bristol Robotics Lab designed an AUV using common household appliances, such as cameras from a Play Station 3. The AUV, named Chimaera, was created for the Student AUV Challenge Europe (SAUC-E) competition at the NATO Undersea Research Centre in La Spezia, Italy, in July. The AUV, which won the Smart Technology Award, had depth sensors, compass, sonar, a sound- velocity profiler and two cameras. Recycled materials were used for sustainability. The team is investigating AUV applications such as mine countermeasures and cleaning base structures for sea wind farms or oil rig inspections. "This year we are focusing on making the vehicle as lightweight as possible, with an ability to localize in its environment," Gareth Griffiths, leader of the University of the West of England team, said. Of the 14 teams that competed in SAUC-E '12, École de Technologie Supérieure du Québec received first place with its SONIA AUV, followed by the University of Luebeck in second with its AUV Hanse, and École Nationale Supérieure de Techniques Avancées Bretagne's Sauc'isse and Sardine teams from France in third. )) Open-Source ROV More Than Triples $20,000 Fundraising Goal. OpenROV, an open-source robotic submarine designed to make underwater exploration available to the public, has exceeded its fundraising goal of $20,000 on Kickstarter. As of publi- cation, the San Francisco, California-based project had raised more than $99,500 from at least 415 backers. The funds will go to- ward the manufacturing of OpenROV kits. The OpenROV, which measures 30 centimeters long, 20 centimeters wide and 15 centimeters tall, moves at 1 meter per second and weighs 2.5 kilograms. The vehicle has been designed for depths up to 100 meters and has been tested to 20 meters depth. Three 800-kilovolt brushless motors power the ROV, which can run for 1.5 hours with its eight onboard C batteries. Two horizontal thrusters allow the vehicle to move forward and aft as well as rotate, and a vertical thruster allows the neutrally buoyant vehicle to change depth. The OpenROV kit, available with donations above $725, is geared toward makers and developers. The project, founded by Eric Stackpole, seeks user feedback from OpenROV builders and operators to improve design and functionality. )) Five US States to Receive $50,000 Each From NOAA for Marine Debris Cleanup. NOAA allocated in July up to $250,000 grants to five U.S. states affected by debris from the March 2011 tsunami in Japan. Alaska, Wash ington, Oregon, California and Hawaii will receive up to $50,000 each for marine debris removal. The Japanese government has estimated the tsunami swept about 5 million tons of debris into the Pacific Ocean, 70 percent of which sank. The remaining 1.5 million tons dispersed across the North Pacific Ocean. Modeling indicates the bulk of the debris has scattered and may continue to disperse north of the main Hawaiian Islands and east of Midway Atoll. Some debris has already reached U.S. and Canadian shores, and more is expected over the next several years. Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, along with the state's congressional representatives, ap- plauded NOAA's grants, saying cleanup efforts have been costly and the money is "a step in the right direction." Sen. Mark Begich of Alaska called the $50,000 grant for his state inadequate. "That isn't enough money for one beach cleanup, let alone the type of effort necessary for a large-scale planning and cleanup effort covering multiple states," he said. In May, Begich requested $45 million from the Obama administration for marine debris cleanup. www.sea-technology.com AUGUST 2012 / st 9

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