Sea Technology

DEC 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 )) BP to Pay Record $4.5 Billion Fine in Gulf Oil Spill. BP plc (London, England) in November pleaded guilty to criminal charges resulting from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, agreeing to pay $4.5 billion in a settlement with the U.S. government. About $4 billion will be paid to the U.S. Department of Justice in installments over fve years, while $525 million will go to resolve securities claims with the Securities and Exchange Commission over three years. Of this settlement, the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation will receive $2.4 billion for coastal restoration and hazard mitigation efforts, and the National Academy of Sciences will get $350 million for oil spill prevention and response in the gulf. BP was charged with 11 counts of felony manslaughter, one count of felony obstruction of Congress, and violations of the Clean Water and Migratory Bird Treaty acts. The remaining claims, which BP has said it will "vigorously defend," include federal and private civil claims (including those arising under the Clean Water Act), federal and state natural resource damages claims, and state economic loss claims. )) Oceans Plastics Recycled Into Bottles for Cleaning Products. Cleaning product company Method recently launched a line of bottles to package its products that are made from plastics recovered from the ocean and post-consumer recycled plastic. Method will use the gray resin bottles for a new product, its 2-in-1 dish + hand soap. Over the past year, beach cleanup groups and volunteers collected more than 1 ton of plastic from Hawaiian beaches for use in the bottles, which recycling partner Envision Plastics helped develop. The collected materials were cleaned, blended and remanufactured into a plastic that is the same quality as high-density polyethylene plastic. )) California Denies PG&E; Geophysical Survey Application Due to Environmental Concerns. San Francisco, Californiabased Pacifc Gas and Electric Co.'s (PG&E;) plans to study offshore earthquake faults near the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant were denied in November by the California Coastal Commission, which sided with environmental groups' concerns about the welfare of nearby marine life, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. PG&E; had submitted a proposal to conduct high-energy seismic survey operations in waters offshore of San Luis Obispo County, and temporarily install and operate an array of seismic monitoring devices onshore. Active air-gun operations, generating an acoustic pulse of approximately 230 to 252 decibels at the source every 11 to 20 seconds, would have been limited to about 17 days: 9.25 for surveys, fve for equipment calibration and testing, and two for contingency. PG&E; acknowledged the survey's environmental effects, offering to fund a monitoring program and cease air gun use if marine mammals drew near. The commission found that it did not have enough data to determine if these methods were the least environmentally damaging and that the plant being earthquake safe, as PG&E; insisted, regardless of any new data, meant there was no need to put marine mammals at risk. )) Industry Prepares for SEEMP Deadline, Varied Levels of Preparedness Around the Globe. The industry is taking compliance with the International Maritime Organization's Ship Energy Effciency Management Plan (SEEMP) seriously and is optimistic about its benefts, according to survey results published in November by NAPA Group (Novato, California). However, most respondents were focused on ensuring compliance and maintaining a business-as-usual approach, rather than implementing an SEEMP with potential fuel savings. Completed by more than 50 ship owners, operators and charterers, the survey also showed a signifcant variation in preparedness between small and large companies. For companies with 30 or more vessels, about 95 percent reported having an SEEMP in place, with the remaining 5 percent in fnal stages. Companies with fve to 15 vessels had the lowest preparation rate at 43 percent. European respondents were six times more likely to lack confdence in their companies' understanding of SEEMP than their Asian counterparts. North Americans were best prepared, with 89 percent of respondents having a plan. Asia had the lowest regional levels of preparation at 69 percent. As part of MARPOL 73/78 Annex VI, existing vessels must have an SEEMP in place at their frst renewal or intermediate survey after January 2013. )) Three Tidal Energy Leases Granted in the UK. The Crown Estate confrmed in November that three organizations have secured leases to progress with the development of tidal energy projects at sites around the U.K. The Isle of Wight Council has secured a lease for a managed tidal stream turbine testing facility, called the Solent Ocean Energy Centre, located off the south of the Isle of Wight near St. Catherine's Point. A lease granted to Scotrenewables Tidal Power (Orkney, Scotland) will allow the company to develop and bring to commercialization a 30-megawatt tidal stream array at Lashy Sound in the Orkney Islands. Minesto (Västra Frölunda, Sweden) will deploy for two years a quarter-scale, 3-kilowatt prototype of its Deep Green Ocean Kite in Strangford Lough, Ireland. With these awards, the U.K. now has 41 wave and tidal sites under development or operation. )) Chris Lokuciewski, Long-Time Leader of Subsea Submersibles Industry, Passes Away at Age 59. Chris Lokuciewski, managing director and founder of Hydro-Lek Ltd. (Finchampstead, England) and leader in the deep-sea submersibles industry, passed away at age 59. Born on the Isle of Wight, Lokuciewski started his career at 17 as an apprentice for British Overseas Airways Corp., where he worked until 1974. He then started a new career as a manned submersible pilot for Pisces V, Aquarius 1 and PC9. In the following decade, Lokuciewski became an ROV pilot and designer. In 1996, he established Hydro-Lek to provide what he saw as a growing need for small but articulate subsea tooling. n www.sea-technology.com DECEMBER 2012 / st 9

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