In December 2016, the Norwegian underwater robotics company Eelume AS has successfully built and demonstrated the world’s first snake-like underwater robot, constructed for offshore operations. The testing took place in deep waters of Trondheimsfjorden, and at the PREZIOSO Linjebygg Subsea Test Center in Trondheim.

Planned Succession to Become Effective After 2017 Annual Meeting of Shareholders in May. HOUSTON, February 14, 2017 – Oceaneering International, Inc. (“Oceaneering”) (NYSE:OII) announced today that Roderick A. Larson, who currently serves as Oceaneering’s President, has been designated to succeed M. Kevin McEvoy as Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”), immediately following Oceaneering’s 2017 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which is scheduled to be held on May 5, 2017.

Fugro has secured its continued utilisation of high performance offshore IRM vessel, REM Etive, and has finalised a purchase agreement at conditions significantly more beneficial than a renewed charter agreement, with owner Solstad. The move supports a portfolio of IRM contracts being executed by Fugro in the Asia Pacific region and is expected to strengthen the company’s position in relation to future subsea inspection business in the area.

Coda Octopus reports Van Oord successfully executed the impressive ground improvement project for client Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) using the Coda Octopus real time 3D sonar, Echoscope®. Project Details The project, which started in 2014, involved the reclamation of 65 million cubic metres of sand and extensive soil improvement. The reclamation area of 1,320 hectares is intended for one of the largest oil refining plants in the Middle East. This project comprises land reclamation for the construction of a port and the first phase of a LNG import facility. Part of the scope is the construction of revetments and breakwaters which contains some 24,000 CORE-LOC armour units of 1m³.

Modus Seabed Intervention has completed system integration and trialling of one of the subsea industries first commercially available hybrid unmanned underwater vehicles; driving high performance, quality and cost-effective delivery of survey and inspection projects in the offshore, defence and oceanographic sectors. The Modus hybrid is one of the first Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) to feature the capabilities and characteristics of a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV). Working in partnership with Saab Dynamics for over three years, global subsea service provider Modus has developed the Saab Sabretooth specification for greater endurance and speed, and is also developing advanced sensor payload packages and operating methodologies.

Forum Energy Technologies, Inc. has delivered a custom built simulator to California Science Center, the largest hands-on science museum in the Western United States. The dual simulator station provides visitors with the experience of operating a subsea remotely operated vehicle (ROV) for themselves. The core technology used in the simulator is Forum’s proprietary VMAX™ ROV Simulation Software used by Forum’s ROV customers for training and evaluation of their ROV pilots. Forum’s development team have tailored the control interface within the software to allow the virtual ROV to be flown by visitors with no prior experience. The control consoles provided use the same robust hardware as Forum’s standard ROV control consoles. The system runs in both English and Spanish.

New for Ocean Business 2017, Diversified are delighted to announce that they are hosting two new events organised by the Marine South East and the Enterprise Europe Network and supported by the European Commission that focus on defence and commercial applications in autonomous systems and satellite applications. Visitors can register for these FREE to attend events – a conference on Tuesday 4 April, 2017 and a B2B match making event on Wednesday 5 April 2017. Both events will be held alongside the Ocean Business exhibition and training forum that is being held at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, UK, from 4-6 April. Autonomous systems and satellite applications are both themes that are on a growth curve for investment, and are attracting widespread interest across public and private sectors. The goal of the conference is to highlight innovation priorities and initiate relationships across defence and commercial, involving major primes and SMEs.

Oilfield Helping Hands (OHH), a nonprofit charitable organization comprised of volunteers devoted to providing financial assistance to oilfield workers in financial crisis, has been named the 2017 beneficiary of the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) Distinguished Achievement Awards Luncheon. OTC will host the Distinguished Achievement Awards Luncheon on Tuesday, 2 May 2017 at NRG Center in Houston. The event recognizes industry achievements, raises funds for a worthy cause and provides an excellent opportunity for industry leaders to network with colleagues from around the world.

A SCOTTISH-based company has become the 200th firm across the world to achieve OPITO approval after being successfully passed by the skills organisation for the oil and gas industry to roll out an essential induction programme to enhance the safety of offshore workers. Recently opened Clyde Training Solutions (CTS) is the only dedicated maritime and offshore training centre based in central and lowland Scotland. The business has achieved the OPITO standard for delivering the body’s Minimum Industry Training Standard (MIST). Holding the MIST certificate gives workers the confidence that all their peers share the same level of safety training offshore. OPITO, a not-for-profit organisation, is wholly owned by the oil and gas industry. Its aim is to deliver common standards to the global workforce which improve safety and competency. OPITO training standards and workforce development frameworks are currently used by employers in over 45 countries worldwide OPITO UK managing director John McDonald said: “This is very good news for the entire sector. Every worker has the right to go to work and return home safely. With there now being 200 training provider centres across the world able to deliver OPITO approved qualifications, we’ve turned a huge corner to ensuring the workforce receive the same high standard of training and in turn help build a sustainable and competent workforce for today and tomorrow.

Innova AS, a specialist subsea engineering and technology company based in Norway, has selected acoustic and inertial navigation technology from Sonardyne International Ltd., for two new in-field resident ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles) being built in the country. Each ROV will be installed with a co-housed Sonardyne SPRINT Inertial Navigation System (INS) and Syrinx Doppler Velocity Log (DVLs) to provide tightly coupled navigation data that will support a wide variety of survey and inspection missions in water depths up to 4,000 metres. The contract was announced on the opening day of the Seabed Mapping and Inspection conference which is taking place this week in Geilo, Norway (8th-10th February). The two ROVs are being built by IKM Technology, this time for delivery to IKM Subsea, who has contracted Innova to supply various on-board sensors, including the navigation system, as part of the vehicle’s development programme.

"Are you allowed to paint the robot?" "How many crew members can control the robot?" "Can we attach a Go Pro?" These are just a few questions answered in Matt Gardner and Jill Zande's SCOUT Competition Class Props Demonstration Facebook LIVE broadcast.

Energy Sales, Inc. will unveil its newest, most cost efficient alkaline battery design for deep ocean applications at Oceanology International North America (February 14-16, San Diego). The Energy Sales Pressure-Tolerant Battery System (PTBS) is an alkaline battery solution specifically for the oceanographic community. The new design replaces the need for housings made of titanium or other costly advanced composite materials. Working with the University of Washington Applied Physics Lab (UW/APL), the company sought to develop a cost-efficient battery solution specific to the deep ocean – depths that range from 1800 to 3000 meters. “Collaborating with UW, we’ve been able to not only identify and design in better cost efficiency, but to demonstrate a remarkable cost/performance breakthrough with the PTBS,” said Jean-Michel Bourdon, CEO at Energy Sales.

Fugro has been awarded a framework contract in the Asia Pacific region for inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) services. Under this contract, IRM services can be called off as needed by the client. The total value of the contract is estimated at around EUR 80 million over the three year period.

Siem Offshore Contractors (SOC) is pleased to announce that all 73 inner array grid cables of the Veja Mate Offshore Wind Farm have been installed and trenched 10 weeks ahead of schedule. The submarine composite cables were successfully installed since 01-Oct-2016 using the “Siem Duo” consisting of the Cable Lay Vessel Siem Aimery and the Installation Support Vessel Siem Moxie. The Siem Duo demonstrated its advanced weather operability during the harsh winter season, whereby both the operations of the gangway on the Siem Moxie as well as post-lay trenching by the Siem Aimery were undertaken in significant wave heights of up to 3 m. The Siem Aimery loaded in excess of 95 km of copper core submarine composite cables directly into its two turntables in addition to the cable protection systems, which were loaded into a dedicated under-deck storage compartment. While the Siem Moxie assisted with the cable pull-in, termination and testing activities deploying SOC’s dedicated offshore support units (OSU) equipped with generators, pull-in winches, tools and equipment for personnel life support at the individual offshore work sites.

Subsea Technology & Rentals Ltd (STR); global specialists in the design, production and rental of advanced subsea technology for the offshore industry are pleased to announce the purchase of a 106G Series Submersible GPS from Applied Acoustic Engineering Limited. This recent purchase represents a further investment in advanced technology from STR as they continue to increase their equipment rental inventory. The 106G is an additional GPS receiver designed to survive immersion that complements the operation of a nearby standard subsea positioning beacon. This arrangement is suited to coastal construction tasks where submersible vehicles may periodically break the surface. Whilst submerged, positioning data is provided by a standard positioning beacon but once the vehicle breaks the surface the 106G takes over to provide the information required, typically cabled to the vessel based positioning system via the vehicle umbilical.

Hydrocarbon production from the ‘Golden Triangle’ – incorporating the deepwater (>500 m water depth) plays of Brazil, the US Gulf of Mexico and West Africa – will peak in 2019 due to the lack of projects sanctioned in recent years. Production data from Douglas-Westwood’s (DW) new online analysis tool, SECTORS, shows combined oil & gas production will reach its crux in two years’ time at some 7.1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (mmboe/d) before declining into the 2020s. This is largely due to Petrobras’ continuing financial and tendering problems in addition to significant delays to large developments in West Africa – notably Bonga South-West (Shell) and Zabazaba (Eni).

Borets, a global leader in the engineering, manufacturing, sales and service of electric submersible pump (ESP) systems, has named Obren Lekic as CEO of Borets U.S., located in Houston. With more than 20 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, Lekic will lead the executive team by spearheading strategic market growth through new product development, implementing strategic sales and marketing tactics and leading regular assessments of existing and potential sales channels and products.

ENPRO Subsea’s managing director Ian Donald has been recognised by his peers for his outstanding contribution to the sector at the prestigious Subsea UK Awards 2017. Mr Donald was commended for his pioneering work, which has seen innovative solutions redefine key sections of the marketplace, during a black-tie dinner attended by around 600 industry leaders in Aberdeen (Thursday 2nd February 2017). He was chosen to receive the accolade in light of his leadership, creativity and commitment to delivering results in both enhanced recovery and subsea decommissioning arenas.