Technical Program Chairmen for the MTS/IEEE OCEANS'16 Conference, to be held in Monterey, California, 19-23 September 2016. OCEANS'16 will be a tremendous opportunity to focus on topics of interest to you in all fields of Marine Technology and Ocean Engineering. We are trying to develop a Technical Program that will appeal to the significant interests.

Wood Group has recently won four subsea contracts with Statoil on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). The latest award is a study to deliver subsea field concept engineering for the Snorre expansion project.

Fugro has been awarded a Supply Arrangement by the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) to provide vessel based hydrographic survey services.

Subsea Technology and Rentals (STR), a leading provider in the rental of marine equipment to support the offshore survey, IRM, subsea construction and renewable sectors, has chosen to place its trust in iXBlue once again: it has increased its portfolio of specialised subsea rental equipment with the purchase of iXBlue’s OCTANS NANO.

Oceanology International is pleased to announce that the OI China 2016 and OI North America 2017 Call for Abstracts are now open.

Subsea technology company, Sonardyne International Ltd, has become the newest Associate Member of the National Oceanography Centre’s (NOC) Marine Robotics Innovation Centre. Sonardyne and NOC have a long history of working together, with Sonardyne acoustic positioning equipment currently installed on the NOC’s deep-diving Remotely Operated Vehicle and fleet of Autosub autonomous underwater vehicles, and an Innovate UK funded project currently underway. This new collaboration is expected to see further ground-breaking ocean science projects take place.

Douglas-Westwood (DW) forecasts subsea hardware expenditure to total $94.3 billion (bn) between 2016 and 2020, with a 3% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) over the forecast period. Expected expenditure growth for subsea hardware has been tempered by the prolonged low oil price, causing a 19% decline in expenditure compared to the 2011-2015 period.

Tritech International Ltd, [Tritech], announces that Rotech Subsea Ltd [Rotech] has purchased Gemini Narrow Beam Imager (NBI) systems.

A joint industry project established through The Industry Technology Facilitator (ITF) has entered a trial phase with the support of oil and gas operators. A new technology system designed to address a common problem in the subsea industry is undergoing a shallow water trial at Portishead Quays marina. The system will help to identify the location of electrical faults on subsea installations and will enable field operators to better plan for repair or replacement of failed components which could save the industry millions of pounds in halted production. The system, known as V-IR, has been developed by Viper Subsea with the support of Total, BP, Shell, and Chevron.

Genex Systems, an engineering, scientific research, and information technology services firm headquartered in Hampton, Virginia, trialed and the purchased a 2G Robotics' ULS-100 underwater laser scanner. The objective of the trials was to test the capabilities of the ULS-100 for bridge scour experiments and sediment transport analysis. The trials were conducted at the TFHRC J. Sterling Jones Hydraulics Research Laboratory.

ROV Planet Magazine Issue 07 The magazine of choice for Subsea Construction and ROV Professionals. Featuring the Deepwater Oil and Gas Market Report – Extending the Lifespan of the Dan Bravo Oil Complex – Product Focus: Battelle HorizonVue 360 Degrees Camera – Virtual Reality Technology Reveals Underwater Vents in New Ways – Poster – Research Vessel Falkor – The Oceaneering NEXXUS ROV: Revolutionizing Operational Efficiency – The Subsea Bumble Bee – Dedicated to SURF – Interview with Chris Bird: An Oil Company Exec’s Perspective.

Novacavi has just engineered a special hybrid cable for latest electro optical transmission systems in marine application. It is specifically designed with single mode and multi mode fiber optics in several different protocols all together within one metal tube in combination with other electrical components. This customized hybrid cable is conceived as a perfect functional solution with a reliable pressure and temperature resistance in optimized shape.

Offshore and onshore healthcare and medical solutions company Iqarus has acquired Exmed, a leader in remote medical support, equipment and clinical education, as it further progresses its global growth strategy. Exmed’s customers include prominent international government and humanitarian agencies as well as global energy companies and media organisations including the BBC and Discovery Channel. The company supports medical missions and operations in locations including Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Siberia and has also provided logistics support for filming for Top Gear and Comic Relief. Exmed offers unique frontline training services and has invested in a new centre of excellence set to open in July that offers a fully simulated two storey street for replicating mass incident scenarios as well as arctic, jungle and desert simulation.

The National Subsea Research Initiative (NSRI) is launching a drive to develop technology that will make underwater factories and storage more viable, helping to increase the recovery of hydrocarbons and prolong the life of the North Sea. The industry-led, technology organisation is hosting an event on 21 April to break down the barriers to subsea processing and storage. The workshop aims to stimulate investment in and encourage the development of emerging technologies which will speed up the shift from costly surface platforms to subsea plants which will be more cost-effective and enable recovery from smaller, harder to reach fields.

Aker Solutions secured an agreement to provide maintenance and other services for subsea facilities at Petrobras-operated oil and gas fields offshore Brazil. The contract is for a fixed term of three years valued at BRL 435 million net of taxes (NOK 1 billion) and may be extended by another three years. It covers maintenance, storage, supply of parts and technical assistance for all subsea equipment delivered by Aker Solutions to Petrobras in Brazil.

Houston-based subsea technology company, Sonardyne Inc., has announced that its deep water acoustic positioning system, Ranger 2 USBL, has been selected for the U.S Navy’s new oceanographic research vessel, R/V Neil Armstrong. The ship is operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) on behalf of the Navy and replaces the recently retired R/V Knorr vessel which had been in operation since 1970.

Fugro has been awarded a contract by Indian oil and gas company, ONGC, for the provision of ROV services on board the drillship Sagar Vijay. The contract, which was signed at ONGC’s offices in Mumbai, involves providing support for deepwater drilling operations off the east coast of India, in depths up to 900 metres.

Global-leading energy services company Proserv has been awarded a multi-million pound contract with Statoil for the provision of production control equipment in Norway. Proserv will supply five wellhead hydraulic power units (HPUs) for Statoil’s Gullfaks oil and gas field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea which is undergoing an extensive topside upgrade programme. The design, manufacture and supply of the workscope will be carried out by Proserv’s specialist engineering and project teams in Stavanger, Norway. Work has already begun on the manufacturing of these systems and all five are expected to be delivered to Statoil by 2017.