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Sea Technology Home \| Features \| Products	January 13, 2011
In Final Report, Oil Spill Commission Finds "Systemic" Problems Systemic problems with industry management—its risk assessment, planning, decision making, communication and testing—combined with government regulatory failures were the root causes of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill, according to the National Oil Spill Commission's Final Report. The report, released Tuesday, said the Macondo well blowout was caused by a number of problems, including failures to: adequately evaluate and manage risk in late-stage well-design decisions, recognize problems with cement tests, respond to early-warning signs of a kick and respond appropriately to the blowout once it began. According to the commission, the blowout, explosion and three-month spill were not caused by "rogue industry or government officials," but instead were rooted in problems across the industry. "The root causes are systemic and, absent significant reform in both industry practices and government policies, might well recur," the report said. "The missteps were rooted in systemic failures by industry management (extending beyond BP to contractors that serve many in the industry), and also by failures of government to provide effective regulatory oversight of offshore drilling." The commission follows months of testimony provided by those involved in all aspects of the Macondo well, from planning its design to cleaning up the gulf. "Our investigation shows that a series of specific and preventable human and engineering failures were the immediate causes of the disaster," said commission co-chair William K. Reilly, a former administrator at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "But, in fact, this disaster was almost the inevitable result of years of industry and government complacency and lack of attention to safety. This was indisputably the case with BP, Transocean and Halliburton, as well as the government agency charged with regulating offshore drilling—the former Minerals Management Service." The report includes a number of recommendations. Among them are suggestions for Congress to create an independent safety agency to oversee offshore drilling safety and to significantly increase the Oil Pollution Act's liability cap; for Congress to dedicate 80 percent of Clean Water Act penalties from the spill to long-term, region-wide restoration of the Gulf of Mexico; and for industry to adopt a culture of safety. "The reforms needed to prevent future disasters are spelled out today in black and white," said the other co-chair of the commission, former Sen. Bob Graham. "Specific actions must be taken by Congress, by the administration and by industry to reduce the likelihood of a similar tragedy. If they are not taken, the probability of another failure will be dramatically greater. The people of the gulf who have suffered so much deserve to know what their government and the industry are going to do." National Ocean Industries Association president Randall Luthi, calling the report "required reading for the offshore industry for years to come," said its recommendations should be "vetted, aired and in some cases possibly implemented." Despite some of the findings being critical of industry, Luthi said the report itself was not an indictment of offshore oil. He added that it seemed all of the problems the commission found could be corrected. Luthi did question a number of the commissions findings, among them the conclusion that there were systemic problems in industry. Luthi cited the 43,000 wells drilled in the Gulf of Mexico without incident, 14,000 of which were drilled in deepwater areas, as evidence of the industry's ability to drill safely. He also said he was concerned about the recommendation to include NOAA in the Department of the Interior's five-year leasing plan development process, saying that this would be a case where "too many cooks spoil the broth." Read the full commission report and Luthi's full response to the report. BAE Develops Nonlethal Laser to Repel Pirates BAE Systems plc (Farnborough, England) said Monday that it has successfully demonstrated a prototype device that will serve as an effective nonlethal deterrent against pirate attacks on commercial vessels such as oil tankers and container ships. In order to help combat the growing piracy threat—the International Maritime Bureau reported 430 attacks in 2010, up from 406 in 2009—BAE Systems conducted a study of pirate behavior along with a company-wide capability survey. This led to the development of using a nonlethal laser that would leave only temporary effects to distract and deter potential attackers from a distance. BAE Systems researchers conducted a number of experiments to assess the feasibility of laser distraction as a nonlethal weapon. The research team said it has now successfully demonstrated a suitable laser at the Pershore Trials Range in Worcester, Massachusetts, over a variety of distances and conditions. The laser beam is capable of providing a visual warning to pirates at distances greater than two kilometers and of disorientating attackers sufficiently at lesser distances so that weapons cannot be targeted effectively. At all times the power levels of the laser remain eye-safe. "The effect is similar to when a fighter pilot attacks from the direction of the sun," said Roy Evans, BAE Systems capability technology lead for laser photonic systems. "The glare from the laser is intense enough to make it impossible to aim weapons like AK-47s or [rocket-propelled grenades], but doesn't have a permanent effect." The laser was trialled at night and day in varying weather conditions at the Worcester facility. Cameras were placed at the target location to demonstrate the level of beam intensity and divergence produced by the test runs. Beam oscillation techniques were also demonstrated. BAE said its researchers developed a neodymium-yttrium-aluminium-garnet that is an effective deterrent at relatively low power levels. By using targeting systems and changing beam patterns, the distraction effect can be made more pronounced and can be used against multiple targets. "We successfully showed that the laser works not just during the night, but also in full daylight. But there are many more requirements to meet before placing a nonlethal laser weapon on commercial ships," Evans said. When fitted on commercial ships, the laser distraction system could use its own targeting capability or integrate with existing ship radar and sensor systems to control the direction and power of the beam. It could therefore work semiautonomously and would also include security features to ensure it could not be used by pirates if they boarded the ship. Chief Executive Officer Appointed at Cosalt Offshore Cosalt Offshore (Grimsby, England) announced Wednesday the appointment of Rod Buchan as its new chief executive officer. Buchan most recently was managing director of Aker Offshore Partner AS (Stavanger, Norway) and held a variety of roles at that company since 1998. Cosalt said Buchan has vast experience in the U.K. and Norwegian offshore markets leading large-scale, long-term contracts with major operators. "Rod has an enviable reputation in the oil and gas industry established over 30 years," said Mark Lejman, chief executive of parent company Cosalt. "His experience is very much aligned with Cosalt Offshore's ethos of providing exceptional service for customers across the North Sea. "Rod's appointment marks the end of the necessary changes made to the senior offshore management team and the creation of a new, stronger team. The actions taken over the last three months have proven to be correct, and we are grateful to our customers for their excellent support throughout. We can now focus solely on reinforcing our reputation for superior customer service to our existing clients and on the new business opportunities we have in the pipeline." SAIC to Develop AUSV Concept for DARPA To Enhance Undersea Warfare Capabilities McLean, Virginia-based Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) announced in January that it has been awarded a prime contract by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to design a concept for a new autonomous unmanned surface vessel (AUSV) to help counter modern submarines. The contract has a six-month period of performance and a total value of $2 million. SAIC is one of six companies selected for the first phase of the DARPA program. Officially named the Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel Phase I, the program involves a broad range of activities that include concept exploration, technology surveys, wargaming, risk assessment, and production of a concept design, construction plan and preliminary performance specification. SAIC said efforts will focus on innovative approaches to achieve low costs for an unmanned surface vessel that is capable of maintaining continuous autonomous track of a threat submarine over its entire operational deployment. Success of this program is particularly dependent, the company said, on the autonomy aspects, which include the maritme rules of the road, undersea warfare missions and sustained at-sea operations. "This win positions SAIC to take a leadership role in the development of maritime autonomous, unmanned surface vessels," said Pete Mikhalevsky, SAIC senior vice present and operations manager. "We will leverage our most significant work in autonomy and unmanned systems and marry it with our strong integration capabilities." First US Commercial Tidal Power Plant Proposed for New York's East River New York City-based Verdant Power has filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that would allow the company to install up to 30 new tidal power turbines in the East River in New York City. If approved, the project would be the first tidal power plant in the United States licensed to transmit energy into the national grid. "We are extremely excited about the submission of this license application," said Ron Smith, chief executive officer of Verdant Power. "It represents the culmination of nearly a decade of work undertaken by Verdant Power and a variety of project stakeholders to add tidal power to the U.S. clean energy mix." Named the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project (RITE), the initiative has been Verdant Power's signature effort to commercialize its "free flow" kinetic hydropower system, which utilizes three-bladed turbines deployed in fast-moving tides and rivers to generate energy. From 2006 through 2008, Verdant Power demonstrated such a system that was comprised of six full-scale turbines. In the proposed pilot project, Verdant Power said it would install a fifth-generation system with improved system reliability, cost-effective manufacturing and environmental compatibility. The U.S. Department of Energy provided partial funding for this advancement, specifically the design and testing of a new composite turbine blade. Verdant Power conducted environmental monitoring of its system during the six-turbine demonstration at the RITE project, and the company said it developed significant environmental data on the technology that showed no evidence of increased fish injury or mortality in the demonstration area. Verdant Power also said it would continue environmental monitoring plans during the proposed pilot project to study any impacts of the larger field, which is planned for incremental installation beginning late this year, pending approvals. Lockheed Collaborates with UK Businesses On Advanced Naval Radar Lockheed Martin (Bethesda, Maryland) announced Tuesday that it is collaborating with several U.K. companies to provide an advanced naval radar demonstrator as part of a joint U.S. Navy and U.K. Royal Navy research program that will help guide performance improvements to existing and planned radar systems in both the U.S. and U.K. The Advanced Radar Technology Integrated System Testbed (ARTIST) program uses two advanced, multifunction S-band active phased array radars—one for each nation—to develop technology and assess techniques for defeating emerging threats, such as smaller, faster targets in dense clutter. Joint trials began at the U.S. Navy's Wallops Island, Virginia, facility in May 2010. "The ARTIST program is a great example of international collaboration between government and industry," said Allan Croly, director of Lockheed's naval radar programs. "It leverages our combined technology experience and the open architecture inherent in our radar designs to jointly evolve capabilities, avoid duplication of efforts, and reduce cost and risk for future radar development." The U.S. ARTIST demonstrator is led by Lockheed Martin in collaboration with U.K. technology companies BAE Systems plc (Farnborough, England), QinetiQ (Farnborough, England) and Roke Manor Research Ltd. (Romsey, England). The U.K. ARTIST demonstrator is being provided by QinetiQ, BAE and Roke Manor Research.	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January 13, 2011

In Final Report, Oil Spill Commission Finds
"Systemic" Problems

Systemic problems with industry management—its risk assessment, planning, decision making, communication and testing—combined with government regulatory failures were the root causes of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill, according to the National Oil Spill Commission's Final Report.

The report, released Tuesday, said the Macondo well blowout was caused by a number of problems, including failures to: adequately evaluate and manage risk in late-stage well-design decisions, recognize problems with cement tests, respond to early-warning signs of a kick and respond appropriately to the blowout once it began. According to the commission, the blowout, explosion and three-month spill were not caused by "rogue industry or government officials," but instead were rooted in problems across the industry.

"The root causes are systemic and, absent significant reform in both industry practices and government policies, might well recur," the report said. "The missteps were rooted in systemic failures by industry management (extending beyond BP to contractors that serve many in the industry), and also by failures of government to provide effective regulatory oversight of offshore drilling."

The commission follows months of testimony provided by those involved in all aspects of the Macondo well, from planning its design to cleaning up the gulf.

"Our investigation shows that a series of specific and preventable human and engineering failures were the immediate causes of the disaster," said commission co-chair William K. Reilly, a former administrator at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "But, in fact, this disaster was almost the inevitable result of years of industry and government complacency and lack of attention to safety. This was indisputably the case with BP, Transocean and Halliburton, as well as the government agency charged with regulating offshore drilling—the former Minerals Management Service."

The report includes a number of recommendations. Among them are suggestions for Congress to create an independent safety agency to oversee offshore drilling safety and to significantly increase the Oil Pollution Act's liability cap; for Congress to dedicate 80 percent of Clean Water Act penalties from the spill to long-term, region-wide restoration of the Gulf of Mexico; and for industry to adopt a culture of safety.

"The reforms needed to prevent future disasters are spelled out today in black and white," said the other co-chair of the commission, former Sen. Bob Graham. "Specific actions must be taken by Congress, by the administration and by industry to reduce the likelihood of a similar tragedy. If they are not taken, the probability of another failure will be dramatically greater. The people of the gulf who have suffered so much deserve to know what their government and the industry are going to do."

National Ocean Industries Association president Randall Luthi, calling the report "required reading for the offshore industry for years to come," said its recommendations should be "vetted, aired and in some cases possibly implemented." Despite some of the findings being critical of industry, Luthi said the report itself was not an indictment of offshore oil. He added that it seemed all of the problems the commission found could be corrected.

Luthi did question a number of the commissions findings, among them the conclusion that there were systemic problems in industry. Luthi cited the 43,000 wells drilled in the Gulf of Mexico without incident, 14,000 of which were drilled in deepwater areas, as evidence of the industry's ability to drill safely. He also said he was concerned about the recommendation to include NOAA in the Department of the Interior's five-year leasing plan development process, saying that this would be a case where "too many cooks spoil the broth."

Read the full commission report and Luthi's full response to the report.

BAE Develops Nonlethal Laser to Repel Pirates

BAE Systems plc (Farnborough, England) said Monday that it has successfully demonstrated a prototype device that will serve as an effective nonlethal deterrent against pirate attacks on commercial vessels such as oil tankers and container ships.

In order to help combat the growing piracy threat—the International Maritime Bureau reported 430 attacks in 2010, up from 406 in 2009—BAE Systems conducted a study of pirate behavior along with a company-wide capability survey. This led to the development of using a nonlethal laser that would leave only temporary effects to distract and deter potential attackers from a distance.

BAE Systems researchers conducted a number of experiments to assess the feasibility of laser distraction as a nonlethal weapon. The research team said it has now successfully demonstrated a suitable laser at the Pershore Trials Range in Worcester, Massachusetts, over a variety of distances and conditions.

The laser beam is capable of providing a visual warning to pirates at distances greater than two kilometers and of disorientating attackers sufficiently at lesser distances so that weapons cannot be targeted effectively. At all times the power levels of the laser remain eye-safe.

"The effect is similar to when a fighter pilot attacks from the direction of the sun," said Roy Evans, BAE Systems capability technology lead for laser photonic systems. "The glare from the laser is intense enough to make it impossible to aim weapons like AK-47s or [rocket-propelled grenades], but doesn't have a permanent effect."

The laser was trialled at night and day in varying weather conditions at the Worcester facility. Cameras were placed at the target location to demonstrate the level of beam intensity and divergence produced by the test runs. Beam oscillation techniques were also demonstrated.

BAE said its researchers developed a neodymium-yttrium-aluminium-garnet that is an effective deterrent at relatively low power levels. By using targeting systems and changing beam patterns, the distraction effect can be made more pronounced and can be used against multiple targets.

"We successfully showed that the laser works not just during the night, but also in full daylight. But there are many more requirements to meet before placing a nonlethal laser weapon on commercial ships," Evans said.

When fitted on commercial ships, the laser distraction system could use its own targeting capability or integrate with existing ship radar and sensor systems to control the direction and power of the beam. It could therefore work semiautonomously and would also include security features to ensure it could not be used by pirates if they boarded the ship.

Chief Executive Officer Appointed at Cosalt Offshore

Cosalt Offshore (Grimsby, England) announced Wednesday the appointment of Rod Buchan as its new chief executive officer. Buchan most recently was managing director of Aker Offshore Partner AS (Stavanger, Norway) and held a variety of roles at that company since 1998.

Cosalt said Buchan has vast experience in the U.K. and Norwegian offshore markets leading large-scale, long-term contracts with major operators.

"Rod has an enviable reputation in the oil and gas industry established over 30 years," said Mark Lejman, chief executive of parent company Cosalt. "His experience is very much aligned with Cosalt Offshore's ethos of providing exceptional service for customers across the North Sea.

"Rod's appointment marks the end of the necessary changes made to the senior offshore management team and the creation of a new, stronger team. The actions taken over the last three months have proven to be correct, and we are grateful to our customers for their excellent support throughout. We can now focus solely on reinforcing our reputation for superior customer service to our existing clients and on the new business opportunities we have in the pipeline."

SAIC to Develop AUSV Concept for DARPA
To Enhance Undersea Warfare Capabilities
McLean, Virginia-based Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) announced in January that it has been awarded a prime contract by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to design a concept for a new autonomous unmanned surface vessel (AUSV) to help counter modern submarines.

The contract has a six-month period of performance and a total value of $2 million. SAIC is one of six companies selected for the first phase of the DARPA program.

Officially named the Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel Phase I, the program involves a broad range of activities that include concept exploration, technology surveys, wargaming, risk assessment, and production of a concept design, construction plan and preliminary performance specification.

SAIC said efforts will focus on innovative approaches to achieve low costs for an unmanned surface vessel that is capable of maintaining continuous autonomous track of a threat submarine over its entire operational deployment. Success of this program is particularly dependent, the company said, on the autonomy aspects, which include the maritme rules of the road, undersea warfare missions and sustained at-sea operations.

"This win positions SAIC to take a leadership role in the development of maritime autonomous, unmanned surface vessels," said Pete Mikhalevsky, SAIC senior vice present and operations manager. "We will leverage our most significant work in autonomy and unmanned systems and marry it with our strong integration capabilities."

First US Commercial Tidal Power Plant
Proposed for New York's East River
New York City-based Verdant Power has filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that would allow the company to install up to 30 new tidal power turbines in the East River in New York City. If approved, the project would be the first tidal power plant in the United States licensed to transmit energy into the national grid.

"We are extremely excited about the submission of this license application," said Ron Smith, chief executive officer of Verdant Power. "It represents the culmination of nearly a decade of work undertaken by Verdant Power and a variety of project stakeholders to add tidal power to the U.S. clean energy mix."

Named the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project (RITE), the initiative has been Verdant Power's signature effort to commercialize its "free flow" kinetic hydropower system, which utilizes three-bladed turbines deployed in fast-moving tides and rivers to generate energy. From 2006 through 2008, Verdant Power demonstrated such a system that was comprised of six full-scale turbines.

In the proposed pilot project, Verdant Power said it would install a fifth-generation system with improved system reliability, cost-effective manufacturing and environmental compatibility. The U.S. Department of Energy provided partial funding for this advancement, specifically the design and testing of a new composite turbine blade.

Verdant Power conducted environmental monitoring of its system during the six-turbine demonstration at the RITE project, and the company said it developed significant environmental data on the technology that showed no evidence of increased fish injury or mortality in the demonstration area. Verdant Power also said it would continue environmental monitoring plans during the proposed pilot project to study any impacts of the larger field, which is planned for incremental installation beginning late this year, pending approvals.

Lockheed Collaborates with UK Businesses
On Advanced Naval Radar
Lockheed Martin (Bethesda, Maryland) announced Tuesday that it is collaborating with several U.K. companies to provide an advanced naval radar demonstrator as part of a joint U.S. Navy and U.K. Royal Navy research program that will help guide performance improvements to existing and planned radar systems in both the U.S. and U.K.

The Advanced Radar Technology Integrated System Testbed (ARTIST) program uses two advanced, multifunction S-band active phased array radars—one for each nation—to develop technology and assess techniques for defeating emerging threats, such as smaller, faster targets in dense clutter. Joint trials began at the U.S. Navy's Wallops Island, Virginia, facility in May 2010.

"The ARTIST program is a great example of international collaboration between government and industry," said Allan Croly, director of Lockheed's naval radar programs. "It leverages our combined technology experience and the open architecture inherent in our radar designs to jointly evolve capabilities, avoid duplication of efforts, and reduce cost and risk for future radar development."

The U.S. ARTIST demonstrator is led by Lockheed Martin in collaboration with U.K. technology companies BAE Systems plc (Farnborough, England), QinetiQ (Farnborough, England) and Roke Manor Research Ltd. (Romsey, England). The U.K. ARTIST demonstrator is being provided by QinetiQ, BAE and Roke Manor Research.