Resolve Marine Group Wins Contract for
Vessel Removal of Rena from Astrolabe Reef
Resolve Marine Group Inc. (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) has been awarded a vessel removal contract by the owners of the MV Rena, a cargo ship that ran aground and sank in Astrolabe Reef near New Zealand's Tauranga port last October. Salvage operations were to have begun on Saturday.

Storms have broken the vessel into sections, which are resting on the reef. One of those storms split the vessel in two in January and submerged the stern. Resolve has been contracted to remove Rena’s bow section to 1 meter below the water line, a process that is expected to take six months.

Precutting work on the internal structures has started, the company said. The early stages of scrap removal will make extensive use of a helicopter because the front of the bow section is surrounded by very shallow water, inhibiting the use of a heavy-lift barge. The helicopter will remove steel from the forward section, working its way aft, while a crane barge will work from the aft section forward.  
 
The shell plating and ballast tanks will be left until the final phase of the project to act as a breakwater. Once all the major internal structures are removed, the shell plating will be removed to 1 meter below the water line.
 
Following the removal of the bow section, a dive survey will be completed to ensure that the wreck has been removed to the standards set out in the tender, Resolve said.

Removal will be difficult because of the substantial bulk of steel involved, as well as the hazards of putting diving and salvage personnel into a surf zone.

The vessel is owned by Daina Shipping Co. in Liberia, a subsidiary of Costamare Inc. (Athens, Greece). Costamare has met with indigenous Tauranga iwi, who want the wreck to be completely removed from the reef, as long as no lives are lost in the process.

Before it crashed, the 236-meter cargo vessel was carrying 1,368 containers, eight of which contained hazardous materials, 1,700 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and 200 tonnes of marine diesel fuel. New Zealand’s Environment minister, Nick Smith, called the accident the country’s "most significant maritime environmental disaster." Maritime New Zealand has charged Daina Shipping under two sections of New Zealand's Resource Management Act with discharging harmful substances from the vessel. Officials said Resolve has developed a plan that meets their environmental concerns.

Prior to Resolve’s removal contract, SVITZER A/S (Copenhagen, Denmark), SMIT Salvage (Rotterdam, Netherlands) and Braemar Howells (London, England) managed the removal of oil and containers from the cargo ship, as well as spillage from the Rena. The ship’s insurers have spent $200 million on salvage operations thus far.

Caption: The Rena being towed off the coast of New Zealand.

Source: Resolve Marine Group, Ship & Bunker, 3 News NZ, Radio New Zealand

SeeByte to Open San Diego Office
SeeByte Ltd. (Edinburgh, Scotland) will open a new office in San Diego, California, the company announced last Thursday. The San Diego office will be a center for SeeByte’s engineering capabilities in the U.S. and serve as a point of contact for all U.S. customers. The expansion follows the 10th anniversary of the company’s establishment.

 “The U.S. office is only one of the progressive steps SeeByte is taking to enable growth and ensure our team is given the best possible opportunities and facilities in which to work,” CEO Bob Black said. “By opening an engineering base in San Diego, [SeeByte] will be in a position to provide an enhanced service to our customers and partners in the United States.”

Source: SeeByte press release

Aker Arctic Wins Contract
To Design China’s First Polar RV
Aker Arctic Technology Inc. (Helsinki, Finland) was awarded an approximately €5 million contract to perform the conceptual and basic design of a polar research vessel for China, the company announced last Tuesday. The design is expected to be completed in seven months.

The vessel, which will be the first polar scientific research icebreaker for China, is a joint effort by China’s State Oceanic Administration, Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration and the Polar Research Institute of China. It will accommodate 90 people, have a length of about 120 meters, a maximum breadth of 22.3 meters and draught of 8.5 meters. It will have the ability to break through 1.5 meters of level ice at 2 to 3 knots, including multiyear ice.

The vessel will be fitted with twin azimuthing propeller drives. It will be ice class PC3, meaning it will be able to operate year-round in second-year ice, and will have dual classification from the China Classification Society (Hong Kong) and Lloyd’s Register Group Ltd. (London, England).

Marine and atmospheric observing and sampling capabilities will be built into the vessel for climate-change monitoring. There will be equipment and instrumentation to enable seasonal polar marine geology, marine gravity, magnetic and seismic surveys, as well as biological and ecological surveys. The vessel might also be used for Antarctic supply missions, especially in heavy sea-ice conditions.

China expects the vessel to aid the development of the country’s ship construction industry.

In addition to the Chinese research ship, Aker Arctic is also working on Canada’s John F. Diefenbaker polar icebreaker.

Caption: Chinese agencies awarded a contract to Aker Arctic Technology to design China’s first polar scientific research icebreaker.

Source: Aker Arctic press release

ERMA Interactive Online Mapping Tool
Expands to Arctic for Oil Spill Response
The Environmental Response Management Application, (ERMA), a federal interactive online mapping tool used by emergency responders during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, has been expanded to include the Arctic, NOAA and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) announced last Tuesday. NOAA developed Arctic ERMA to be better prepared for escalating energy exploration and ship traffic in the region.
 
Integrating and synthesizing real-time and static data into a single interactive map, ERMA provides a quick visualization of a situation, improving communication and coordination among responders and stakeholders. In an emergency situation, ERMA is equipped with near- real-time oceanographic observations and weather data from NOAA, and critical environmental, commercial and industrial data from BSEE and other federal and state response agencies. Responders can further customize the tool with environmental, logistical and operational data, such as fishery closure areas, resources-at-risk maps and mariner notices.

Arctic ERMA includes data provided through a recent memorandum of agreement with Shell Oil Co. (Houston, Texas), ConocoPhillips (Houston) and Statoil North America (Houston) for the sharing of physical and biological data in the Arctic, as well as information gained during the August 2012 hydrographic survey cruise by the NOAA Ship Fairweather.

The Alaska Ocean Observing System, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the University of New Hampshire and Alaska’s Arctic boroughs are working with NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration to keep ERMA’s database current. Data includes local knowledge of cultural and subsistence resources, observations of the extent and concentration of sea ice, locations of ports and pipelines, and vulnerable environmental resources.

BSEE has also improved access to environmental, commercial and industrial data sources throughout Arctic lease areas. BSEE and other organizations will optimize real-time sensors to feed data directly into ERMA during both potential oil releases and hazmat spill drills.

 “With the potential for oil and natural gas development, as well as increased shipping activity offshore Alaska, it is essential that responders have access to real-time information that provides full situational awareness,” BSEE Director James A. Watson said.
 
ERMA is currently available for the Gulf of Mexico, New England, Atlantic, Caribbean, Southwest, Pacific Islands, Pacific Northwest and Arctic regions. It is frequently used as a planning and management tool in spill drills and trainings. For instance, Arctic ERMA was used by NOAA, BSEE and the U.S. Coast Guard during a Chukchi Sea oil spill drill in the spring.
 
Arctic ERMA is a product of a partnership among NOAA, BSEE, Oil Spill Recovery Institute and the University of New Hampshire. The mapping tool can be viewed here.

Caption: A screenshot of Arctic ERMA.

Source: NOAA, BSEE press release

Teledyne Acquires PDM Neptec
Teledyne Technologies Inc. (Thousand Oaks, California) announced last Friday that its subsidiary, Teledyne Ltd. UK, has acquired PDM Neptec Ltd. (Alton, England). PDM Neptec provides underwater cables, fiber-optic and electrical subsea connectors, and custom engineering solutions. The acquired company will now operate under the name Teledyne Impulse-PDM Ltd. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“The 13th acquisition in our Teledyne Marine group, PDM Neptec further expands our line of harsh-environment marine interconnects provided by Teledyne,” said Robert Mehrabian, chairman, president and CEO of Teledyne. “In addition, PDM Neptec adds additional engineering talent and strengthens our international sales channels.”

Source: Teledyne Technologies Inc. press release

Q&A: OpenROV Co-Founder David Lang
OpenROV, an open-source project centered on a robotic submarine intended to give the public access to ocean exploration, raised $111,622 from 484 backers in a Kickstarter fundraising campaign that ended August 1. The final tally was well above the original $20,000 goal. The funds will go toward the manufacturing of OpenROV kits, comprising components for building an ROV. User feedback will be used to improve design and functionality.

The OpenROV is 30-by-20-by-15 centimeters, moves about 1 meter per second, weighs approximately 2.5 kilograms, runs for 1.5 hours and has been designed to go up to 100 meters depth. Motors can be replaced off the shelf. Movement is controlled by a computer's keyboard, and the interface is hosted as a web server from the ROV. A USB game-controlled interface is being developed, with eventual plans to control the ROV via the Internet.

Eric Stackpole, who is a mechanical engineer at NASA Ames Research Center, and David Lang are the co-founders of OpenROV. Sea Technology spoke with Lang to discuss the project:

What design considerations went into creating the OpenROV?
The goal has always been to create something easy enough to be built by someone in their garage and able to do serious scientific research. We wanted something capable of going down to 100 meters, cost less than $1,000 and be made form off-the-shelf parts.

How have the design/engineering issues and challenges evolved as crowd-sourced input continues to come in?
We got a surge of new contributors in the past month. Most of the input now is on the electronics and software. We've asked people what features they want and how they want to interact with the custom PCB board.

Where have you tested the ROV, and how did it perform?
Most testing has been done at the reservoir near Eric’s house in Cupertino, California, Hall City Cave in northern California and NOAA's Aquarius Reef Base underwater reach laboratory. The ROV performed well—that was the early prototype with an analog control. The kits have digital control, and the ROV processes digital video on board.

OpenROV has been touted as an inexpensive tool for ocean exploration up to 100 meters deep. What are the basics of keeping the robot low-cost?
The ROV hasn’t reached 100 meters yet. It’s gone 80 feet max. It’s low cost because prototype tools are available at a tech shop, and we have access to a laser cutter. The cost of electronics has dropped so far down. An embedded Linux system costs $80, $40—the cost is dropping. The system includes digital video, and the PCB board controls the motors.

Do you envision the ROV going deeper than 100 meters?
Yes. That's a good goal. What we’re most excited about is building an open-source community of professional and amateur builders.

Caption: The OpenROV.

JMS Designs Fisheries Research Vessel
For USGS Great Lakes Science Center
JMS Naval Architects & Salvage Engineers (Mystic, Connecticut) has completed the contract design for a fisheries research vessel for the U.S. Geological Survey’s Great Lakes Science Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the company said on Wednesday. The FRV Grayling will replace the RV Grayling and will be a member of a five-vessel fleet owned and operated by the Great Lakes Science Center. The final design, construction and commissioning solicitation is currently out for bids.

The 78-foot Grayling will be a steel monohull FRV for oceanographic research and fisheries assessment in the Great Lakes. It will be based at the Cheboygan Vessel Base. The ship is designed to conduct lakewide bottom trawl surveys, acoustic surveys, gill net surveys and a variety of over-the-side science operations. It will operate year-round in U.S. and Canadian waters, and treaty waters in lakes Huron, Michigan and Superior.

Propulsion will be provided by twin Caterpillar 454 BHP C12 C-Rating Tier II diesel engines and a bow thruster for increased maneuverability and station-keeping. The design includes a wet lab, dry lab, retractable transducers, a large pilot house, and accommodations and working areas for a three-man crew and six scientists.

Caption: The FRV Grayling.

Source: JMS press release