Sensors, Satellites and Wave Glider
Track Hurricane Sandy
From vehicles in the water to satellites in the sky, numerous ocean technologies worked overtime earlier this week tracking Hurricane Sandy as it rolled over the U.S. East Coast. Damages caused by the hurricane and their associated costs are still being calculated, while millions are in the dark without power. As of yesterday, at least six NOAA Office of Coast Survey navigation response teams began checking for underwater debris and shoaling that may pose a risk to navigation.  >> Read more

MES Awards Contract to OPT to Continue
PowerBuoy Development for Japan Waters
Ocean Power Technologies Inc. (Pennington, New Jersey), or OPT, has received a 70 million yen contract from Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan), or MES, for further development of OPT’s PowerBuoy for application in Japanese sea conditions. Under the contract, OPT will continue to analyze methods to maximize buoy power capture, as well as modeling and wave tank testing. >> Read more

BD&E Develops Wave-Harvesting System
Prototype for US Navy
Bodkin Design & Engineering LLC (Newton, Massachusetts), or BD&E, was awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research program contract from the U.S. Navy to develop a prototype wave-harvesting system capable of generating power from ocean energy in coastal waters. It will be a six-month project. A prototype unit has been constructed and tested at the company’s Newton facility, demonstrating a power conversion efficiency between 34 and 50 percent. >> Read more

Nautronix Expands Aberdeen Headquarters
Nautronix (Aberdeen, Scotland) announced last Monday the opening of its new global headquarters in Aberdeen, which consolidates the company’s engineering department and expands its production facilities. The headquarters comprises Ury House and Nautronix House. >> Read more

OceanServer Adds Marine Magnetics Explorer Magnetometer Option to Iver2 AUVs
OceanServer Technology Inc. (Fall River, Massachusetts) has partnered with Marine Magnetics Corp. (Markham, Canada) to bring a new magnetometer option, the Marine Magnetics Explorer, to the Iver2 family of AUVs. This new AUV-towed device, coupled to data-logging software features, enables existing or new Iver2 AUVs to collect georeferenced magnetometer data. >> Read more

NOAA Buys Solar-Powered Buoy for Chesapeake Bay
—Q&A with SOSI's Doug Bennett
Purchased by NOAA for its Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System, the recently launched Bay Monitor buoy from Sound Ocean Systems Inc. (Redmond, Washington), or SOSI, will record data on the bay's environmental parameters, powered by solar energy. Sea Technology caught up with Doug Bennett, SOSI vice president, after OCEANS '12 MTS/IEEE Hampton Roads in October to talk about the data buoy.

Is it run purely on solar power? What's the cost trend for marine solar power now—going down considerably/becoming more feasible for more products, or no?
Essentially, yes. Four 5-watt solar panels are sufficient to keep the buoy's battery charged almost indefinitely, within the specified sampling and transmission intervals. Solar panel costs are trending lower, and as sensors become more power efficient, 100 percent solar power will be more widely feasible. >> Read more

Details Released for US Oil and Gas Lease Sale 229
The Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) released last Thursday the final details for Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 229, which will be held on November 28 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The oil and gas lease sale will offer more than 20 million acres offshore and will make available all unleased areas in the Western Gulf of Mexico planning area. >> Read more