International
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December 2010 Issue
Teledyne TSS Opens New Tracker Calibration Facility at Global Headquarters
A new test facility has been built at Teledyne TSS Ltd.'s headquarters in Watford, England, to conduct target-scaling activities for the TSS detection range of products, the company announced in November.
The facility enables TSS 440 pipe and cable trackers to be precisely calibrated for specific targets. Samples of pipe or cable provided by the customer are analyzed so that an error matrix can be created for the user's own TSS 440. This makes it possible for burial depths of a particular pipe or cable to be measured to an accuracy of five centimeters or five percent of range so that compliance with installation contracts can be verified.
The facility creates laboratory-standard conditions in which tests may be conducted on samples up to five meters long and weighing up to two tons.
For more information, visit www.teledyne-tss.com.
OSIL Supplies Quality Controls
To Bournemouth and West Hampshire Water
Havant, England-based Ocean Scientific International Ltd. (OSIL) has supplied Bournemouth and West Hampshire Water Plc (Bournemouth, England) with an InterOcean Systems Inc. (San Diego, California) Slick SleuthTM oil spill detector for use on two new reservoirs in Longham, England.
The reservoirs hold 1,000 megaliters of untreated water, which is approximately 15 days' supply to the Bournemouth area. The intakes to the 100-acre site are fed directly from the River Stour and are being continually monitored by the Slick Sleuth as a precautionary measure to ensure that hydrocarbons do not enter the water system.
For more information, visit www.osil.co.uk.
ISE Delivers 3,000-Meter-Rated
HYSUB ROV to SNK Ocean
Port Coquitlam, Canada-based International Submarine Engineering Ltd. (ISE) has delivered a new remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to SNK Ocean Co. Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan).
The HYSUB ROV—the "Hakuyo 150-3000"—is designed to perform several functions, including cable burial, salvage, research and survey. It is SNK's deepest-diving ROV, rated to an operational depth of 3,000 meters, and is equipped with four lateral and three vertical thrusters, two manipulators, a full sensor package, and ISE's customized control system, ACE. The ROV is also equipped with a custom-designed jet skid for cable-burial operations.
For more information, visit www.ise.bc.ca.
Experts Explore Potential for Nuclear-Power in Future Commercial Tankers
A new research consortium that includes Lloyd's Register Group (London, England), Enterprises Shipping and Trading S.A. (Athens, Greece), Hyperion Power Generation Inc. (Santa Fe, New Mexico) and BMT Nigel Gee Ltd. (Southampton, England) has been established to examine marine applications for small modular reactors (SMRs), the companies announced in mid-November.
The companies are to lead the research into nuclear propulsion, which they believe is technically feasible and has the potential to drastically reduce carbon dioxide emissions caused by commercial shipping, representatives said. The consortium believes that SMRs, with a thermal power output of more than 68 megawatts, have the potential to be used as plug-in nuclear "batteries."
The research is intended to produce a concept tanker-ship design based on conventional and modular concepts. Special attention will be paid to analysis of a vessel's life-cycle cost, as well as to hull-form designs and structural layout, including grounding and collision protection, the companies said.
Actisense Appoints Northport Systems Inc.
As Canadian Distributor
Actisense (Poole, England) announced in early November that Northport Systems Inc. (Toronto, Canada) has been appointed to distribute the full range of Actisense products across Canada.
As part of the partnership, Northport Systems will represent the entire Actisense range of products, including National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) interfaces, the OPTO line of cables, depth sounders and NMEA gateways, and sell them though their network of dealers and online.
For more information, visit www.actisense.com.
Austal Announces Purchase
Of Systems Integrator, ATI
Austal (Henderson, Australia) announced in November it has reached an agreement to acquire Canberra, Australia-based Australian Technology Information Pty Ltd. (ATI).
"ATI has developed a very successful business in providing state-of-the-art systems engineering and associated technologies to the Australian Defence Forces," Austal chief operating officer Andrew Bellamy said. "These technologies are an ideal complement to Austal's existing design and production capability in the defense sector and will allow Austal to expand the range of services and products that it can deliver to defense customers worldwide."
For more information, visit www.austal.com.
Oceanvision Expanding its Far East-Region
Saab Seaeye Technical Support and Spares Hub
Sales success by Singapore-based Oceanvision Pte Ltd. of Saab Seaeye Ltd. (Fareham, England) remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) in countries like Malaysia, Brunei and Australia has led the company to expand its technical support and spares hub in the region, Saab Seaeye announced in October.
Oceanvision engineers at the growing service hub have attended courses at Saab Seaeye's training center in the U.K. and are qualified and fully skilled in ROV repair and maintenance, Saab Seaeye said. The company operates a full Seaeye thruster repair facility in house and has a growing inventory of Seaeye ROV spare parts available off the shelf.
For more information, visit www.oceanvision.com.sg.
MHI Completes Conceptual Design
Of Lower Emissions Container Vessel
Tokyo, Japan-based Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (MHI) recently announced that it has completed conceptual design of the MALS-14000CS, a New Panamax 14,000 20-foot equivalent unit container ship (CS) that the company says will cut down on its greenhouse gas emissions.
The MALS-14000CS adopts MHI's proprietary Mitsubishi Air Lubrication System (MALS), which reduces frictional resistance between the vessel hull and seawater using bubbles produced by air at the vessel bottom. The vessel will be capable of reducing emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) by 35 percent compared with container carriers of conventional design, MHI said.
MHI has already installed the MALS on the Yamatai, a module carrier operated by NYK-Hinode Line Ltd. (Tokyo) and is verifying its CO2-reduction efficiency.
The MALS is designed to provide a 10 percent reduction in CO2 emissions, and other aspects of the new ship's design, such as a new hull form, electronically controlled diesel engine and a waste-heat recovery system, should allow the MALS-14000CS to achieve a 35 percent cut in CO2 emissions overall. The ship is designed to further reduce its environmental impact through installation of a scrubber to remove sulfur oxide from flue gas and a ballast-water treatment system.
For more information, visit www.mhi.co.jp.
Alewijnse Marine Technology's Engineer Wins Award for Fuel Cell Boat Work
Nico van der Hoeven of Alewijnse Marine Technology B.V. (Nijmegen, Netherlands) was awarded the VNSI Timmers Award 2010 for young maritime designers on November 10.
Van der Hoeven, a systems engineer, was nominated for his work on the development of the automation system for the H2 Nemo, a canal trip vessel that is powered entirely by hydrogen. The boat is now operational on the waterways of Amsterdam, Netherlands, and is capable of carrying 90 passengers.
The hydrogen is converted by fuel cells into electricity, which is then used to power the motors, making the boat emissions-free. For optimal efficiency, the boat requires a sophisticated monitoring and automation system to manage the fuel consumption and cooling and to alert the captain should any issues arise.
For more information, visit www.alewijnse.nl.
Royal Navy Uses Thales Minehunting Sonars
In Arabian Gulf Joint Exercises
Four U.K. Royal Navy (RN) mine countermeasures vessels (MCMVs) fitted with Thales UK's (Weybridge, England) minehunting sonars recently took part in a series of joint exercises with the U.S. Navy in the Arabian Gulf.
The RN force consisted of two Hunt-class MCMVs, HMS Middleton and HMS Chiddingfold, and two Sandown-class vessels, HMS Grimsby and HMS Pembroke.
The Hunt-class fleet is fitted with Thales' Sonar 2193 hull-mounted wideband minehunting sonar, and the Sandown class operates with Sonar 2093 variable-depth multimode sonar.
"Already proven in more temperate waters around the U.K., Thales' 2093 and 2193 sonars have performed exceptionally well in the challenging environmental conditions of the Arabian Gulf," RN Cmdr. David Bence, commander of the U.K. Mine Countermeasures Force, said. "They are world beaters."
For more information, visit www.thalesgroup.com.
2011: JAN | FEB | MARCH | APRIL | MAY | JUNE | JULY | AUG | SEPT | OCT | NOV | DEC
2010: JAN | FEB | MARCH | APRIL | MAY | JUNE | JULY | AUG | SEPT | OCT | NOV | DEC
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