Seabed News

James Fisher Subtech has chartered the multipurpose offshore vessel Olympic Taurus from Olympic Subsea with plans to use it in the UK offshore energy industry.The Olympic Taurus has already been mobilized for work from Montrose Port, Aberdeenshire, and fitted with a work class remotely operated vehicle (WROV), in support of an unexploded ordnance (UXO) identification, survey, and disposal campaign in the North Sea with an unnamed client.The campaign is expected to end in early May.This is JF Subtech's second chartered vessel for 2023 after Edda Savanah…

Norwegian company PGS, best known for its seismic survey services in the offshore oil and gas sector, said Wednesday it had scored its first offshore wind contract. The company said it had secured its first ultra-high resolution offshore wind farm site characterization project, marking its debut in "a strategically important new energy market.""PGS New Energy offers solutions to the ongoing energy transition by building on the subsurface and operational expertise of PGS’ employees and using the company’s assets.

Dutch offshore survey company Fugro has expanded its geotechnical vessel fleet with the Fugro Quest vessel. According to Fugro, the vessel is equipped with advanced deep-water technology."Fugro uses this type of vessel to determine the exact composition of the soil; the resulting data are essential to establish the optimal location and design of offshore developments, such as wind farms," Fugro explained.The Dutch company also says that the vessel provides increased personnel and operational safety…

Dutch offshore survey services firm Fugro has secured a contract with the Danish grid operator Energinet for geotechnical site investigations for the North Sea I offshore wind development.The Danish government plans to expand offshore wind capacity by 4GW by 2030, and the geodata acquired by Fugro will be used to inform future bids in the area. "This award follows Fugro’s success working on the North Sea Energy Islands project for Energinet throughout 2022, a project that is the first of its kind…

The Metals Company (TMC) said Wednesday it had collected an initial batch of seafloor polymetallic nodules, and transported them up a 4km-long riser system to the surface in the Clarion Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean.TMC, the explorer of what it says is the world’s largest estimated undeveloped source of critical battery metals, said the move was a historic one, representing the first integrated system test conducted in the area since the 1970s."Having successfully completed…

Argeo, a Norwegian autonomous underwater vehicle provider, has signed a 5-year bareboat contract for the vessel Argeo Searcher (former Ocean Pearl), with an option to purchase the vessel for $2 million after 12 months and $1 million after 27 months. The vessel is expected to be delivered to the company on December 10, 2022."The international expansion of Argeo means contracts are significantly larger, with longer duration, and therefore require predictability in our operational value chain.

Dutch marine survey services firm Fugro is back on the water for Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind off the U.S. east coast, conducting a third year of integrated site characterisation services for the New Jersey-based offshore wind farm developer.Geophysical, metocean, and environmental scopes of work are currently underway, while geotechnical services will startlater this month, using a newly commissioned Fugro C30 mobile rig.Working from a third-party vessel, the Fugro C30 mobile rig will deliver Atlantic Shores heave‑compensated drilling capabilities and downhole sampling…

The Metals Company (TMC) and Allseas have successfully completed the initial deep-water trials of the polymetallic nodule collector vehicle in the Atlantic Ocean, TMC said Thursday.To remind, back in March, The Metals Company (TMC), a company extracting battery metals from seafloor polymetallic nodules, said it had together with its strategic partner and shareholder, Allseas, completed the deployment and wet-test commissioning of their pilot robotic nodule collector vehicle at the Port of Rotterdam…

Global maritime group Wilhelmsen and the Norwegian offshore supply base firm NorSea have together acquired an 18% stake in the Norwegian deep-sea mining company Loke Marine Minerals."As the energy transition continues to gather pace, we are actively looking at new projects and business areas, outside of the oil and gas industry, where NorSea’s unique port infrastructure and proven service and supply know-how can continue to be a key driver of success. The development of the seabed mineral industry in Norway is far from certain…

The giant offshore wind farm (OWF) project in the Moray Firth, off Scotland has finished pin piling work for 100 turbines and three substations at the site.The 950MW Moray East offshore wind development confirmed it has installed 309 pin piles using the jack-up installation Apollo vessel which worked out of Cromarty Firth Ports Authority’s onshore handling facilities at Invergordon.Work to install the pin piles in the sea-bed commenced in May 2019, it noted in a press release.Project Director for Moray East, Marcel Sunier said: “The important first phase of offshore installation works have been completed safely and successfully without any major incidents.

Indian Navy has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Geological Survey of India (GSI) for ‘sharing of seabed sediments data, products and expertise for Naval application in meteorology and oceanography’.The MoU was signed on 21 January 2020 between Commodore AA Abhyankar, who heads Indian Navy’s Oceanology and Meteorology Directorate and Shri N Maran, Deputy Director General of GSI.GSI’s Marine and Coastal survey Division based at Mangaluru has mapped most of India’s 2.1 Million square km  Exclusive Economic Zone and has a vast repository of offshore data.This data collected using GSI’s state-of-the-art oceanic research vessels Samudra Manthan…

Japanese shipping giant Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Line) has joined the international DecarbonICE project that will be conducting a feasibility study to capture onboard carbon as dry ice and store it in seafloor sediments.The shipping industry is looking for carbon-free solutions to achieve the IMO 2050 target of a 50% CO2 emissions reduction (compared to the 2008 level). In response, new zero-carbon solutions are being developed around the globe, including alternative low-carbon fuels such as LNG fuel that can be used in place of heavy oil.The DecarbonICE project was launched on October 1 by the Denmark-based Maritime Development Center…

The Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) Mr. Michael W. Lodge signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish the first ever joint training and research center with Mr. Wang Hong, Administrator of State Oceanic Administration of China.Under the MoU, ISA and China will work together to promote knowledge of the deep ocean and its environment, and enable developing countries to benefit from the mineral resources of the international seabed area, which are recognized as the common heritage of mankind.The joint training and research center will be affiliated to the National Deep Sea Center of China and hosted by the Centre in Qingdao.In his remarks at the official signing ceremony held in Beijing, Mr.

Searcher Seismic announced the expansion of its modern offshore data library with the completion of its Northern Basins Prospectivity Study in Papua New Guinea.The independent multi-client company providing seismic datasets and associated products to the global oil and gas industry, said that in conjunction with Discover Geoscience, it has compiled the Northern Basins Prospectivity Study following its successful acquisition of the Solomon Sea Broadband Non-Exclusive 2D seismic survey in 2017.The study offers the industry a detailed understanding of the basins and hydrocarbon potential of the region, with extensive coverage of the Cape Vogel…

The third annual meeting between the International Seabed Authority (ISA) Secretariat and the contractors with deep-sea exploration contracts in the international deep-seabed (the Area) concluded in Changsa, China on Sunday.Delegates gathered at the three-day meeting hosted by China Minmetals from October 11-13 to discuss areas of common interest, and the next steps in moving from exploration to the sustainable development of deep-sea mineral resources.In his remarks at the opening ceremony, ISA Secretary-General Michael W. Lodge highlighted the need to advance the development of regulations for deep-sea mineral exploitation (the Mining code).

Carbon capture and storage under the seabed is recognized as one tool in climate change mitigation. An International Maritime Organization (IMO) treaty, the London Protocol, provides the basis in international environmental law to allow CO2 storage.This week, a proposal to agree the early application of an amendment to allow sub-seabed geological formations for sequestration projects to be shared across national boundaries will be put before Parties to the London Protocol (LP) and its forerunner, the London Convention (LC).It would remove a barrier for countries which wish to make use of carbon capture and storage - but which do not have ready access to offshore storage sites within their national boundaries.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) announced that it has just completed a successful data acquisition expedition on the Mohns Ridge in the north-western Norwegian Sea, using the Seabed Constructor vessel.According to the Norwegian government agency responsible for the regulation of the petroleum resources on the Norwegian continental shelf, during the four-week expedition, the NPD has made several discoveries of previously unknown sulphide deposits, and collected data covering large areas. These deposits include metals and minerals that are important in battery technology, wind turbines and mobile telephones.The Mohns Ridge is an oceanic spreading ridge that separates two tectonic plates…

ION Geophysical and iSEISMIC have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on seabed acquisition technologies.iSEISMIC, an ocean bottom seismic (OBS) acquisition specialist,  plans to utilize the full suite of ION’s next generation 4Sea ocean bottom acquisition and imaging technology to deliver a step-change in the safety, efficiency, quality and turnaround time of seabed surveys. According to a press statement from ION, the provider of acquisition equipment, software, planning and seismic processing services, and seismic data libraries to the global oil & gas industry: "This agreement will enable ION to commercialize its…

Dutch dredging company Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. has been awarded the contract for the seabed intervention and shore crossing activities for Woodside’s proposed Scarborough export gas pipeline in northwest Australia.The contract awarded by Woodside Energy Ltd. (Woodside), in its capacity as operator of the Scarborough Joint Venture, potentially carries a value of EUR 145 million if all options are called and is subject to a final investment decision which is expected in 2020.The contract is for preparatory activities related to offshore deepwater excavation, pipeline crossing, nearshore and shore crossing works for the export trunkline…

The geophysical services provider SAExploration Holdings successfully completed the largest shallow water ocean-bottom marine project in its history.Contracted to SAExploration by a major national oil company, the project, located in the Arabian Sea off the coast of India, utilized over 20 vessels, which included three ocean-bottom node deployment vessels and two seismic source vessels operating in dual source/simultaneous source mode.A total of 5,400 ocean-bottom nodes and in excess of 1,300 kilometers of rope were deployed on the project to acquire approximately 1,200 square kilometers of full fold seismic data.Jeff Hastings, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer…

EllaLink, a planned submarine cable linking Brazil and Portugal, announced that Alcatel Submarine Networks has finalized the Cable Route Study and mobilized the marine survey vessel for the EllaLink submarine cable system.The survey will be performed over the coming months and permit acquisition continues in line with EllaLink’s plans to be Ready for Service by the end of 2020.EllaLink is a 4 fiber pair submarine cable system designed to satisfy the growing demand for traffic between Europe and Latin America. The low latency EllaLink route avoids the congestion of the North Atlantic by offering the first ever direct fiber pair between…

Norway’s Electromagnetic Geoservices (EMGS) has received a letter of intent for a fully pre-funded multi-client survey in the Norwegian Barents Sea.According to a press release, the total value of the letter of intent is approximately USD 2.5 million.The company will mobilize the vessel Atlantic Guardian to carry out the survey. The Atlantic Guardian is a specialized vessel for cable laying, seabed mapping, and ROV survey. It was built in 2001 and received a major upgrade in 2014.The acquisition work is expected to be completed within the second quarter of 2019, EMGS said.EMGS, the marine EM market leader, uses its proprietary electromagnetic (EM) technology to support oil and gas companies in their search for offshore hydrocarbons.

UK-based provider of mass flow excavation services Rotech Subsea Ltd. has announced that it has signed an agreement to undertake a major seabed preparation scope for United Arab Emirates-based ULO Systems.The preparatory work will precede the installation of 12,000 concrete mattresses designed to minimize erosion by protecting a river bank on-site at a nuclear plant in rural Bangladesh.Rotech Subsea recently mobilised its state-of-the-art TRS2 Controlled Flow Excavation (CFE) tool from Rotech Asia’s Kuala Lumpur base with the work to be completed during Q1, 2019. Rotech’s TRS2 was selected due to its unrivalled power and controllability.Speaking about the deployment, Rotech’s Director of Subsea, Stephen Cochrane, said: "We are delighted to be working with ULO.