Tech today

The data will update  National Ocean Service  nautical charting products, which are used for improving the safety of maritime traffic and commerce, and will support commercial fishing, shipping channels, coastal resilience, scientific research, and  Seabed 2030. Seabed 2030 is a collaborative effort between the Nippon Foundation and the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans that aims to integrate and share all available bathymetric data to produce a definitive map of the world’s ocean floor by 2030. Last year, NOAA tasked Woolpert with collecting data in the  Chesapeake Bay Watershed , which included portions of the Potomac, Rappahannock, James, and York Rivers. Under this contract in Maryland, Woolpert will collect data over 116 square nautical miles in Tangier Sound located in the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in North America. The 64,000-square-mile watershed is heavily trafficked by commercial and recreational vessels used for tourism, fishing...

The “Arabia I”, which had its work scope suspended earlier this year in Saudi Arabia, has secured a new long-term contract in Brazil. The contract period is 4 years firm plus a 4-year unpriced option. This contract is expected to commence in Q1 2025 in cooperation with an experienced local partner for Petrobras. In Southeast Asia, the “Gunnlod” has received a binding Letter of Award from an operator in Malaysia. The award covers a firm scope of seven wells, with an anticipated duration of 210 days, and is expected to commence in November 2024. In Africa, the “Norve” has secured a 109-day extension with BW Energy in Gabon. This extension will keep the “Norve” contracted until February 2025 when it will commence its subsequent contract with Marathon Oil in Equatorial Guinea. Additionally, the Company previously announced the award of 180 days firm plus 180 days option commitment in Congo for ENI. The “Gerd” will execute this program that is expected to commence in October 2024. Th...

Multiple Poniard rockets, low-cost guided munitions, were fired from the CUSV during a series of exercises conducted off the coast of Hawaii. The live-fire demonstration was the culminating event of an ongoing Foreign Comparative Test (FCT) project under the auspices of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD R&E). This innovative capability test demonstrates the Navy’s commitment to integrating mature cutting-edge technology into its operations to maintain maritime superiority and readiness. “The successful live fire demonstration from the CUSV showcases our ability to rapidly deploy and use low-cost guided munitions from unmanned platforms,” Capt. Matthew Lehmann, Program Manager of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Mission Modules Office. “This capability enhances our operational reach and effectiveness, ensuring the Navy remains a dominant force in maritime operations.” Common Unmanned Surface Vehicle. (Image credit: US Navy) This live ...

“By co-developing AI-powered digital technologies, we will transform Aker BP’s subsurface workflows, accelerating planning cycles, increasing production, and reducing costs across their entire E&P life cycle,” said Rakesh Jaggi, President, Digital & Integration, SLB. “We have made a long-term commitment with Aker BP to continuously improve the subsurface part of their platform, driving constant efficiency optimization and more sustainable energy production.” The partners will transition Aker BP’s current application portfolio to the cloud and create one integrated platform for subsurface workflows. The high-performance computing speed of the cloud will enable the platform to leverage advanced AI and domain expertise from SLB and Aker BP to reveal new insights from previously untapped data, driving substantial efficiency and performance improvements. “The platform we develop in partnership with SLB is a key step in realizing our strategy to build the E&P company of the fut...

Traditional operational forecasting models have been able to successfully predict ENSO events with lead times of more than one year. Researchers have been working for decades to change that. The new extended nonlinear recharge oscillator model—or XRO model, as scientists refer to it—offers an opportunity for more accurate and longer lead time El Niño predictions and global climate model improvements, the researchers say. “El Niño affects the lives of Americans, and those around the world,” says Yolande Serra, a program director in NSF’s Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences, which funded the research along with NSF’s Division of Ocean Sciences. “The ability to accurately forecast this phenomenon’s arrival months earlier,” says Serra, “is important to understanding global precipitation patterns.”

Ports, harbor masters, and others in maritime industries rely on weather forecasts to make decisions that impact operations, crew and staff safety, costs, and flows of essential goods for consumers. However, there are challenges with the weather forecasting options available. Most weather models provide forecasts at vast global scales, relying on coarse grids to make the computations manageable, which limits their ability to account for local coastal features. MarineLabs’ Forecast AI generates profoundly more accurate wind and wave forecasts that account for each location’s unique characteristics and geography. It does this by combining extensive observed data from its expanding sensor network with data from third-party forecast models while continuously learning and improving with time. “Forecast AI represents a giant stride forward in our mission to revolutionize marine mobility,” said Dr. Scott Beatty, CEO of MarineLabs. “With CoastAware, we set a new standard in real-time weather ...