Since the upsurge in ordering of drillships, Rolls Royce has been successful in capturing nearly 90 per cent of contracts for thrusters for these high-specification vessels, which will use dynamic positioning to keep position while drilling in ultra deep waters.  An example is the Stena Forth.

Many of the owners of this new generation of drillships have chosen Rolls-Royce again to meet their propulsion requirements because they have found the UUC series azimuth thrusters on their existing vessels to be efficient and reliable. [Continue Reading →]

M/V SEACOR CHEETAH is a 170 ft. class Catamaran passenger/cargo vessel with the capacity to carry 150 passengers at a top speed in excess of 40 knots.  It is designed to meet the specific demands of the oil and gas industry for crew transport in loop-style routes between high-traffic platforms and shore-base operations.  The Cheetah aims to increase passenger comfort and safety, personnel transport reliability, and dramatically reduce costs.

M/V SEACOR CHEETAH details: [Continue Reading →]

NOAA has teamed up with the Smithsonian Institute to bring the depths of the ocean to the National Mall, in Washington D.C.  This past weekend, the Institute inaugurated the Sant Ocean Hall in the National Museum of Natural History: an exhibit that aims to raise awareness of the importance of the ocean and the effect of human activities on marine life.  NOAA tells us about the exhibit:

Phoenix, a 45-foot model of a living North Atlantic Right Whale, serves as the Hall’s signature symbol. There are 10 sections in the hall that address a variety of ocean-related topics, including the deep ocean, coral reefs, the Arctic and Southern Oceans and current ocean research. The Coral Reef section has a 1,500-gallon aquarium featuring an Indo-Pacific reef with over 1,000 specimens of more than 50 different species of live fish and other marine life. The hall’s “Journey through Time” section looks into the past with fossils of a large number of ancient organisms; some are more than 500 million years old. In the exhibit’s theater, a 13-minute video, “Deep Ocean Explorers,” takes visitors on a dive through the zones of the open ocean to the deep ocean bottom aboard the submersible, Alvin.

The exhibit is a good fit that fills a void in both the Natural History Museum and others in the area.  I will be sure to check that out next time I am over in our Nations Capital.

In other news, just a few hours north in New York, The Intrepid is finally making its way back to the West Side of New York City after two years from being hauled off for renovations. [Continue Reading →]

OTEC, or ocean thermal energy conversion, is an energy technology that converts solar radiation to electric power. OTEC systems use the ocean’s natural thermal gradient—the fact that the ocean’s layers of water have different temperatures—to drive a power-producing cycle. As long as the temperature between the warm surface water and the cold deep water differs by about 20°C (36°F), an OTEC system can produce a significant amount of power. The oceans are thus a vast renewable resource, with the potential to help us produce billions of watts of electric power.

The economics of energy production today have delayed the financing of a permanent, continuously operating OTEC plant. However, OTEC is very promising as an alternative energy resource for tropical island communities that rely heavily on imported fuel. OTEC plants in these markets could provide islanders with much-needed power, as well as desalinated water and a variety of mariculture products.

Also if your looking for video, presentations or image files on renewable energy at sea be sure to check out the World Ocean Observatory’s Multimedia Page.