Oceanbuzz Issue No. 428 – 12 January 2016‏

3. WHO’S ON THE MOVE?
3.a) Rob Spillard joins Bibby HydroMap as their new Technical Director 

4. JOB POSTINGS
4.a) Director of Sales, Sonardyne International, UK
4.b) Technical Sales Manager, INNOVATUM, UK

1.a) DOTOCEAN DESIGN NOVEL GEOTECHNICAL PROFILING SYSTEM FOR DEEP SEA SOIL CHARACTERISATION
Belgium company dotOcean have designed an innovative geotechnical profiling system, the Deep Sea GraviProbe, for deep sea waters. The system’s cone is lowered in the underwater sediment layer, analysing those layers during intrusion. Under its own weight it penetrates loose and consolidated mud layers and measuring dynamic tip resistance as a Qc value. The data acquired from the cone, on-board accelerometers, inclinometers and pressure sensors is determining the geotechnical parameters of the intruded medium (Qc over depth and Su over depth). The system is capable of collecting data at 5500 m depths and has a measurement resolution of 100 Pa.

The instrument is considered a game changing development because of its simplicity in use. A regular A-frame can be used and there is no need for a dynamic positioning vessel. Furthermore the Deep Sea GraviProbe does not need a data cable, all data is stored internally.

This new approach results in a rapid deployment and in a high data collection rate. Only 10 seconds are required for one measurement, so in a single day data more than 100 measurement points can be collected. The instrument is complementary with classic seabed CPT’s and gathers strength information of seabed intrusion depths from 0 to 4 meter at operational depths from 1 to 5500m. The profiler can gather valuable information on the deep sea seabed to support offshore construction, anchoring, manifold and cable installation.

For more information visit www.dotocean.eu
1.b) NEW KONGSBERG ACOUSTIC POSITIONING OPERATOR STATION FOR SURVEYORS INSTALLED ON BIBBY OFFSHORE VESSEL
Kongsberg Maritime, the UK division of Kongsberg Maritime, has completed the first ever APOS Survey installation on Bibby Offshore’s long term charter vessel, the Olympic Bibby. Launched December 2015, the new APOS Survey operator station enables surveyors to leverage the power of Kongsberg Maritime’s de facto industry standard HiPAP High Precision Acoustic Positioning system, to deliver accurate survey results simultaneously, whilst the HIPAP is still utilised as a DP position reference.

With state-of-the-art new generation of positioning software for flexible, cost effective subsea survey and construction operations, APOS Survey station offers full LBL and SSBL, quicker mobilisation times and is designed for both permanent and temporary installation on vessels, negating the mobilisation cost and time associated with over the side portable transducers.

APOS Survey communicates directly with the HiPAP transceiver, which enables the surveyor to operate independently of the bridge. Acoustic interrogations are interleaved or run simultaneously with the DP system updates, without making changes to the vessel’s APOS software or installation parameters. With APOS Survey, the surveyor can interface local survey grade sensors, IMU, gyro and GNSS, set up lever arms and load sound velocity profiles independent of the vessel, thus unlocking the full potential of HiPAP for survey operations.

For more information visit www.km.kongsberg.com
1.c) FUGRO’S SEAFLOOR DRILL 2 COMPLETES CHALLENGING SITE INVESTIGATION
Fugro’s Seafloor Drill 2 (SFD2) has successfully completed a challenging multi-site investigation across the North West Shelf of Australia, encountering variable calcareous sediments and delivering results to support a jack-up drilling campaign.

The work was performed in water depths up to 112 metres and required in situ testing and sampling to a total length of 323 metres. The SFD2 proved effective in sampling some of the world’s most difficult seabed sediments, from ultra-soft carbonate muds to highly weathered limestone. Its success can be attributed to a number of factors including the flexibility provided by the proprietary wireline system, the innovative approach to mud supply and a ‘hands-on’ approach by the geotechnical drillers. An additional advantage was the ability to airfreight the SFD2 to Australia.

Ian Finnie, Fugro’s Integrated Geosciences’ Lead, helped scope the investigations and interpret the seabed conditions for the client. “Seafloor Drill 2 has proved to be ideally suited to the calcareous sediments that we have around Australia and is a game changer in Fugro’s ability to support the offshore industry in Western Australia and South East Asia. This drilling technology significantly enhances Fugro’s fully integrated geoscience service, from optimally scoping data acquisition, through successful execution, and then into engineering design and construction support.”

For more information visit www.fugro.com
1.d) IMPACT SUBSEA ANNOUNCES DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT WITH OCEANVISION
Impact Subsea, UK has announced the appointment of Oceanvision as a distributor of Impact Subsea products. The appointment will significantly increase the local support of the ISA500, ISA500-L and future products from Impact Subsea. Based in Singapore, Oceanvision will represent Impact Subsea in the local and surrounding areas.

Oceanvision has a strong background in the supply of specialised equipment to various sectors of the offshore, marine and petrochemical industries. The company’s well established client base, together with strong technical capability make them an ideal partner of Impact Subsea.

Located in Aberdeenshire, UK, Impact Subsea is a provider of highly innovative underwater products, primarily for ROV and AUV applications. The company pioneered the ISA500 – the world’s first underwater Altimeter to encompass a HMRU and has further ROV and AUV sensor products due for launch in early 2016.

For more information visit www.oceanvision.com.sg and www.impactsubsea.com
1.e) AQUATIC ACHIEVES 1 MILLION WORKING HOURS WITHOUT A SINGLE LOST TIME INCIDENT
Aquatic Engineering & Construction, has marked 1 million working hours without a single Lost Time Incident (LTI). This milestone follows on from Aquatic’s achievement of 1000 days without an LTI in December 2014.

The improvement level in FPAL scoring since 2013 and successful accreditation to BizSafe3 in Singapore demonstrate that Aquatic is continually improving standards and providing training opportunities across HSEQ.

David Tibbetts, vice president technology, Aquatic, and accountable for the health, safety, environment and quality (HSEQ) function, said, “This achievement is due to the commitment of the Aquatic team to maintain the culture of safety promoted globally by Acteon. Our staff training focuses on our obligation to the safety of all those who work with us, and for us. With the support of Acteon, Aquatic is focused on continually improving standards, strengthening its culture of safety and remaining firmly committed to HSEQ leadership in the offshore industry.”

For more information visit www.aquaticsubsea.com
1.f) IMAREST SUPPORTS MENTORING PROGRAMME IN SINGAPORE
The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) joins a new Industry Mentors’ Network (IMN) programme which sees first-year polytechnic students linked up with industry professionals to gain access to career advice and industry networking.

The programme, initiated by Singapore’s Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) and in line with a regional SkillsFuture movement, seeks to provide greater opportunities for education and career guidance and to get students in Singapore to think about career aspirations early in their polytechnic education. Singapore Polytechnic (SP) and Temasek Polytechnic (TP) will also be adopting the IMN programme.

Students will receive early advice from their mentors on what it takes for them to achieve their career goals and how to chart their career roadmaps. In addition, they can tap the mentors’ expertise and network for professional learning opportunities. While industry mentorship is not new to polytechnic students, it is usually only extended to students as part of their final year internship. This is the first time students are given mentorship from their first year onwards.

For more information visit www.imarest.org

1.g) RMS & EOS PROJEKT COLLABORATE ON VATTENFALL KFE PROJECT
RMS Submarine, UK and eos projekt, Germany, recently provided consultancy and client representative support on behalf of Vattenfall Wind Power UK for Kentish Flats Extension.

RMS/eos were contracted between February and September 2015 and provided multiple services such as project documentation review, onshore mock-ups, cable factory witness/inspection/ reporting, inshore survey client representation, HIRA & meeting attendance, cable load out & vessel inspection client reps, offshore client reps during cable installation, Vertical Injection burial & subsea protection measures, offshore termination & testing client rep teams combined with all associated logistical and welfare support.

As a result of a successful offshore project, the Vattenfall KFE operations team were able to handover the project to their Operations & Maintenance (O&M) department in early December 2015, ahead of schedule.

For more information visit www.rmssubmarine.com and www.eos-projekt.com

2.a) RISK ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL NOISE IMPACTS WEBINAR, WEDNESDAY 20 JANUARY
Free of charge, online webinars on how you can do a proper risk assessment of environmental noise on Wednesday 20 January 2016 at 09:00-10:00 (CET time) and 16:00-17:00 (CET time). Logon details will be sent prior to the seminar.

Topics are:  Sound and marine life. What are the issues?  What’s new on the regulator front? EIA guidelines and the Marine Directive;  How can  noise impacts be investigated best? The risk assessment framework;  The UAS module in MIKE – Your tool for calculating sound range;  DHIs courses in 2016, including a brand new UAS.

To register for 9:00-10:00 visit www.theacademybydhi.com/course-sessions/risk-assessment-of-environmental-noise-impacts-11600011-56
To register for 16:00-17:00 visit www.theacademybydhi.com/course-sessions/risk-assessment-of-environmental-noise-impacts-11600011-53
2.b) MEDIN OPEN MEETING, 9 FEBRUARY 2016, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL IN LONDON, UK
The Marine Environmental Data and Information Network (MEDIN) invites the marine community, particularly those from the commercial sector, to an open meeting to share information about how MEDIN shares and safeguards data and to discuss how the barriers to sharing industry marine data can be overcome collaboratively.

MEDIN is a partnership of UK organisations committed to improving access to marine data. Our partners are both public and private sector. A recently published report “A Review of Access to Industry Marine Data” concludes that UK marine industries are, on the whole, positive about sharing data. However, there are barriers that prevent this happening on a regular basis for some marine industries. In response to recommendations within the report, MEDIN will be holding this meeting as an open forum to share information, promote collaboration, and ultimately to make the most of the UK’s investment in marine data.

To be held on Tuesday 9 February 2016 at the University of Liverpool in London, 33 Finsbury Square, London EC2A 1AG.  The meeting is FREE of charge and lunch will be provided. To register, please join the email distribution list http://oceannet.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=95bba54a67968c29065adc3e0&id=fff85af173. Deadline for registration is Monday 1 February 2016.
2.c) WAVES AND WAVE MODELLING USING SWAN, 24-25 FEBRUARY 2016, HOWBERY PARK, WALLINGFORD, UK
This two day course provides a summary of the theory related to wave transformation, and then a hands-on introduction to setting up and running SWAN, including pre- and post-processing. Example applications of SWAN are also presented. The course content includes: Introduction of concepts (overview of wave transformation modelling); Background wave theory relevant to spectral wave transformation modelling; Grid generation; Model settings and SWAN steering file keywords; How to run SWAN; Model calibration and validation; Analysis and visualisation of results.

No previous experience of running computational wave models is required.  For more information visit www.hrwallingford.com or email to training@hrwallingford.com. To book your place online, please go to: http://training.hrwallingford.com/training/introduction-to-wave-modelling-using-swan.  Course fee: £600.00 + VAT at 20% (includes all documentation, lunch and refreshments on both days.)
2.d) COASTAL PROCESSES AND MANAGEMENT COURSE, 1-2 MARCH, HOWBERY PARK, WALLINGFORD, UK
This course introduces methods used in designing and planning coastal engineering and management schemes, and includes: Coastal management planning – An overview of the history of coastal planning and strategic coastal management; Waves and tides – An introduction and requirements for coastal management (extremes and climates); Beach sediment transport/ morphology processes;  Coastal management options – An introduction to type options, appropriate application and assessing the potential effects of such works, for example on the environment.

For more information visit www.hrwallingford.com or email to training@hrwallingford.com. To book your place online, please go to: http://training.hrwallingford.com/training/introduction-to-coastal-processes-and-management. Course Fee: £600 +VAT at 20% (includes all documentation, lunch and refreshments)
2.e) COSTAL STRUCTURES, THURSDAY 3 MARCH, HOWBERY PARK, WALLINGFORD, UK
The design of coastal structures needs to address many factors to ensure long-term effectiveness and stability. This includes an understanding of wave loads, wave characteristics, engineering design, and coastal processes. This one-day course introduces the key issues of coastal processes and design methods for coastal structures, including seawalls, breakwaters, vertical walls, piers and jetties. This course will cover:  An introduction to the key issues in coastal engineering, vulnerabilities of different coastlines (developed and natural), and the key drivers for flooding/erosion threats;  The effects of encounter probability, wave forecasting, wave transformations and depth-limited breaking;  Simple methods to estimate wave loads and how to predict wave overtopping, crest level calculation and armour size determination.

For more information visit www.hrwallingford.com or email to training@hrwallingford.com. To book your place online, please go to: http://training.hrwallingford.com/training/introduction-to-coastal-structures. Course fee: £350 +VAT (includes all documentation, lunch and refreshments)
2.f) SONARDYNE GOES FROM DEEP SEA TO DEEP SPACE DURING NASA DEMONSTRATIONS
Subsea engineering company, Sonardyne International, UK, has successfully demonstrated its wireless integrity monitoring technologies during a series of in-water demonstrations held at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL) in Houston, Texas, USA.

Located near NASA’s Johnson Space Centre, the NBL is an underwater training facility used to prepare astronauts for the micro-gravity conditions they will experience in space. At 202 feet long, 101 feet wide and 40 feet deep, and holding 6.2 million gallons of water, the pool is the largest indoor body of water in the world and contains a full size replica of the International Space Station (ISS).

Creating significant discussion amongst attendees was Sonardyne’s high speed optical data modem, BlueComm. Installed on Saab Seaeye’s Sabertooth hybrid ROV/AUV, a link was established to a matching BlueComm unit on apparatus designed to replicate a subsea manifold. This enabled through-water wireless control of the vehicle including commanding the actuation of a standard Class 4 subsea valve. A simultaneous video feed provided by BlueComm from the Sabertooth to poolside allowed the vehicle’s pilot, and the gathered audience, to monitor the valve operation.

After docking in a separate, optically enabled subsea docking station, BlueComm was also used to harvest mission data at very high data rates and to provide the vehicle with details of its next mission. With the exception of an acoustic emergency stop using Sonardyne’s WSM6+ mini-beacon, BlueComm was the only means of communication between the Sabertooth ROV/AUV and shore during the entire 30 minute demonstration run.

For more information visit www.sonardyne.com
2.g) ENTHUSIASTIC APPRECIATION FOR ASHTEAD TECHNOLOGY NDT SEMINAR
Ashtead Technology ran a popular NDT seminar at its Aberdeen, UK, facility during December. The one-day seminar, An Introduction to Advanced UT, was run on three consecutive days. “The seminar was designed for UT NDT inspectors considering Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing (PAUT) or Time of Flight Diffraction (ToFD) qualifications, ” says course leader Alison Glover. “It also provided a useful introduction for project managers to learn more about the applications, advantages and limitations of PAUT and ToFD.”

In addition to the major investments that Ashtead Technology has made in highly skilled staff and its rental fleet of advanced NDT technology, these training events form part of the company’s commitment to an NDT Centre of Excellence.

Each session was a mix of basic theory and hands-on practice with the equipment. PAUT topics included transducer construction and selection, calibration and scan plan creation. An introduction to data analysis and techniques for difficult applications such as austenitic materials and dissimilar welds were also covered, together with considerations for successfully implementing Automated UT (AUT) inspections. The ToFD sessions provided the basic theory together with demonstrations and discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the technique.

For more information on future training sessions, email: Steve Drake, NDT Market Manager, steve.drake@ashtead-technology.com or visit www.ashtead-technology.com

3.a) ROB SPILLARD JOINS BIBBY HYDROMAP AS THEIR NEW TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
Seabed survey company Bibby HydroMap, UK, continues to strengthen their executive board with the appointment of Rob Spillard as Technical Director.

Rob Spillard brings more than twenty-five years experience in the offshore survey industry and will take overall responsibility for the technical direction of the Wirral-based company. Having previously performed key roles at Fugro EMU, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, Rob will play an intrinsic part in the continuing growth of the company.

As part of the company’s focus on efficiency, the newly created role has followed a restructuring of the senior management team, which included the appointment of Mick Slater to Operations Director earlier this year. Bibby HydroMap Managing Director Andrew McLeay comments: “I am looking forward to working closely with [Rob] during what is a very challenging time for much of offshore industry but one which also throws up a series of exciting opportunities for Bibby HydroMap as we continue to develop our range of services.”

For more information visit www.bibbyhydromap.com

4.a) DIRECTOR OF SALES, SONARDYNE INTERNATIONAL, UK
Subsea technology company, Sonardyne International, has an exciting opportunity for an ambitious and determined Director of Sales based at its UK Head Office. Reporting to the Managing Director, you will have full responsibility to develop and deliver the organisation’s worldwide sales strategy.

Key responsibilities will include:  Develop unrivalled relationships to understand clients’ needs and make Sonardyne an essential part of their success story; Strengthen existing customer relationships and create new ones;  Deliver Sonardyne’s constantly evolving subsea product portfolio profitably to the global marine markets in which the business operates;  Monitor and report on worldwide commercial performance. Agree and monitor KPIs to assess and pursue progress against the sales strategy.

You will be degree qualified in a technical or business discipline and have comprehensive knowledge of the Offshore Oil and Gas market, as well as subsea technology and its applications. You will possess extensive awareness of international commercial and sales processes, together with an understanding of manufacturing operations. You will need to be an excellent communicator, as well as a results and achievement driven individual with strong influencing and decision-making abilities, enabling you to deliver successful results through others.

To apply for this role, please send a covering letter and CV to HRTeam@sonardyne.com or for more information, visit www.sonardyne.com. Closing date for applications is Friday 22 January.

4.b) TECHNICAL SALES MANAGER , INNOVATUM, UK
UK based Innovatum are looking for a Technical Sales Manager to job their team.

Main duties include: develop strategic relationships with existing and potential customers, trade associations  and any other interested parties;  Negotiate and close sales; Seek out new growth opportunities; Write proposals and respond to Request For Proposals (RFPs);  Quickly aquire comprehensive, in-depth, technical knowledge of our products and services; Have keen commercial awareness;  Coordinate with Directors and Senior Managers to deliver innovative solutions and ensure a superior customer experience; Oversee/ undertake production and preparation of marketing and sales material. Represent the company at trade exhibitions, events and conferences. Routinely report and relay information to the Management team.

Essential attributes:  varied experience within the underwater survey sector, particularly in survey / ROV operations; qualifications in an engineering or technical discipline;  flexibility to travel to locations world-wide, but mainly in Europe & UK; must live within commuting distance of Innovatum, Bury St. Edmunds IP31 1NR, UK (a relocation package is available); full, clean UK/ European Driving Licence. Previous track record in sales within the marine survey sector would be an advantage.

Personal qualities: relaxed, friendly, people skills; competent planner and organiser of own work schedule; honesty; self-reliance; goal-orientated striver.

To apply for this role, please send a covering letter and CV to jobs@innovatum.co.uk or for more information visit www.innovatum.co.uk