Dan Levett

Ocean Tracking Network receives $38.5 million in funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation

The Ocean Tracking Network (OTN), headquartered at Dalhousie University, has been awarded a grant of $38.5 million from the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s (CFI) Major Science Initiatives (MSI) Fund, bringing the total amount awarded to OTN for its 2017-2029 funding cycle to $65.6M. OTN is the only MSI in Atlantic Canada.

The MSI Fund supports the unique operating and maintenance needs of some of Canada’s leading research facilities — both physical spaces and virtual networks — to serve researchers as they continue driving science and innovation and developing solutions for some of today’s most complex and important societal issues. The funding announced today includes an investment of more than $628 million to support 19 national research facilities at 14 institutions across the country.

OTN is a global aquatic research, data management and partnership platform — collaborators around the world are using OTN’s global infrastructure and analytical tools to document the movements of more than 300 keystone and commercially and culturally valuable aquatic species in the context of changing ocean and freshwater environments.

Since 2008, OTN has been deploying innovative ocean monitoring equipment and marine autonomous vehicles (gliders) in key aquatic locations around the globe and has since expanded to include remotely operated vehicles and side scan sonar technology.

OTN is fostering collaboration at a global scale and transforming aquatic species research into knowledge that benefits both Canada and the world. This includes monitoring the global movements and behaviour of sharks to better inform and protect beachgoers, supporting community-driven efforts to track and sustain commercial species, and assisting in the design of marine protected areas (MPAs) and transboundary fisheries management practices as well as many other projects on highly valued aquatic species.

Since 2017, the reach and impact of OTN has grown exponentially. The network has more than doubled in its registered users and networked investigators. Detection data from network collaborators has increased four-fold, from 250 million to over 1 billion records, while marine gliders have travelled over 138,936 kilometers–over three times the earth’s circumference.

“This significant investment from CFI will allow OTN to maintain and advance its headquarters operations and activities, while remaining agile and adaptable to emerging science priorities in Canada and internationally,” said Dr. Sara Iverson, OTN’s scientific director. “Over the next six years, the funding will allow OTN to expand the core operations and activities that underpin the network’s mandate, including continuing to deliver on our world-class marine glider program, expanding subsea robotics activities, and supporting the integration of satellite-derived animal movements data into the OTN Data Centre. OTN will also continue to help Canada meet its commitments to the United Nations (UN) Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030).”

OTN will also build further technical support and capacity for its marine glider program — the first and most expansive of its kind. Along with conducting general ocean monitoring and servicing equipment at sea, the program uses hydrophone-equipped gliders to detect the calls of critically endangered North Atlantic right (and other) whales and transmit the animals’ locations in near real-time to regulatory bodies and vessels in the region. This work is helping to greatly reduce the risk of right whale ship collisions and is supporting the protection of critical habitats, such as the Roseway Basin off southeastern Nova Scotia.

“The amount that remains undiscovered about the ocean and the species that call it home is vast. As the impacts of climate change ripple through the waters that surround us, it is becoming increasingly urgent to address this knowledge gap,” says Dr. Alice Aiken, Dalhousie’s vice president research and innovation. "With support from CFI, OTN’s cutting-edge research, technological innovation and global partnerships are helping to build the knowledge we need to revolutionize our understanding and stewardship of aquatic species around the world.”

With the funding awarded, OTN will be able to:

• Grow and maintain OTN’s headquarters, infrastructure and operations
• Continue to meet the growing demands of its Canadian and international user communities
• Bolster communication of data and outcomes in support of Canadian and international science and sustainable management of shared aquatic resources
• Facilitate leading-edge research with Canadian-made technologies
• Support the UN Sustainable Development Goals

A full list of the CFI funded projects is available at https://www.innovation.ca/news/msi-august-2022.

by Dan Levett

Aquatec Invests in Canadian Expansion

British through-water communications and subsea integrity specialist Aquatec expands its operations to Canada and establishes a presence at COVE, the Centre for Ocean Ventures & Entrepreneurship in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

Now also trading from Nova Scotia under its new Canadian registered denomination—Aquatec Subsea Inc.—the award-winning company is investing in its North American expansion and taking strategic actions to consolidate its operations. Aquatec, which also conducts its commercial activities in Canada through its official representative Romor, has recently joined renowned local trade associations and business hubs, such as Canada’s Ocean Supercluster.

Today, shortly after a successful trade mission, which included a scheduled UK Innovate Edge networking programme, presence at the H2O Conference & Exhibition, and a live demonstration of its Sediment SolvedTM division’s capabilities at COVE’s Demo Day, Aquatec announced its decision to make high-tech ocean technology hub COVE its official Canadian office space.

The Centre for Ocean Ventures & Entrepreneurship in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, provides Aquatec direct access to its modern harbour-side facilities but, most importantly, the opportunity to synergise the firm’s 32-year know-how with a community of over 300 other ocean-related companies.

Andy Smerdon, Managing Director of Aquatec, has said: “After a very productive beginning of 2022, where Aquatec’s potential was recognised consecutively in the UK with Global Underwater Hub’s Best Small Company accolade, and in the US, with Offshore Technology Conference’s Spotlight on Technology, as well as ASME’s Albert Woelfel Best Mechanical Engineering Achievement awards, we decided to push on forward our subsea solutions in the Canadian market. We have an excellent relationship with our local representative Romor, and after evaluating COVE’s outstanding offering, investing in Nova Scotia was our next logical step.”

“We are proud to welcome Aquatec to the COVE community. COVE provides a great location for international ocean technology companies to grow in a climate supportive of innovation. Their tenancy at our Nova Scotia facility further strengthens the Canadian workforce and ocean ecosystem to support the growth of the blue economy.” – said Melanie Nadeau, CEO of COVE.

by Dan Levett

Seabed 2030 announces increase in ocean data equating to the size of Europe and major new partnership at UN Ocean Conference

Lisbon, 29 June 2022 – The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, an international effort to chart the world’s entire ocean floor, has announced an increase in ocean data equating to the size of Europe.

The latest GEBCO Grid figure now stands at 23.4 per cent, reflecting an increase of 10.1 million square kilometres of new bathymetric data from last year’s figure. This increase is equivalent to an area around the size of Europe, and slightly larger than the Sahara - Earth’s largest hot desert.

Seabed 2030 is a collaborative project between The Nippon Foundation and the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) to inspire the complete mapping of the world's ocean by 2030, and to compile all bathymetric data into the freely available GEBCO Ocean Map. GEBCO is a joint programme of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO), and is the only initiative with a mandate to map the entire ocean floor.

The latest figure was announced by Mr Mitsuyuki Unno, Executive Director of The Nippon Foundation, at Seabed 2030’s Official Side Event at the second UN Ocean Conference, held in Lisbon. Seabed 2030 was launched five years ago at the first ever UN Ocean Conference in New York.

Mr Unno said: “In just five years Seabed 2030 has led the way in ocean mapping to achieve 23.4% of the seafloor mapped to a high resolution.

“Despite covering over 70 per cent of the planet, our knowledge of what lies beneath the blue surface has been severely limited. Without this crucial information we cannot possibly set about having a sustainable future - a complete map of the ocean floor is the missing tool that will enable us to tackle some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time, including climate change and marine pollution. It will enable us to safeguard the planet’s future.”

A complete map of the seabed is needed for a host of reasons, not least for the future of humanity. The ocean drives global systems that make Earth habitable for us - oxygen, drinking water, much of our food, and the climate are ultimately regulated and provided by the sea. Ocean floor topography also helps identify underwater hazards and inform sustainable marine resource management and infrastructure development.

Seabed 2030 Project Director Jamie McMichael-Phillips welcomed the data increase: “It is encouraging to see this growth in bathymetric data despite the challenges facing ocean mapping, which were undeniably exacerbated by the pandemic.

“As we make headway with the Ocean Decade, we look forward to accelerating our efforts to recoup time and effort lost last year. The progress we have made since 2017 is commendable, but we are mindful of the task still ahead - and eager to realise it.”

The Ocean Decade - of which Seabed 2030 is a flagship programme - is a major initiative by the UN to mobilise governments, the private sector, scientists, and civil society to co-design and co-deliver transformative knowledge-led actions to reverse the decline in the health of the ocean and make a change in the sustainable management of the marine environment. IOC-UNESCO is the UN body tasked with leading the implementation of the Ocean Decade.

“The Ocean Decade is about closing the persistent knowledge gaps we face in the ocean community once and for all, because we cannot manage what we cannot measure. Mapping the seafloor is at the basis, at the root, of this effort. The sine qua non for creating fail-safe, inclusive, and protective mechanisms for sustainable cohabitation between society and nature within the deep ocean – our last frontier,” said Mr Ariel Troisi, Chair of IOC-UNESCO.

Seabed 2030 also announced a major new partnership with the United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at the Side Event. Seabed 2030 actively seeks partnerships to collate all existing data into the definitive GEBCO map, and to identify areas where there are no data to inform future mapping expeditions.

NOAA's mission is to understand and predict our changing environment, from the deep sea to outer space, and to manage and conserve US coastal and marine resources. The agency is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and holds key leadership roles in shaping international ocean, fisheries, climate, space and weather policies.

Signed by Seabed 2030 Head of Partnerships Mr Stephen Hall and Dr Rick Spinrad on behalf of NOAA, the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) formalises collaboration that has already begun between the two parties. It will also greatly expand our understanding of the world's ocean.

Dr Spinrad’s involvement with NOAA dates back to 2003, when he served as Head of its National Ocean Service for two years, and Head of its Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research for seven years. He was Chief Scientist from 2014 to 2016, before being nominated by US President Joseph Biden last year to serve as the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, which includes serving as the Administrator of NOAA.

“The ocean covers more than 70 per cent of the planet,” said Dr Spinrad. “With the development of new tools and technologies for mapping and measuring its floor, we have a better capacity to understand its physical structure, and the life it supports, and therefore better understand our full planet. That knowledge can help us make better, more sustainable decisions — locally, nationally, and globally.”

Mr Hall said “We are delighted to announce our latest partnership with NOAA. The expertise offered by this well-established institution and its scientists will play an invaluable role in taking us one step closer to the finish line.

“We intend to hit the ground running with the time remaining and signing this significant MOU at our event here in Lisbon is a testament to exactly that. Every minute counts.”

All data collected and shared with the Seabed 2030 Project is included in the freely available GEBCO global grid – the most complete bathymetric dataset of the world’s ocean floor.

by Dan Levett

TDI-Brooks adds Rich Hendren Ph.D. to the Executive Leadership Team

Rich will be joining the TDI-Brooks executive leadership team as the Vice President of Operations Integrity and Quality Development.

Rich retired from the U.S. Navy after over 30 years of service in submarines, submarine support, and shore installation management. Transitioning to civilian life, he gained additional management experience in the professional training, maritime, petroleum, and hydrographic survey industries where he built a history of leading teams to success in complex operations often in challenging environments. His strong background in operations, process control, safety, security, and quality management will help us meet the challenges of flawless operations.

by Dan Levett

UTM Consultants announce the appointment of Alexander Meeks as Managing Director

UTM Consultants are pleased to announce the appointment of Alexander Meeks as Managing Director. Alex has been the Operations Director since the business was founded by Richard Tozer and Alex in 2016. The company has since grown to a position where it is considered by clients and our consultants to be one of the more professional and reliable suppliers of contract personnel to the offshore energy markets.

Commenting on the appointment, UTM’s Co-founder, Richard Tozer: “The future growth of UTM looks positive with a strong and committed staff base now being in place and Alex now leading from the front. Like many businesses, we have had to develop and change the way we operate through several periods of tough global events. UTM is committed as a business to the continued investment in the training and development of our employees to assist us all in achieving our professional and personal goals. It is our employees and the way that we work and deliver our services that are the strength of our business. As we grow new opportunities arise, and we are always looking for committed industry personnel to join us and help drive the business forward.”

Alex added, “It’s an honour to have been appointed as Managing Director at UTM Consultants, especially at such an exciting time for the company. We are seeing a marked increase in global activity with significant growth in the offshore renewable energy markets, this growth presents further expansion plans for the company. With strong foundations for this growth, I am confident that we can continue to build on this success and drive our strategic vision forward.”

by Dan Levett

IMCA adds U.S. offshore wind expertise to Business Development Team

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has appointed Dustin Varnell to its Business Development team. Based in Rhode Island, Dustin will focus on the U.S. offshore wind energy market, complementing the work of Bruce Gresham, IMCA’s Director of Client Engagement in the U.S.

Allen Leatt, IMCA CEO stated: “As a Master Mariner on dynamic positioned (DP) vessels Dustin is very familiar with IMCA’s work in the field, which is very beneficial in representing the association to existing and new member companies in the U.S. wind industry. We look forward to closely engaging with industry in the Northeast U.S. and helping to support the production goal of 30GW by 2030 in a safe and efficient way.”

Dustin Varnell has 20 years’ experience in offshore energy and marine operations. He spent over 15 years offshore as a ship's officer working internationally on large-scale projects in Asia, the Gulf of Mexico, and Brazil. Dustin is a Master Mariner, an experienced DP operator and holds many industry credentials and certifications. His shipyard and vessel construction experience include projects in Japan, Singapore, and various locations in the United States.

He has spent the last four years in construction and operational planning in the developing U.S. offshore renewable energy industry. He is passionate about the development of offshore renewables and the implementation of marine technology to improve safety.

by Dan Levett