Research from Plymouth Marine Laboratory identified five high-risk areas where floating plastic waste poses the greatest risk to North Atlantic marine life. Plastic waste entered the world's aquatic ecosystems in 2016 and is expected to triple by 2030. Land-based plastic sources account for approximately 80% of plastic pollution in the marine environment, including disposable items such as plastic bags, bottles, wrapping paper, and food. Containers and cutlery are common. More than 4,000 marine and coastal species are affected by marine plastic debris, with some species more sensitive to pollution. The study assessed the risks of terrestrial plastic litter to key marine megafauna and selected productive and biodiverse habitats. The identified high risk zones (HRZ) include British waters, the Azores, the French and US Atlantic coasts, and the US Gulf of Mexico. The most dangerous marine megafauna are seabirds, cetaceans, turtles and cartilaginous fishes. Mangroves and coral reefs are the most dangerous habitats, with entanglement and suffocation causing coral and mangrove branches to break and become diseased.
British offshore energy company Verlume has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Swedish energy technology company SeaTwirl to collaborate on the electrification of offshore assets and decarbonization of the oil and gas industry. The partnership aims to identify opportunities in renewable energy and subsea energy storage, with the goal of leveraging its combined technologies to commercialize customized systems. Verlume’s subsea energy storage system is designed to be independent of renewable energy inputs.
Kongsberg Discovery launches Seapath® 385, a system that combines inertial technology with advanced hydrographic navigation algorithms. The system integrates raw inertial sensor data from Kongsberg Discovery’s MGC® or MRU along with GNSS data and corrections. The system offers unique capabilities, with dead reckoning performance second to none. Kongsberg Discovery further enhances robustness by innovatively using GNSS antennas for positioning and heading determination. This modular system is easy to install, operates continuously, and offers high measurement accuracy with data rates up to 200Hz for multiple monitoring points.
Saipem has signed a letter of intent to develop a CO2 offshore transport and storage facility for the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP) and Net Zero Teesside Power (NZTP) projects in the UK east coast cluster. The project will serve the Teesside East Coast cluster from 2027, transporting and storing around 4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. Saipem’s scope of work includes the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of approximately 145-kilometres of offshore pipelines and associated landing points and onshore export facilities for the project.
Unique Group has secured orders for Kongsberg Digital’s cNODE transponders, μPAP SSBL systems and EM2042 multi-beam echo sounders (MBES), enabling the company to expand its subsea equipment rental pool. The order will expand Unique’s Singapore base to provide customers in Southeast Asia with the calibration-free µPAP SSBL system and the lightweight EM2042, due in September 2023.
Dutch marine services company Boskalis has completed support for Ocean Winds’ 882 MW Moray West offshore wind farm in Scotland. The company deploys six vessels for a variety of activities including geotechnical and geophysical survey works, subsea rock installation, monopile transport and offshore substation platform installation. Once operational, the offshore wind farm will provide 882 megawatts of electricity, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 1.33 million households. The project is expected to generate electricity for the first time in 2024 and has a service life of more than 25 years. Under the recent power purchase agreement, Amazon will purchase 473 megawatts of clean electricity from wind farms.