Published by The Maritime Executive
Published by The Maritime Executive Ocean Buoy
Published by The Maritime Executive
Published Dec 21, 2020 2:25 PM by The Maritime Executive
The future of metocean data acquisition could be small, cheap and numerous, according to startup Sofar Ocean. The company has now released over 1,000 of its affordable Spotter drifter buoys, primarily in the Pacific, and it plans to use the results of a successful financing round to boost the number and cover the rest of the world's oceans.
Sofar has developed a basketball-sized, plastic-hulled buoy that acquires and returns basic metocean measurements for extended periods. The second generation model sells for less than $5,000 per unit, making it an affordable way to gather data at scale in the marine environment. (The price goes down for bulk orders.) The drifter buoy gathers sea surface temperature, wave height and wind data, and additional sensors can be configured.
Spotter is solar powered and non-propelled, so it does not come with a mission duration limit. It can be moored in one spot for extended surveillance of a specific location - for example, the approaches to a seaport. It uses the Iridium satellite network to communicate its data, and the monthly rate is comparable to the average cellphone bill.
Sofar has some big-name customers for Spotter already, including the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and bulker operator Berge Bulk. The company uses its own data internally to create proprietary weather-routing for merchant vessels, helping firms like Berge to save fuel and avoid rough surface conditions.
The buoy is also in use by Aqualink, a large-scale citizen science initiative to monitor the sea floor water temperature and local ecology at sensitive coral reef sites. Aqualink is giving away specially-adapted moored versions of the Spotter to citizens who are able to deploy and sustain the units at priority reef sites.
Published Jan 2, 2024 2:05 AM by The Maritime Executive
South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries has secured an order for a $1.5 billion floating LNG liquefaction plant (FLNG) for an unnamed buyer in North America, according to Yonhap. The sum is equal to nearly one-fifth of all orders SHI won last year. Samsung will be working with Black & Veatch to design, build and deliver the new unit by 2028. The name of the customer was not described, but the timing of the award, the name of the...
Published Jan 1, 2024 10:34 PM by The Maritime Executive
New Zealand’s largest deepwater fishing company has been slapped with a fine after being convicted with a charge of exposing its workers to asbestos while working on-board the 50-year-old fishing vessel Will Watch. Last August, Sealord pled guilty to failing to properly protect workers from the risk of harm from exposure to asbestos. In December, that charge resulted in the company being fined about US$196,000, a substantial penalty but less than the statutory maximum of US$983,000. Maritime New Zealand filed the case against Sealord...
Published Jan 1, 2024 10:08 PM by Tom Peters
Temperature-controlled (reefer) cargoes are part of a vast ecosystem that includes rail and truck to ensure the daily delivery of fresh perishables to a store near you. Detailed planning of products moving from origin to destination is complex but surprisingly efficient. It’s a miracle of modern science and technology (read: maritime transportation) how cheap and efficient it’s become to ship, say, blueberries from Peru to the U.S. in the middle of winter. Despite changes in global weather patterns caused by...
Published Jan 1, 2024 9:45 PM by The Maritime Executive
The semiautonomous region of Somaliland has signed a long-anticipated port access deal with Ethiopia, angering the national government of Somalia. The access deal with Ethiopia is a key piece of Somaliland's plans to develop its maritime economy. Berbera, a seaport located in the territory's far west, is being redeveloped by DP World to accommodate container ships. The deal signed with Ethiopia will ensure access to Berbera, and will "pave the way to realize the aspiration of Ethiopia to secure access...
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