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April 2019 Update from SUT CEO Steve Hall

SUT Council Member Sue John presenting to schools at Lloyd’s Register

Dear SUT Members – March was another busy month for SUT, with branches delivering a number of activities including a Subsea Awareness Course in Aberdeen, the popular Global Offshore Prospects presentation from Westwood Global Energy, schools events for the UK’s National Science Week, as well as a full range of activities across the global network.

For me the month started with a return from Oceanology Americas, followed by a short period of leave and engagement with our International Committee, the schools events and representing SUT at IMarEST’s AGM and Annual dinner. I was invited to St John’s Newfoundland to give the guest talk at the Oceans Advance (see http://oceansadvance.net/) AGM, and was made very welcome while I was in town, having the opportunity to meet local industry (special thanks to Subsea 7), give a guest lecture to students at Memorial University’s Marine Institute, and get to the see the excellent facilities at Memorial’s School of Engineering, the National Research Council of Canada’s impressive test facilities, the offsite marine base at Holyrood, and the Autonomous Ocean Systems Laboratory in St John’s where I met the prototype ‘Seaduck’ – an autonomous vehicle with a difference, as this one behaves as a surface vehicle then up-ends itself and can profile vertically to 200m, return to the surface and continue the mission.

Steve trying the ROV simulator at Memorial University’s Marine Institute, St John’s Newfoundland

It’s designed to map icebergs and is one of the most innovative examples of ocean technology I’ve seen for a while. Contact Neil Riggs at Memorial for more information.

We fully intend to launch our first SUT Canada Branch in St John’s this summer, and if my visit is any indication it promises to be a successful new part of the SUT Community. Key point of contact is Paul Ryan at Memorial, or through me while we get the initial committee in place.

Meanwhile Adrian Phillips and his colleagues have launched several activities at our new Middle East Branch, focused on Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and using Al Khalifa University and Heriot Watt UAE campus as the base for events. Things are moving quickly there and I’m delighted with the progress to date.

Steve taking part in the UNESCO meeting about sustained Ocean Observations

In the final week of March I was invited to take part in the AtlantOS Symposium at UNESCO HQ, to make the case for how private industry, Learned Societies and Professional Bodies can engage in delivering sustained ocean observations in the Atlantic, and in support of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030. I’m grateful to the German research organisation GEOMAR for covering SUT’s costs to attend the meeting, and for recognising that we are key players in the science/technology/ocean policy interface able to speak for a large community. I’ve attached the text of my ‘intervention’, as they are known in UN circles, at the end of this newsletter.

Innovative seabed hydrogen/oxygen fuel cell by Teledyne Energy Systems at MCE-Deepwater Development

This week myself, David Saul and David Brookes plus many of our members took part in the MCE-Deepwater Development conference and Exhibition in London, chairing sessions and with David Saul delivering one of the technical talks. Next week it will be full-on for Ocean Business in Southampton – we’ll have a booth in the dockside marquee and I look forward to meeting members and recruiting new ones – this is key to our growth, if you know anyone who isn’t yet an SUT member please encourage them to join – we’re remarkably good value!

Other news – we’re making progress on developing a partnership for accreditation and training that will be discussed at SUT Council later in April, more news on that very soon.

View of Holyrood Marine Base, St John’s Newfoundland

Business Opportunity – Our friends at the Marine Management Organisation have asked me to let members know about a project to develop Technology Roadmaps for UK Overseas Territories, as part of the ‘Blue Belt’ Programme, with a focus on monitoring and surveillance against illegal fishing.

I am not able to send a direct link, as users must register with the Defra online procurement portal to access the opportunity: https://defra.bravosolution.co.uk/esop/guest/login.do

It can be found by searching the title once logged in: ‘Tender for Technology Roadmaps for Sea Fisheries Compliance and Enforcement in UK Overseas Territories’

The closing date is 29 April 2019, with the deadline for clarification questions on 12 April.

Prototype ‘Seaduck’ autonomous vehicles at the Autonomous Ocean Systems Laboratory, Memorial University

Our Member the National Oceanography Centre has also been in touch asking if I can raise awareness of the 9th Annual Meeting of the NOC Association on 9th May in London. Jackie Pearson writes:

“There are still some places left for the 9th Annual Meeting of the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) Association on 9th May 2019 at Central Hall Westminster.  After a morning of Association business, the afternoon will focus on the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) and we are keen to hear views from the marine science and technology community on how the UK might contribute to this initiative.”

The agenda and registration page for this free event are available on this link: https://noc-association-2019.eventbrite.co.uk and to access, please use password: NOCA2019

If you have any questions, please contact NOC Association Secretary Jackie Pearson on [email protected] or telephone 023 8059 609

As members will know I’m aiming to write one of these newsletters every month, so do please forward me stories, ideas or areas for discussion that I can raise with members. My direct email is [email protected]

Finally for this newsletter I’d like to send my very best wishes to Jennifer Maninin, the very able administrator of our Perth Branch, who has left us temporarily to go on maternity leave. I’m sure that all of all of us at SUT send Jennifer our best wishes and we look forward to hearing her news soon.

Appendix to April Newsletter:

Text of the Intervention made by Steve Hall, CEO SUT, on behalf of marine Learned Societies and Professional Bodies at the AtlantOS Symposium, UNESCO March 2019

Delegates – my name is Stephen Hall, I’m Chief Executive of the Society for Underwater Technology, an international Learned Society for Marine Science & Technology, established in 1966. Like many who work in our wide & varied ocean world I’m a member or Fellow of several other Societies in addition to my own, including the Marine Technology Society, Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology, Scottish Association for Marine Science, and the Challenger Society for Marine Science.

So what value does the global family of Learned Societies & Professional Bodies add to sustained ocean observing in the Atlantic, and to the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development? I believe that our community has much to offer. Between us, rather like an international Trade Union or traditional Master’s Guild, we represent the many thousands of individuals of all nationalities who spend their working lives at sea, or work onshore managing, building and planning new offshore activities, from coast to deep ocean. We greatly outnumber the community of government & university sector marine scientists, are often well funded, and equipped with state of the art ships, autonomous underwater vehicles and sensors. We have the women & men who work at sea on oil and gas platforms, who install & maintain offshore renewable energy systems, who survey & install new cables and pipelines, who salvage damaged & sunken vessels, who plan new industrial installations, who work on fish farms, who work for marine spatial planning organisations, as private consultants, as media divers, who drive and maintain ships and submarines, who create wealth from the abundant resources that the ocean is able to provide when managed in a sustainable manner, informed by scientific evidence and accumulated experience, shared by members at networking evenings, mentoring, business breakfasts, seminars and through our publications.

We are just at the start of a new era, where a world that must decarbonise quickly will find that the raw materials & metals required for the electric vehicle and renewable energy revolution are often found in the deep oceans and mid-ocean ridges, largely in areas beyond national jurisdiction. New kinds of machinery, new methods of autonomous survey, mineral extraction and seabed remediation will be developed and deployed in the next ten years. All of this activity generates data – metocean conditions for offshore operations and safe helicopter and drone operations; benthic biodata for seabed assessment and risk mitigation; full-ocean-depth oceanographic measurements so that robots can operate safely at 6000 metres and beyond, new cabled observatories, subsea communications and recharging points.

Our members will be developing systems that allow autonomous surface vessels to navigate safely even if satellite navigation systems are being actively jammed or tampered with, we’ll be deploying sensors that will monitor sediment plumes from subsea mining activities, we’ll operate the most advanced and safest possible offshore plant to make hydrogen fuels, to bury carbon dioxide, even to re-stock the oceans with ranched finfish species. It’s an exciting time to be involved in offshore industry.

AtlantOS & UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development can work through the Learned Societies and Professional Bodies to agree codes of practise, metadata standards, and data sharing protocols so that the terabytes of ocean data gathered by our members in their routine operations are not wasted, or never see the light of scientific analysis. We’ll need to organise our mutual relationships a little better and form some new alliances to be well placed to help, but we can do that – the will is there. All of us publish peer-reviewed journals, we all want to see clean, safe, sustainably-managed yet wealth-creating ocean and seas able to provide essential energy, raw materials & products, and fulfilling careers for the next generation.

I see huge opportunities for the international marine science community to develop new partnerships with industry. In a world where there are never enough research ships and sensors to gather all the data we need, private sector platforms, robotic or human-occupied, can act as additional systems for gathering ocean data, especially from deep waters far from the continental shelf. All of the Learned Societies have Continued Professional Development systems either ready or under development, they are engaged in training, safe working practices, and meeting Societal Need. We all encourage young people to join our sector, we all issue scholarships and have school liaison programmes. AtlantOS and UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission will find us only too willing to contribute what we can, for the benefit of humankind, to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and to manage the exploitation of ocean resources in the least-harmful possible manner so that all of the creatures who live in the One Ocean can live in healthy ecosystems including a large percentage of the global ocean left as unexploited, sanctuary space able to repopulate neighbouring waters.

Thank you

Steve Hall, CEO Society for Underwater Technology

2015-2017 Vice-chair Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Group 1

March 2019 Update from SUT CEO Steve Hall

 

Margaret Leinen being presented to SUT/Oceanology International Lifetime Achievement award – photographed with Ralph Rayner and Rick Spinrad

Greetings to all our members and colleagues in the wide world of Underwater Technology. I’m just back from Oceanology International Americas 2019 where our US Branch played a key role in developing & delivering excellent conference sessions, engaging with industry and ensuring a strong Learned Society presence throughout the event. Our President Professor Ralph Rayner was a guiding presence throughout the preparations for OiA19, chaired the prestigious Ocean Futures Forum and more besides. Several of the technical sessions in the conference programme were chaired by SUT Members, with me covering autonomous underwater systems & navigation. We were the Learned Society supporters of the ‘Catch the Next Wave’ event held in partnership with the Explorers Club, sponsored by the X-Prize foundation and co-supported by the Monterey Bay Aquarium & Research Institute & Sonardyne – and we were particularly honoured to be able to present, with exhibition organisers Reed Exhibitions, a Lifetime Achievement Award to Margaret Leinen, Director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (for a brief bio click here)

Don Walsh speaking about the Trieste Mission to the Challenger Deep

A highlight for me was during the 50 years of Oceanology International Session, listening to Don Walsh – a very sprightly 87 – recount the mission to the bottom of the Marianas Trench as commander of the bathyscaphe ‘Trieste’ back in 1960. Inspirational stuff!

Steve with Zenon Medina-Cetina, Chair of SUT-US, & Professor Scott Glenn of Rutgers University, past recipient of the SUT Oceanography Award, at the SUT stand at Oceanology Americas

Oceanology International Americas provided a showcase of SUT’s expertise & membership within a broad range of subject areas and I’d particularly like to thank Jan Van Smirren for his work in developing the conference programme, to say thank you for the input of Dr Zenon Medina-Cetina, Christopher Curran, Andy Hill & the Houston-based committee, and to SUT’s early career members Tai Prince & Devvrat Singh Rathore for their help throughout the event. My thanks too to Reed Exhibitions for their close working relationship and support as we worked together to celebrate 50 years of Oceanology International – which started as a SUT event back in 1969. In 2020 the 25th Oceanology International will take place in London and we will once again play a key role in celebrating what our industry has achieved over half a century and more.

SUT Stand at SubSea Expo

Other events since the start of the New Year that I’d like to mention include the SUT Aberdeen Business Breakfast at the end of January, where Tony Laing and his colleagues presented an encouraging message of new growth in the North Sea sector and an opportunity to meet our members in the pleasant and snowy grounds of the Marcliffe Hotel. This was quickly followed in February by Subsea Expo where SUT had a well-attended stand at a busy exhibition and I’m pleased to say we signed up several new members, corporate and individual. There was an excellent Global Offshore Prospects ‘Lunch & Learn’ by Douglas Westwood hosted at Price Forbes in London on 12 February, and although I wasn’t able to attend them I can see that our North of England & Perth Branches have also held successful events in the last few weeks.  We look forward now to the first of 2019’s Subsea Awareness Courses in Aberdeen from 11 March, and I’ve invited to give talks this month at two high profile events – I’m the guest speaker at the AGM of Oceans Advance in St John’s, Newfoundland on 21 March & on 27 March I’ll be speaking on the role on industry in providing sustained ocean data observations at the AtlantOS Symposium at UNESCO.

Kathryn Symes speaking at the LSE Lunch & Learn on global offshore prospects

Why Canada, and why UNESCO? SUT is working with partners in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia to launch our first Canadian branch this year. There’s an eager, healthy cluster of marine technology industries there, and we’ve been made very welcome by the existing community in Newfoundland to act as the first springboard to growth in Canada. SUT is an Observer Member of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, where I used to serve as Vice Chair, and as such we are one of the very few industry / non-governmental voices able to input into the development of the coming UN Ocean Decade for Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Our members are very well-placed to be able to assist governments in their efforts to better-understand the ocean environment, and to be able to use our advanced technologies, databases and real-world experience of working at and under the surface to help meet the challenges posed in ocean governance, sustainable use of resources, technology transfer, knowledge exchange and responding to sea level rise, ocean acidification and warming.

New Branch – SUT MIDDLE EAST

A big Thank You to Adrian Phillips and his supporters in the United Arab Emirates who are in the midst of setting up our very first SUT Branch in the Middle East. From an initial ‘gauging the interest’ meeting during ADIPEC late last year, things have progressed rapidly and the first two events take place on 8 April at Heriot Watt University Dubai, and on 22 April at the Petroleum Institute, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi – see the new Middle East pages on the SUT website or contact [email protected] for more details.

Kuala Lumpur – I was delighted to meet up with Ajan Das, Chair of our Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Branch, while he was in London early in February. We were able to cover lots of areas of interest, and discussed how to take forward new initiatives, the relaunch of Subsea Awareness Courses, and growth of the Branch.

Growing SUT

It’s very important that we grow SUT, and recruit more individual and corporate members. SUT Council are very focussed now on how we get our Society into a healthy long-term financial position after the challenges of recent years, and I would ask all of you to encourage your friends, colleagues and companies to join SUT if they are not already part of the family – there’s a bright future for our sector as the world transitions away from burning coal and seeks energy, minerals, knowledge, resources and defence space in the global ocean.

See you at Ocean Business 9-11 April at Southampton,

Steve Hall [email protected]

May 2018 Update from SUT CEO Steve Hall

Dear members, friends and supporters of the Society for Underwater Technology. This year is flashing past and it’s almost June so I’m well overdue to send you an update about what I’ve been up to, and how the HQ team, Branches, Council Members and Exec have all been busy delivering our mission to educate and inform people about underwater technology in a multitude of ways.

January started with a welcome visit to London by Nils Vaagen and Tom Eriksen from the SUT’s Norway Branch. We were able to discuss how we can work together to resume a programme of events, and rebuild the SUT’s activities in Norway in coming months and years. I’ll be present at the Underwater Technology Conference in Bergen from 12-14 June and HQ staff will help the branch set up in time as a legal entity within Norway, rather than be the only overseas branch that is still legally part of the UK operation.

Later in January I attended a busy Business Breakfast hosted by our Aberdeen Branch, who have worked hard to deliver a constant series of daytime and evening presentations throughout the year. I’d like to thank our expert volunteers for their work presenting Subsea Awareness Course, the most recent this May was very well received and the next one will be held in Aberdeen from 5th November. We welcomed Scottish Enterprise as new corporate members and I’m working with them on technology foresight matters to help ready Scottish policy makers and industry for the exciting new ocean-related technologies that are going to emerge over the next few years. I was delighted to see that our Aberdeen branch treasurer and SUT Fellow Tony Laing was appointed as the new Director of Research and Market Acceleration for the National Subsea Research Initiative.

We’ve been developing better links with SubseaUK and Decom North Sea, encouraging our members to engage with these organisations to share knowledge and experience, not to ‘reinvent the wheel’ and to help prepare industry for new opportunities becoming available offshore, and have a consistent message to policy makers and government.

SubseaUK’s SubseaExpo in February provided another opportunity to engage with our members, and I was honoured to attend the splendid dinner in the company of senior professionals from across the offshore sector. For me, not coming from an oil and gas background but rather the marine science, technology and policy world, events such as SubseaExpo, Offshore Europe & All-Energy help me to understand the concerns and challenges of the offshore energy sector, be they fossil fuel or renewable, which are quite different from the issues of concern to other parts of our broad membership.

SUT Perth branch staff and office bearers with Emily Boddy from HQ

In February and March our publications officer Emily Boddy spent seven weeks on secondment in our Perth Branch, in a highly beneficial learning and knowledge-exchange experience where she became an integral part of the SUT branch in Australia. Emily attended the three-day Australian Oil and Gas exhibition as well as most of the SUT meetings and events that occurred while she was there, meeting dozens of our Perth-based members and helping to strengthen the relationships across the global SUT family.

As official observer members of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission I was invited to be part of their ‘SeaChange’ ocean literacy workshop, where I provided probably the only industry-sector voice. ‘Ocean Literacy’ is a growing movement within the international marine science education community and is a blanket term for how we train the public, industry, decision makers, educators and politicians to better understand how human activities affect the ocean, and how the ocean influences so many aspects of our lives from weather, commerce, access to energy and food, and the defence of our homelands. The theme will be taken again up in October when the European Marine Science Educators Association meet in Newcastle – hopefully an opportunity to engage with our branch there.

Steve presenting Presidents Award to Sonardyne Founder & Chairman John Partridge

Later in February I visited the headquarters of Sonardyne to present our Presidents Prize to founder John Partridge, in grateful recognition of his outstanding and sustained contribution to underwater technology. It was fascinating to be shown around their facilities, meet the staff, and very noticeable what a ‘happy ship’ Sonardyne is, with evidently high morale, a loyal workforce and a real sense of being part of a family of like-minded ocean technologists who want to make a difference.

The end of February brought me to Nicosia, Cyprus, where I attended the BRIDGES deepwater glider annual workshop. SUT is a partner in this EU-funded Horizon2020 project to deliver a deep (2400m), and ultra-deep (5000m) hybrid glider/AUV that is closely tailored to the specialist requirements of future industries such as deep-sea mining, as well as sustained observations and oceanographic monitoring. We’re providing advice on exploitation strategy, industry links and innovative uses of the glider, which begins sea trials soon.

For Science Week in March we partnered with Lloyds Register in London to provide a lecture for schools, departing from our comfort zone and presenting to under-10s rather than our previous teenage audience. Gary Momber did an excellent talk on marine archaeology and shipwrecks, and I provided one on underwater robots that may explore the moons of Jupiter and Saturn by the time the kids are in their workplace prime – hopefully an inspiring message for them.

Participants at BRIDGES workshop on deep gliders (Steve back row)

March also saw Oceanology International and the associated Catch the Next Wave conference take place at London’s ExCel – the SUT had a better-than-usual spot in the exhibitor’s hall where we were able to greet members old and new, and we also displayed a poster (and a tiny 3d-printed model) about the BRIDGES gliders, and for one day hosted a pair of marine licensing specialists from the Marine Management Organisation – the UK government’s agency for issuing permits for all manner of offshore activities within the 200 mile exclusive economic zone (with Marine Scotland doing the same north of the border). I’ve since attended a workshop with the MMO in Newcastle to explain how they are perceived by some parts of industry and to explore how SUT can help them to build a better relationship with contractors.

Catch the Next Wave was an amazing day, themed on underwater exploration – with film producer, diver and explorer James Cameron starting things off with a video welcome address to delegates, and a series of other very fine presenters including Rory Golden, Orla Doherty (producer of BBC Blue Planet 2) and Dr Michael Gernhardt – a NASA astronaut and former hard-hat diver who delighted us with footage from space showing how the techniques used in construction subsea were inspiring how astronauts and cosmonauts assemble and service the International Space Station. It was good for SUT to have our logo in the same space as the Explorers Club and the Shell Ocean Discovery X-Prize. Good too to meet Dr Rick Spinrad who was chairing part of the meeting alongside our president Professor Ralph Rayner. Rick is President-Elect of our sister Learned Society the Marine Technology Society, and we ensured that we had a deep discussion about how we can build a good relationship between our two societies in the coming years.

Since I joined the SUT one of the striking developments has been the growing success of South West chapter of the London and Southern England Branch. Brian Green, with Caroline Acton and Dr Ed Steele from the Met Office, have hit the ground running with a series of events and I expect that the Chapter will soon be a fully-fledged branch. Check out our events page for the next one, 14th June, on Floating Wind.

At the end of March I visited our SUT-US Branch in Houston for the launch of the new Underwater Robotics chapter at Rice University, meetings with industry (learned a lot at Oceaneering) and attendance at one of the excellent social events for members that Patsy, Araceli and the local volunteers are so good at arranging. ‘The Art of Whisky Tasting – version 2’ was kindly hosted by the Chopard Boutique who promised that 10% of proceeds of any sales to SUT members during that month would be donated to SUT-US, I’m all in favour of that! I was also delighted that the Welsh Whisky from the village of Penderyn near my home village was rated very highly by the assembled crowd, the distillery was most impressed when I told them they’re well-regarded in Texas. Our Houston colleagues are working hard on growing SUT’s presence in the Americas, with plenty of new activity beginning in Mexico, and engagement with the West Coast beginning too.

Steve at UNESCO SeaChange workshop

On 4th April we held a Special Meeting of the Executive Committee of Council to go through strategy, growth and future focus for the Society. We agreed on a strapline ‘An International Learned Society for Marine Science and Technology’ that you’ll see gradually appearing on our website, presentations and publications, and as well as enthusiastically providing a Learned Society home for our long-standing members we will aim to grow in three more areas – aquaculture, renewables and defence. We have some engagement already in all of these, especially marine renewable energy, but Council and I will place more focus than has been the case in the past in growing our influence in these areas.

Later in April I had a busy week on the European mainland, co-chairing two sessions at the MCE Deepwater Development conference in Milan and then driving down to the University of Zadar on the Croatian coast, hosted by Dr Melita Mokos, to honour a long-standing promise to deliver lectures to students over two days on robotics, marine policy and marine spatial planning, discuss new course possibilities & collaborations with the SUT with the university leadership, and then to Zagreb to visit the excellent Laboratory for Underwater Systems and Technologies, where I was hosted by Professor Zoran Vukić (who serves on the editorial board for our Journal) and Dr Antonio Vasilijević – they’re building some really innovative marine robotic systems there. The Croatian visits raised the SUT’s profile in the region, with discussion by my hosts and the Italians in Milan (as well as ongoing conversations in Greece & southern France) about whether SUT should consider having a Mediterranean Branch in future – something for our International Committee to consider.

Attendance at our evening meetings across the branches is growing, with excellent speakers and events encouraging members, guests and students to take time out to learn about new developments, technologies and to network too. My thanks to the events people across SUT for their tireless work, a lot of effort goes in to making these evening and lunchtime events go smoothly and we couldn’t do it without our loyal staff and the volunteers from the membership.

Volunteers really do make our Society tick along – I’ve been working with Sue John (Chair of the Education Committee) on an exciting new outreach project that we hope to be able to announce soon, and with former Council Member Adrian Phillips who is putting hours of volunteer effort in the Middle East to see if there are possibilities to get SUT off the ground in the Gulf States, and these efforts are bearing fruit with enquiries from ADIPEC about having an SUT presence there later this year – probably hitching a ride with one of our corporate members in the region.

Sue Barr receiving the Lennard-Senior Prize from Dr John Sharp

I’m liaising with our friends at Reed Exhibitions to promote and grow Oceanology Americas and Oceanology China, and I attended their All-Energy event in Glasgow earlier in May, where our Marine Renewables Energy Committee Chair Dr John Sharp was able to present the Lennard-Senior Prize to Sue Barr, awarded in recognition of her individual achievements in the field of marine renewable energy.

Some other news to finish off –
For those in southern UK there’s an excellent social evening coming up on 21st June on board HQS Wellington, and for Aberdeen on the same date a golf day – with equivalent events across the globe.

If you’re based in Europe you’ll know that the GDPR data regulations come into effect by the end of May, so please ensure that you’ve replied to Jane Hinton’s request for permission for SUT to stay in touch.

We’ll be launching a prestigious new Student Bursary Scheme in collaboration with Sonardyne shortly – watch this space for details and how to apply.

On 26th April Council voted to activate a new West Africa Branch, recognising the growth & importance of the region in offshore exploration and production.

Finally I’d like to thank Corelle Charles, who was part of the SUT staff team in Perth and has moved on to pastures new a few weeks ago, and welcome Patricia Slapp as the new events and marketing coordinator there; and a very special thanks to Paul Williams who has stood down as Chair of the Aberdeen branch due to a greatly increased workload in his day-job – we welcome the return of economic activity in our sector as we all benefit from it, and appreciate that sometimes it’s just not possible to wear multiple hats.

I’ll sign off for now and try not to leave it so long until the next update – have an enjoyable Northern hemisphere summer, and a pleasant Southern hemisphere winter.

Steve
Steve Hall, May 2018 [email protected]

21st Century Subsea Data Gathering

There’s a perception that not enough use is made of the data collected as part of offshore oil and gas operators’ subsea integrity management programs. What is collected is also limited in scope and quality. But, that could all be set to change. Data collection and use – from measurement and imaging tools, to the equipment used to carry them and the systems used to process the data collected – is entering a new era.

These issues were central to the joint Society of Underwater Technology, International Marine Contractors Association and The Hydrographic Society of Scotland seminar, The Leading Edge of Value-Based Subsea Inspection, held in Aberdeen late 2017.

It’s good timing. There’s a growing need for efficient inspection systems, to help operators understand the condition of their subsea infrastructure and therefore efficiently maintain it.

In the UK North Sea alone, for example, BP has 4500km of pipeline, 80 riser systems, 270 subsea trees, 92 manifolds, and a plethora of umbilicals, “which we need to understand,” Scott Higgins, BP, told the joint seminar. Inspections have been done the same way for 30 years, but, this is changing, he says, in terms of the inspection technology used, what information is gathered and when.

There’s an increasing focus on having an integrated planning process for inspections, he says, bringing together various departments and specialists, from subject matter experts and surveyors to environmental, riser and pipeline people, as well as structure and hulls people, etc., all working together to see what information is needed and when.

“This is about increasing the efficiency of data collection,” Higgins says. “Why we want it, what we need it for. Historically, we relied on a good deal of information from Work Class remote operated vehicles (ROVs). How many years of video we have would scare you. But, what do we actually need? What sensors do we want? What vehicles? Can we use integrated laser/imaging, field gradient cathodic protection inspection systems, alternative fast ROVs or autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV)?”

According to Global Marine Technology Trends 2030, a report by Lloyds and Qinietiq, by 2020, more of this work will be using unmanned platforms, including those deployed from shore, as well as resident vehicles, with more focus on what is data needed, faster interpretation and machine learning, says Scott. Indeed, just recently, Saudi Aramco announced a new AUV designed for offshore platform debris, pipeline and other surveys, which would be deployed from shore.

A range of other solutions were also discussed at the joint seminar. A large focus was on data gathering tools and live data processing.

Co-registering

Subsea laser scanning and photogrammetry techniques have been making major in-roads in the industry, with claims such techniques can offer high levels of measurement accuracy. The attraction of some of these systems is that they’re being offered without having to baseline surveys – i.e. put in markers or a system of beacons, to establish measurement reference points.

Within a short period of time, Cathx has become a household name in subsea imaging. The firm was founded by Adrian Boyle, its CEO, in 2009. It uses photogrammetry, but combines stills images with laser lines and is now developing machine vision systems to automate analysis of the collected data, e.g. automated eventing and measurement.

The firm built its own camera which takes 2 millisecond exposure images (i.e. 30 HD stills a second) in conjunction with pulsed lighting, so there are no blurs (i.e. from moving particles in water) on images and surveys can be done faster (i.e. instead of an ROV surveying a pipeline at 0.5knots it can be done at 5knots, with the ability to extract HD stills with 0.8-1.5mm resolution), even at <5m from the pipeline, says Boyle. The images are then built into 2D mosaics.

Cathx then uses other data (co-registering) to build and add accuracy to its models – i.e. laser line data, from which point clouds can be built, and time-stamp data. Because the position of the object is known relative to the ROV, navigation correction can be calculated.

An AUV data acquisition package would comprise strobe lights, UHD and HD high resolution cameras, taking pictures at seven frames per second for UHD and up to 30 for HD, with the laser and lighting synchronized, allowing for 4knot co-registered data acquisition speed, says Boyle. Using dual cameras, imaging the same scene, can further allow post-acquisition calibration for environmental factors (salinity etc.).

Dual source data acquisition is the basis for automation, but it requires real-time data integrity checks, and 3D laser data plus co-registered image data, says Boyle.

In 2018, the firm is going to be developing automated eventing using these technologies. This will allow large volumes of data to be reduced to events, quickly. This will, through range-based statistical analysis of 3D laser data, produce images and 3D data that can be reviewed efficiently because it’s based on the laser data (not memory-heavy photographic files). Once an event is picked up in the laser data, the corresponding photographic image can be found easily, because the data is co-registered using the time stamps.

Boyle says cross sectional geometrical analysis, freespans and circularity will be possible with 3D machine vision techniques, and are being tested in Q1 this year. This will include building a library of types of event that should be automatically detected, which will be combined to enable machine learning.

Comex

Comex presented its ORUS 3D system. It’s a subsea optical system for measuring and then creating high-resolution 3D models of subsea structures, without the need for an inertial navigation system. Bertrand Chemisky, Director of Innovation at Comex, says the system uses triangulation to create a 3D reconstruction.

The system comprises an integrated beam of tri-focal sensors, with four wide beam LED flash units, plus a data acquisition and processing unit, which fits on to an ROV for free-flying data acquisition and initial processing. Scanning works at a >40cm from structures, with the best resolution reconstruction from 1-2m from the object, says Chemisky. Thousands of images are taken, using strobe flashes, resulting in several millions of points in a square meter, the firm says.

The data goes through an initial processing real-time on the ROV to assess location and quality, before on site (on-board the support vessel) processing, to further quality check the data collected and create an initial scaled 3D model to cm accuracy. Final processing of the data, which collected as point cloud data, will then be carried out to reconstruct the site or object in a 3D model to mm accuracy.

Comex claims up to sub millimetric precision, with 0.1mm resolution images, depending on the survey, i.e. for a spool metrology survey, accuracy will drop over longer distances. Still, Chemisky says over 64m, with seven hours processing, just 2.4cm deviation was seen. For a 27m long survey, for a jumper metrology, survey data was processed over five hours to 1.8cm accuracy. An anchor inspection off Marseille, France, took 20 minutes processing to gain millimeter accuracy, thanks to being close to the chain.

Further algorithm optimization is ongoing, to improve reliability and validate repeatability, says Chemisky. The system is going through qualification with Bureau Veritas.

ASV

A small but fast-growing firm in subsea data collection space is ASV Global. It had built 95, up to 13m-long autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs), as at early November 2017.

ASV has been working on the Autonomous Surface and Sub-Surface Survey System (ASSS) project, in which long endurance ASVs provide locational and communication and control support for a side scan sonar survey AUV (in trials, the National Oceanography Centre’s Autosub long range AUV has been used), via optical communications systems, with both able to be deployed from shore.

As an extension to this project, the firm is also working on a concept for an Autonomous Pipeline Survey system, which would use the technology developed in the ASSSS program used for pipeline surveys, completely removing the need for manned ships to be involved in pipeline survey. But, they want to take this a step further and instead of just gathering side scan sonar data, create a system that could offer automated eventing, i.e. when it spots a fault or specific target, it sends an alert, real-time, which can then be acted on – instead of having to have someone assess the survey data. ASV is looking to set out a road map for what needs to be done to make this happen the gauge operator interest.

ASV is also involved in the ARISE (Autonomous Robotic intervention System for Extreme Environments) project, which is looking to put a remote operated work class ROV on an unmanned vessel. “To put an ROV in the water still needs a big ship. How do we take that from being on a big ship to a little boat with new people on board?” says Cowles. A number of tests have been done and it’s no easy task, he says. So, ASV is starting small, adding an observation class ROV to a C-Worker 7 (a 7m-long unmanned vessel). It will use it to trail things like inspecting a mooring chain, testing latency, communications and autonomy. “There are challenges around communication, latency, bandwidth, how to control both vehicles together, stopping the tether getting caught in a prop,” says Cowles. “The goal is to build a 12m boat with a work class ROV on board. That reality is still a couple of years away.”

More to come

This is an emerging field. It’s giving the industry tools that it could only have dreamed of in the 1970s, when photos were taken by divers on film and had to be developed on board. “Now photogrammetry can be done on the fly,” says Peter Blake, subsea systems manager, Chevron Energy Technology, at the

event. In the past, the industry has been good at gathering data but not so much gaining information, he says. The tools are being developed to change that.

 

Elaine Maslin

 

 

 

December 2017 Update from CEO Steve Hall

Dear Members and Friends of the Society for Underwater Technology. While our Australian & Brazilian members bake in the summer heat it’s that time of year where we pale northerners scrape the ice off the car in the morning, but for most of the SUT family Christmas and other seasonal festivals are fast approaching and we look forward to time with family and friends.

SUT Houston Students

Since I last wrote to you all I’ve covered a lot of miles visiting Branches, giving lectures, meeting members and learning ever-more about the richness and diversity of our Society. September finished with a brief visit to Houston where I attended the launch of the new Rice University Student Chapter, and also visited Texas A&M at College Station and the University of Houston. The quality of the students at these institutions impresses me hugely, and I was ably looked after by our SUT-US team – many of whom had suffered damage to their homes and property in the aftermath of Houston’s floods. John Allen once again acted as my guide around the universities, Dr Zenon Medina-Cetina showed the visionary leadership that is helping SUT rebound strongly in the USA, and Dr Fathi Ghorbel and his students at the new Rice Chapter will teach us all wonderful new things about robotics in coming years. I was impressed by Natalie Zielinski, who was working part-time for the branch but she’s since been snapped up by Sea-Bird Scientific in Seattle, starting on 2 January. SUT’s loss is a great gain for that excellent company and I’m sure we’ll continue to interact with Natalie well into the future.

As an aside, a childhood dream was accomplished in that the only available hire car (apart from a Hyundai for the same price…) at Houston airport following a late-night arrival was a 5.0 litre Ford Mustang GT – as my regular UK transport is a nice sensible, and economical Toyota Prius hybrid I thoroughly enjoyed the drive to College Station in such an iconic, if rather thirsty, machine.

Steve Hall presenting Tony Laing with his SUT Fellowship certificate

October was a very busy month, starting with a very productive week at the Marine Alliance for Science & Technology Scotland (MASTS – see www.masts.ac.uk) annual science meeting in Glasgow’s Technology & Innovation Centre where SUT’s International Salvage and Decommissioning committee hosted a very well attended decommissioning and wreck removal workshop, bringing together experts from a broad range of stakeholders who learned a great deal from one another. Well done to Karen Seath, Moya Crawford, Donald Orr and their colleagues, and to David Paterson and the MASTS team. With such an active presence in Scotland, SUT has started to build a very strong relationship with MASTS, and we will be working together on a number of marine policy, technology and science areas in coming years. I’ve joined their international advisory board, and Tony Laing from Aberdeen is developing very good links with the MASTS staff. Whilst in Glasgow I also visited Strathclyde University, hosted by Professor Chengi Kuo, a long-standing friend of SUT. One of the points he raised that I take very seriously is why don’t we have ‘SUT -Scotland’ branding north of the border? I’m personally inclined to agree with him, and have opened the topic in discussion with our Aberdeen branch, who would need to give a re-naming their blessing. Prof Kuo isn’t the only person to raise this – Scottish Enterprise have also been asking me if SUT would consider renaming our Scottish operations in a way that broadens our appeal and potential membership.

 

Delegates at the EMSEA 2017 conference in Malta

The morning after I returned from Glasgow it was back on board a flight to Valletta, Malta, where I was one of the speakers at the annual meeting of the European Marine Science Educators Association. I spoke on how autonomous vehicles will one day enable us to explore the oceans beneath the ice of Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus – and thanks to links to NASA from our Houston members I had some beautiful images of the Titan Submarine 2047 concept – a vehicle to explore an ethane ocean. Inspirational stuff for the audience and for me alike. Our publications officer Emily Boddy had her abstract accepted for the Poster Session too so was able to attend and talk about the creation of our book for children, ‘Can a Lobster be an Archaeologist?’. The Malta visit greatly raised the profile of SUT with an international audience mostly from Europe but also the USA, Canada and Taiwan. The 2018 meeting will take place in October in Newcastle Upon Tyne UK, so plenty of scope to engage the educators with our Northern England branch.

 

YES! Perth

After Malta it was a flight to Perth for my first visit to our very active Australian Branch. Chair Chris Saunders and branch manager Jennifer Maninin had put together a very good itinerary to help me get the know the local branch, and I was delighted to be met at the airport and introduced to the city by Ray Farrier. My wife Anne came along for the visit as it was our 30 wedding anniversary (not paid for by SUT I hasten to add!) and she was also made to feel very welcome by our Perth SUT family – and by the quokkas (a small version of the kangaroo) of Rottnest Island. I talked on the subject of combined surface and subsurface marine autonomous systems operations at the AUT Conference on 18 August, which also opened the doorway for ongoing discussions about future collaboration with the Royal Australian Navy. I was also able to renew acquaintance with Dr Nick D’Adamo of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Perth Office, and discuss how SUT in Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and China can contribute to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 14 on Oceans, and to the proposed international decade of ocean science.

Steve Hall presenting at AUT Perth 2017

On return to UK I had my first meeting with Dr Frank Lim who is the new chair of SUT China, based at the Petroleum University of Beijing, but with strong family ties to the UK where he has lived for many years. Under Frank’s leadership it should be possible for us to find ways to grow SUT in China and see a financial return to the Society.

Next up was attendance at the UK government’s Marine Science Coordination Committee ‘Marine Industry Liaison Group’ where SUT champions as best we can the needs of our members, usually in close cooperation with our friends in IMarEST. I used to sit on the ‘other side of the table’ when I worked for government, so good to be gamekeeper turned poacher, so to speak. One of the follow ups from this meeting has been increased interaction with the Marine Management Organisation (www.gov.uk/government/organisations/marine-management-organisation), & on 12 December I met with their Head of Strategic Marine Licensing to see how we can help alleviate the concerns of some of our members, such as diving contractors, by liaising with the MMO, offering industry placements for junior MMO marine planners, and contributing to a review of licensing in 2018. More on this in the New Year.

As we moved into November our good friends from Reed Exhibitions covered SUT’s expenses to fly me to Qingdao, China, to attend Oceanology International China and Chair two of the conference sessions, one on marine autonomous systems and another on survey & navigation. I was able to engage with the city’s political leadership too, and meet with SUT’s long term Qingdao collaborator Mr Yunxing Hao to discuss how SUT might be able to plant deeper roots into the Chinese marine sector in the future. Sadly, I was not able to take up Mr Hao’s offer to speak at another Qingdao meeting in December – too many other things to be done, and to make these international trips it really does help our coffers if a host is able to contribute to the costs, as Reed had done.

Our Aberdeen Branch ran a successful Subsea Awareness Course in the second week of November, which was very welcome news as we’ve fallen a long way short of our aspirations for running these courses. We’re putting together a two-day version of the course that should appeal to a wide range of non-traditional customers such as government agencies, legal and insurance companies. I attended the annual pub quiz of the London and Southern England branch on the 7 November, a very enjoyable evening.  I was invited to give a keynote talk at the ‘COMPASS’ project launch hosted by the AgriFood & Biosciences Institute of Northern Ireland on the 14 November, in the context of how private sector suppliers of ocean data can be of huge value to public sector science programmes. Again, my hosts covered the travel costs. After Belfast I flew over to Newcastle to attend the North-East England branch’s AGM, where it was a pleasure to award Dr Jerry Baker a token of thanks for his unstinting service to SUT and the establishment of the NE England branch. The branch is in excellent health, and safe hands under the guidance of Michael Williams and his colleagues, with a rising student membership in a region where marine renewables are growing fast. After Newcastle the following week started in Southampton, where I called at my old workplace the National Oceanography Centre as part of SUT’s ‘BRIDGES’ deep ocean glider Horizon 2020 contract commitment, then down to Falmouth to discuss SUT engagement with the National Maritime Museum Cornwall on a new deep-ocean exploration exhibit – more news on that one as we firm up the plans.

November finished back in Scotland, with SUT attendance, display stand, and a speaking slot for me, at the Decom North Sea conference in Saint Andrews. During the week we launched our ‘strategic partnership’ announcement with Decom North Sea, an agreement to work together on matters of common interest. One local press article misinterpreted it as an announcement of some sort of merger, but fortunately we were able to correct that very quickly!

Members of the SUT Diving and Manned Submersibles Committee visit the underwater stage at Pinewood Studios

The last day of November was particularly fascinating, starting off with a visit to Pinewood Studies by our Diving and Manned Submersibles Committee hosted by Dave Shaw. We saw the amazing facilities that have been constructed over the last 30 years to deliver the world’s best underwater sound stage facilities. It’s a multi-million dollar business that has contributed to the glamour of James Bond, the magic of Harry Potter, and the thrills of Star Wars. Makes me proud that we have such expertise within our SUT membership. I had to leave early to get down to Exeter as we were holding our first meeting of the new South West chapter of the London & Southern England Branch at the Met Office. Brian Green and the Met Office’s Caroline Acton & Ed Steele had worked to deliver a first-rate evening, and I’m confident that the new group with thrive.

With all that travelling in November it wasn’t possible to accept an invitation to attend ADIPEC in Abu Dhabi in November as well, but I hope to be able to work with Adrian Phillips and others from SUT to grow our presence in the Middle East in coming years – absence there is a big gap in our global presence.

With the arrival of December a chance to catch up on paperwork, spend more time with my staff, and of course my first Annual General Meeting as CEO, which feels quite daunting but turned out to be an enjoyable evening in the pleasant surroundings of Trinity House. It was a pleasure to see new Fellow David Saul and Honorary Fellow Professor Ralph Rayner receive their certificates, and for Pinewood’s Dave Shaw to receive the Houlder Cup. Sonardyne’s founder John Partridge received the President’s Award from outgoing President Dr David Kirkley, and it was accepted on behalf of John by our incoming President, Ralph Rayner.  I attempted to video-stream parts of the AGM onto social media such as Gary Momber’s excellent presentation on exploration of ship wrecks, but it didn’t quite work – will rehearse properly next time! Before the main AGM we held the London and Southern England Branch AGM, presenting retiring Chair Brian Jones with a framed and engraved print and welcoming (in his absence) Richard Binks to the helm. Two days later it was Aberdeen’s turn for an AGM and I was given a hearty welcome, and somehow didn’t get lynched after my after-dinner speech on ‘SUT a decade from now’. It was an honour to present Fellow Certificates to Paul Benstead, who has done so much for his Branch, and to Tony Laing who has done sterling work helping build SUT’s relationship with MASTS, Decom North Sea, NSRI and Scottish Enterprise (who have joined as corporate members, shortly after the Met Office did).  My final Scottish visit of 2017 was also spent visiting Decom North Sea HQ and taking part in a meeting with my fellow CEOs of Subsea UK and IMCA to look at how we work in a joined-up manner where appropriate. I’ll be back for the Business Breakfast in Aberdeen on 25 January.

So, a busy few weeks, and I very much look forward to working with you all, and attracting new members, developing new ideas, finding ways to grow our income during 2018. I’m working with members based in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland to launch our first Canada Branch, and will return to Houston in the first Quarter of 2018 to attend the launch of the SUT-US Underwater Robotics Committee. We’re also exploring with our African members if it might be possible to re-launch the Lagos branch, subject to satisfactory and transparent governance arrangements.

Lots to look forward to as we grow our Society, make new alliances, and drive forward better ocean science, education, technology, engineering and policy. Thank you all for your contribution, a special thanks to my hard-working HQ team of Cheryl, Emily, Emma, Jacqui and Jane, and once again, Merry Christmas!

September 2017 Update from SUT CEO Steve Hall

Dear readers, it’s been several weeks since my last update and much has happened at the SUT. On 1st August we moved from 1 Fetter Lane to offices at Quality Court, off Chancery Lane in London. The new accommodation is suitably quirky (I’m reminded of Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter novels when approaching the place), and saves the Society over £20k per year compared with our previous home. We look forward to welcoming members who happen to be passing by but do please let one of the team know first so we can make sure you gain access, as security in London is at a heightened level after recent incidents.

Whilst on the subject of incidents I must first mention our members and friends in Houston, Texas, who weathered extraordinary storms and floods in August. Their resilience and ‘can-do’ attitude has been an example to us all as companies and individuals knuckle down to restore service as usual, and learn the lessons needed to avoid a repeat. Climate science tells us in no uncertain terms that a warmer world, especially a warming ocean, inevitably leads to an increase in the power of storms, higher average rainfall, and more frequent flooding events. These challenges are by no means restricted to developing countries, all of us must prepare for a wilder future, whilst doing what we can collectively to mitigate the factors that drive climate change. In this respect offshore gas in particularly has a valuable role to play, helping nations to transition quickly off burning coal for energy production with something like a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Gas buys us valuable time to adapt to the new green technologies – many of which have a subsea component – that will underpin the future of many of our energy-sector member companies.

James McCallum, our after dinner speaker at the OSIG Conference dinner

The BIG event that has tied up so much staff effort, and that of our volunteer supporters in recent months has been the OSIG Conference ‘Smarter Solutions for Future Offshore Developments’ that took place at the Royal Geographical Society 12-14th September, including an amazing conference dinner venue at the Natural History Museum. With almost 400 delegates from over 30 countries, the OSIG conference was truly a world-class event that confirmed SUT’s value as a clearing house for exchanging state-of-the-art knowledge, bringing together experts to share, discuss and enthuse about the extraordinary ocean world where our members work, research and explore. The proceedings for the Conference filled two large hardbound volumes, and will shortly go online at www.ingentaconnect.com.

Dinner at the Natural History Museum sat underneath Hope the blue whale

The keynote Bramlette McClelland lecture was given by Alan Young, who inspired delegates with his rich knowledge and Texan delivery. Overall the feedback from attendees has been excellent, we’ve all learned a great deal and we look forward to playing our role as hosts in five years’ time. Special thanks go to Chair of the organising committee, Toby Powell of Subsea 7, and to the HQ staff who worked tirelessly to deliver the conference, especially Jacqui Adams who on joining SUT in January found herself immersed into OSIG and to Emily Boddy for her work on the published proceedings – but they’ve all done a fabulous job.

SUT stand at Offshore Europe

SUT had a strong presence at Offshore Europe in Aberdeen at the start of September, hosting two afternoon sessions at the ‘Decommissioning Zone’ on 6 & 7th September. Our international line-up speakers came from industry, academia, governance and even architecture, reflecting the breadth of our membership. I was honoured to act as chair of the sessions, and attended a series of networking events and dinners at Offshore Europe to help build SUT’s links with the industry. I returned to Aberdeen on 20th September to act as host for Aberdeen Branch’s ‘Question Time’ event, where an expert panel answered a variety of questions concerning the future of the oil and gas sector the changing policy, legal and financial framework, and the emerging technologies that will drive the industry in future years.

In another development that I hope will be of value to our members, I’ve been invited to join the international advisory board of the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology Scotland (MASTS) and will attend their annual science meeting in Glasgow in October, where SUT will also be conducting an offshore decommissioning workshop.

Another highlight for me was that we have just gained our 150th corporate member, appropriately enough on the 150th anniversary of the Shipping Forecast – the UK Met Office, based in Exeter. Our new friends at the Met Office are very keen to help grow SUT in the South West of England and South Wales, and I am putting them in touch with our other members in the region in anticipation of a whole new series of events, and perhaps in time the founding of a fully-fledged branch. Initially activities will be coordinated with the London and Southern England branch, who have held a number of events throughout the UK summer months, and are now settling into their autumn programme.

North East England branch continue to grow in strength and influence, and I’m looking forward to visiting them soon. Things have been quieter in our Norway, Rio, Malaysia and Singapore Branches and I have actions from Council to explore what’s happening and see what we can do at HQ to help reinvigorate activities. I’m also working with other territories to help deliver growth in SUT, and hope to have news on developments in Atlantic Canada and Africa by the time of my next newsletter.

Perth is one of our strongest Branches and continues to deliver impressive results, with a comprehensive programme of events and a very well-run admin team. I’m very much looking forward to visiting Perth in mid October where I’ll be speaking at the AUT Conference on the lessons learned from combined autonomous surface vehicle and underwater vehicle operations in the UK, and an opportunity to make my first acquaintance with our Western Australian members, students and supporters in the southern Spring weather.

Steve being interviewed about ocean stewardship by BBC Radio Wales

In November I’m due to be at Oceanology International China in the beautiful city of Qingdao, a regular haunt in my previous job. I’ll be chairing the session on autonomy and am honoured to be supported by our very good friends at Reed Exhibitions in order to be able to be there. China Branch also have a new Chair, Professor Frank Lim, and I’m sure he is going to do an excellent job in helping to increase our membership and influence in this very important country for future SUT growth.

Also in November we will support the one day conference ‘Oceans of Knowledge’ at the prestigious surroundings of the Royal Institution in London, hosted by our friends at IMarEST. See https://sut.org/event/oceans-of-knowledge/

Finally a plug for our education activities. The Education & Training Committee met in July under the new Chair Sue John, and for the first time with international engagement via Skype and telephone. SUT will be represented at the European Marine Science Educator’s Association in Malta in November, with talks from me about using robots to explore the oceans of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and our publications officer Emily Boddy presenting our book ‘Can a Lobster be an Archaeologist?’ I’d encourage any members looking for Christmas presents to consider buying a copy or two for their younger relatives – contact Emily for details.

More from me in a few weeks’ time – I’m writing from the train en route to catch a plane to Houston where we’ll be launching our new Student Chapter at Rice University on Tuesday 26th September, in the company of student representatives from the existing chapters in the region. Our future as a Society depends on growing our membership base, and drawing in new income from a wider range of underwater technology users than we have in the past. The young people in the Student Chapters are a key part of that work, and I encourage all of our members to encourage, nurture and mentor the next generation.

Steve Hall, 25th September 2017 [email protected]

July 2017 Update from SUT CEO Steve Hall

Dear members & friends of SUT, since joining SUT as Chief Executive three months ago I’ve been very impressed by the commitment and energy of the volunteer members of our various branches, committees and special interest groups. I’ve now had a chance to visit branches in Houston, Aberdeen and London, attended committee meetings and taken part in the social events that are part of the tradition of SUT and play an important role in building friendships, networks and knowledge transfer across sectors and across generations. I’m heading off to Crete for a fortnight’s summer vacation with the family on 8th July so will miss London & Southern England branch’s summer barbecue on 20th July onboard HQS Wellington but it promises to be an excellent night – do contact [email protected] if you’d like a ticket. I see that Houston will be hosting their annual scholarship fundraising clay and skeet shoot on 18th August, email Araceli Lopez [email protected] for more info and on 12th July our Perth branch, for whom it is of course winter rather than summer are having an informal casual catch up at The Cheeky Sparrow – to gauge numbers please register at www.trybooking.com/QHKF

L-R Steve Hall, Cheryl Ince, Jen Maninin, Emily Boddy, Jane Hinton enjoying lunch at the Old Bank of England

Whilst on the subject of Perth, staff member and branch manager Jennifer Maninin visited our London office on July 5th, taking a day off her vacation in Europe. Jennifer spent much of the day with our publications officer Emily Boddy going through our websites, exchanging ideas and learning from one another – it was really good to see the enthusiasm from each of them for improving what we do. I’m encouraging the SUT staff in all the branches to think of us as a single global family, and where resources permit, I hope to see staff exchange opportunities arise over the next couple of years so that we can further develop as a joined-up organisation.

In my last engagement as vice chair of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission during June I was able to showcase SUT’s role as an international, multidisciplinary voice for education, industry, technology and science. Our friends from the Marine Technology Society were also present for part of the meeting and it helped impress upon delegates of 148 countries that in the ocean, private sector operators are often the key actors, especially in areas beyond national jurisdiction. My term as an Officer at UNESCO is now over (my successor is Dr Monika Breuch-Moritz of the Federal Maritime & Hydrographic service of Germany) but I’ve been asked to ‘stay in the loop’ to keep UNESCO IOC informed about developments in underwater technology and help feed into international ocean policy – an important role for SUT. As a consequence of the UNESCO work I’ve also had requests from representatives of governments about how SUT might be able to assist in education and policy development – watch this space for further news.

The Big Event currently dominating the lives of the London and Aberdeen secretariat and a hard working committee of volunteers is the 8th International Conference of the Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics Committee “Smarter Solutions for Future Offshore Developments” on 12-14th September 2017 at the Royal Geographical Society, Kensington, London. The conference is attracting plenty of interest and promises to be a prestigious and fascinating event. To find and more and book your place see www.sutconnects.com

SUT will be hosting two half-day sessions in the Decommissioning Zone at Offshore Europe in September, including talks on the use of autonomous underwater vehicles in decommissioning, the biodiverse habitat underneath a platform and even on repurposing offshore structures for leisure and recreation – see www.offshore-europe.co.uk/Decommissioning-Zone/ for more.

Also in September the Aberdeen branch will host a ‘Question Time’ style event of Wednesday 20th, where I will play the role of compere. Looking forward to the event – more information coming soon.

October promises to be a busy month with an SUT presence at the European Marine Science Educators Association meeting in Valetta (Newcastle next year so an opportunity to involve the North East England Branch) and plenty happening in Perth Australia, more on that in the next newsletter. November we’ll be hosting the Autonomous Vehicles session at Oceanology International China then supporting the ‘Oceans of Knowledge’ event at the Royal Institution of Great Britain with our friends from IMarEST, so plenty to look forward to as the year moves forward,

A couple more dates for your diaries – the SUT Annual General Meeting date is now confirmed as Monday 11th December at Trinity House, London. Two days later on 13th December our Aberdeen branch will have theirs, at which I am looking forward to being one of the speakers. I promise not to go on too long!

Finally – we’re moving! Part of my remit is to ensure long term financial health for SUT, so on 1st August we will move the headquarters to serviced office premises at 1 Quality Court, Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1HR

This will save approximately £25k per year on what we have been paying at Fetter Lane, whilst remaining in the heart of London and not requiring any relocation for our staff. By the time of my next newsletter we should have settled, so I’ll add some photos of the new office.