Category Archives: Life Extension

Diverse Marine has signed a contract with Turner Iceni for the modification and upcycling of the Iceni Courage crew transfer vessel.

The UK-based refit and repair provider has won the contract following a competitive tender procedure.

The 2009-built 15m Iceni Courage will embark on an life extension project to catch up with the fast-progressing offshore wind sector and to avoid sale or repurposing.

The vessel will go through stretching of the hull, deck and superstructure by 3.6m. It will also be repowered to Volvo Penta IPS900.

Furthermore, Diverse Marine will relocate and replace Iceni Courages generator, relocate the fresh water and grey water tanks with all new plumbing, cut in a forward side door to the saloon, cut in an additional third crew position on the bridge and fully refit the interior.

The refit will include the Iceni Gen 3 upgrades with new, lighter and more accommodating linings, all new heads compartment, all new galley with modern appliances and all new windows and doors. In addition, the vessel is to be repainted from top to bottom, according to Diverse Marine.

In 2019, upcycling and life extension refits were carried out on the Iceni Warrior (former MCS Maestro ) and on Iceni Revenge (former MPI Don Quixote).

Following the success of the two Iceni life extension projects last year we are very pleased to have won this competitive tender and to further our experience in this important sector, said Ben Colman, Director of Diverse Marine.

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Iceni Courage to Be Revamped - Offshore WIND

In another sign that the nuclear arms race is heating up, the U.S. is ramping up production of nuclear bomb cores.

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has announced that it plans to increase theproduction of plutonium pits to 80 per year. The grapefruit-sized pits contain the fissile material that give nuclear weapons such tremendous power.

Production will center on the Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at Savannah River site in North Carolina, which would be modified to manufacture at least 50 pits per year, and Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, which would generate at least 30, by 2030.

Americas nuclear weapons cores are aging, with some pits dating back to the 1970s, leading to concerns about the reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile.

The U.S. lost its ability to produce pits in large numbers in 1989, when the Rocky Flats Plant near Denver, Colorado, was shut down after the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Environmental Protection Agency investigated environmental violations at the site, noted Physics Today magazine in 2018. Up to 1,200 pits per year had been manufactured there.

Since then, only 30 pits for weapons have been fabricatedall at LANL [Los Alamos National Laboratory], the sole U.S. facility with production capability. Weapons-quality pit production ceased in 2012, when LANL began modernizing its 40-year-old facilities, although several practice pits have since been fabricated. The oldest pits in the stockpilewhich now numbers 3,882, according to DOEs National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)date to 1978.

In its 2018 Nuclear Policy Review, the Trump administration called for 80 new plutonium pits per year. Congress has also allocated large sums, with $4.7 billion alone allocated in FY 2019 for maintenance and life extension of the nuclear stockpile. The NNSA says it is legally mandated to ensure a capacity of at least 80 pits per year.

Though the production of nuclear cores has been an issue for years, a looming U.S.-Russia arms race makes the situation even more sensitive. Russia is fielding a new generation of strategic nuclear weapons, including a hypersonic nuclear-armed glider and an air-launched ballistic missile. The Trump administration has withdrawn from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty with Russia, alleging Russian violations, leading to fears that a new competition will beget the return of nuclear-armed, medium-range ballistic and cruise missiles.

Anti-nuclear groups are furious. Expanded pit production will cost at least $43 billion over the next 30 years, argues the Natural Resources Defense Council and other groups. Yet the Defense Department and NNSA have never explained why expanded plutonium pit production is necessary. More than 15,000 plutonium pits are stored at NNSAs Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas. Independent experts have concluded that plutonium pits have reliable lifetimes of at least 100 years (the average pit age is less than 40 years). Crucially, there is no pit production scheduled to maintain the safety and reliability of the existing nuclear weapons stockpile. Instead, proposed future pit production is for speculative new-design nuclear weapons, but those designs have been canceled.

Introducing a new generation of nuclear weapons could adversely impact national security because newly produced plutonium pits cannot be full-scale tested without violating the global nuclear weapons testing moratorium.

Michael Peck is a contributing writer for the National Interest. He can be found on Twitter and Facebook.

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The U.S. is Boosting Production of Nuclear Bomb Cores (For More Nuclear Weapons) - The National Interest Online

Key point:America's F-16 has lasted a long time and has been given many upgrades. However, the F-16 might not be as good against the very best that Beijing and Moscow can throw at it.

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The F-16 fighter was originally conceived as a lightweight fighter for the United States and her NATO allies. In the U.S. Air Force, the Fighting Falcon would comprise the low end of a high-low mix of super-capable F-15s and cheaper, less capable F-16s. Among NATO allies, it would be a frontline fighter to replace aging planes like the F-104 and F-15.

Inevitably, the capable little single-engine fighter was pushed towards a more diverse array of missions. Originally conceived as just carrying short-ranged AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles, it gained the ability to launch the beyond visual range AIM-7 Sparrow and AIM-120 AMRAAM. Over time it gradually evolved into a versatile air-to-ground platform with the ability to accomplish close air support, battlefield air interdiction and air defense suppression missions with a variety of precision-guided missiles, including the AGM-65 Maverick missile, AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missile and Joint Directed Attack Munition precision-guided bomb.

A confluence of eventsincluding a series of budget-draining wars in the Middle East for which the F-16 has been good enough and delays in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programhave conspired to keep the F-16 flying much longer than originally intended. Why the F-16 is still in service is fodder for another article, but the bottom line is that it is serving today and is seriously outmatched by a new generation of Russian and Chinese fighters.

First, lets look at one of the most recent and popular versions of the F-16, the Block 50 variant. Block 50 features a AN/APG-68 V(5) radar, F100-PW-229 afterburning turbofan engine, and the AN/ALE-47 threat adaptive countermeasure system. The Block 50 has a maximum sustained speed of Mach 1.89, a range of 360 miles on internal fuel, and a ceiling described as above 50,000 feet. It can carry up to six AIM-9 Sidewinder short-range infrared homing missiles or six AIM-120 AMRAAM beyond-visual-range missiles, or some combination of either.

Despite the F-16s longevity, obsolescence was inevitable. The F-16 will not fare well against a powerful new generation of Russian and Chinese fighters. The Moscows Su-35 Flanker and PAK-FA fighter and the Beijings J-20 stealth fighter, all previously described here, have rendered the Fighting Falcon obsolete.

Although based on an contemporary of the F-16, the original Su-27 Flanker, the Su-35 has been more thoroughly updated than the spunky American fighter. The Su-35 may not be stealthy, but it can detect and engage the F-16 before the F-16 can detect it, and this puts the American plane at a big disadvantage. In a one-on-one fight, the F-16 will probably not even be able to get the Su-35 into dogfighting range, where the smaller fighters legendary maneuverability would come into play.

The new Russian PAK-FA and Chinese J-20 fighters will have similar advantages, except their stealthy design will ultimately mean F-16s wont even detect their adversaries before they realize they are being targeted by beyond-visual-range guided missiles, launched by aircraft that only visible on radar for the brief moment their internal weapons bay doors are open.

What could be done to give the F-16 better odds? The latest variant of the Fighting Falcon, the F-16V, will have the APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) radar, the first AESA radar retrofitted into the platform. SABR has been described as fifth-generation fighter technology, and indeed promises earlier detection, tracking and identification of targets sooner than older radars. The Republic of China Air Forces F-16s will be the first to be brought up to -V standard. The U.S. Air Force is pondering a service life extension program (SLEP) for select aircraft in the F-16C fleet, and the SABR radar is an obvious candidate for inclusion.

Yet improving the F-16s detection ability is only half the problem. While stealth has its disadvantages and countermeasures are inevitable, its also true that, like radar and electronic countermeasures, stealth is now permanently part of the essential feature set of modern combat aircraft. While China and Russia tout new anti-stealth measures, they are also making certain their own new aircraft are as stealthy as possible. That both countries, struggling to catch up with the United States, are still willing spend on stealth is a ringing endorsement of its value.

While SABR will likely improve the F-16s ability to detect fifth-generation fighters such as PAK-FA and the J-20, it will still be easy for enemy aircraft to detect. The F-16s lack of stealth is not something that can be addressed with upgrades to the airframe or an electronics package. The only solution is a new aircraft.

The F-16 still has a great deal of value against smaller, less technologically advanced air forces and air defenses, as well as low- to mid-intensity conflicts such as Libya and Syria. Its also useful as a bomb truck, carrying long-range munitions such as the JASSM cruise missile behind a protective wall of F-22 and F-35 fighters. But thanks to PAK-FA and the J-20, its days as a day-one frontline fighter are over. As the F-35 enters service with the United States and with its NATO and Asian allies, the F-16 begins its long, well-earned flight into the sunset.

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Kyle Mizokami is a defense and national security writer based in San Francisco who has appeared in the Diplomat, Foreign Policy, War is Boring and the Daily Beast. In 2009 he cofounded the defense and security blog Japan Security Watch. You can follow him on Twitter: @KyleMizokami. This first appeared in September 2016.

Image: Reuters.

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How Does the Air Force's F-16 Stack up Against the Best Chinese and Russian Fighters? - The National Interest Online

The scaly-foot snail is one of Earths strangest creatures. It lives more than 2,300 metres below the surface of the sea on a trio of deep-sea hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the Indian Ocean. Here it has evolved a remarkable form of protection against the crushing, grim conditions found at these Stygian depths. It grows a shell made of iron.

Discovered in 1999, the multi-layered iron sulphide armour of Chrysomallon squamiferum which measures a few centimetres in diameter has already attracted the interest of the US defence department, whose scientists are now studying its genes in a bid to discover how it grows its own metal armour.

The researchers will have to move quickly, however, for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature has just added the snail to its list of threatened species. German and Chinese industrial groups have revealed plans to explore the seabed around two of the three vents that provide homes for scaly-foot snails. Should they proceed, and mine the seabeds veins of metals and minerals, a large chunk of the snails home base will be destroyed and the existence of this remarkable little creature will be threatened.

On land, we are already exploiting mineral resources to the full, says Jean-Baptiste Jouffray, of Stockholm University. At the same time, the need for rare elements and metals is becoming increasingly important to supply green technologies such as wind and solar power plants.

And so industrialists are looking to the seabed where it is now technologically and economically feasible to mine for minerals. Hence the arrival of threats to creatures like the scaly-foot snail.

Jouffray is the lead author of an analysis, published last week in the journal One Earth, which involved synthesising 50 years of data from shipping, drilling, aquaculture, and other marine industries and which paints an alarming picture of the impact of future exploitation of the oceans.

This threat comes not just from seabed mining which is set to expand dramatically in coming years but from fish farming, desalination plant construction, shipping, submarine cable laying, cruise tourism and the building of offshore wind farms.

This is blue acceleration, the term that is used by Jouffray and his co-authors to describe the recent rapid rise in marine industrialisation, a trend that has brought increasing ocean acidification, marine heating, coral reef destruction, and plastic pollution in its wake. As they state in their paper: From the shoreline to the deep sea, the blue acceleration is already having major social and ecological consequences.

Another illustration of blue acceleration is provided by seabed grabbing, state the authors. Article 76 of the UN convention on the law of the sea (UNCLOS) allows countries to claim seabed that lies beyond the 200 miles of a nations exclusive economic zone. Since the first claim under Article 76 was made in 2001, 83 countries have made submissions. Put together, these claims account for more than 37 million sq km of seabed, an area more than twice the size of Russia.

Many seabed grabbers include small island states that are trying to become large ocean states in the process. For example, the Cook islands in the South Pacific has claimed an area of seabed that is 1,700 times its land surface. The extension of the continental shelf is therefore not only transforming the geopoltical landscape, it is also substantially shrinking the area designated as the common heritage of humankind, states the report.

Examples of the conflicts that could ensue because of the blue acceleration include the disruption of key fish stocks by drilling for gas or oil offshore; pipelines that prevent trawl fishing; and offshore wind farms that disturb tourism.

Norway provides a stark demonstration of likely future conflicts. It aims to bring about fivefold rises both in salmon farming and cruise tourism in its waters over coming years while also building more and more offshore wind farms and more and more offshore gas and oil platforms. Seabed mining for minerals is also scheduled to begin. This saturation of ocean space renders Norwegian waters as being highly vulnerable to shocks, states the report.

The South China Sea is another potential flashpoint. It is a key gateway in the regions network of undersea telecommunication cables; a third of the worlds shipping passes through it; while half the worlds fishing boats operate in its waters which are disputed variously by China, Malaysia, Vietnam and others. Should armed conflict break out here over any of these issues, there would be a far-reaching impact on the worlds economy.

The relevance of the ocean for humanitys future is undisputed, states the report. However, addressing the diversity of claims, their impacts and their interactions, will require effective governance.

To achieve this, the authors call for greater accountability to be imposed on those financing the fundamental changes that are now being made to Earths oceans. These include both banks and governments.

In addition, the vulnerability of small island states needs to be addressed, it adds: Navigating the blue acceleration in a just and sustainable way requires particular emphasis on the implications of increased ocean use across the globe and how these claims could have an impact on the economic safety and wellbeing of vulnerable communities and social groups.

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Race to exploit the worlds seabed set to wreak havoc on marine life - The Guardian

Rangers baseball broadcasts will remain on 105.3 The Fan (KRLD-FM) after the club signed a multi-year extension with the stations parent company, Entercom. The deal was announced Friday morning.

The Rangers have been on 105.3 The Fan for the past five seasons and 22 of the past 26 seasons. The length of the deal was not disclosed.

The Rangers are very pleased to extend our agreement with Entercom and 105.3 The Fan, said John Blake, the teams executive vice president for communications. We have enjoyed a great relationship with 105.3 The Fan over the last five years. As we move to Globe Life Field in 2020, we are looking forward to working with Entercom and 105.3 The Fan to provide the best in baseball coverage to all Rangers fans. We really appreciate this partnership.

Eric Nadel and Matt Hicks will remain in the broadcast booth, and Jared Sandler will retain duties hosting the pregame and postgame shows.

Were ecstatic to continue our rich history with the Texas Rangers and Hall of Fame broadcaster Eric Nadel on 105.3 The Fan, said Brian Purdy, the regional president and market manager of Entercom Dallas. This year is extra special for Entercom Dallas-Fort Worth and North Texas fans with the opening of the New Globe Life Field. As the unrivaled leader in local sports coverage, we are looking forward to continuing to provide fans with robust coverage of the team on and off the field.

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Rangers broadcasts to remain on 105.3 The Fan (KRLD-FM) after club signs multi-year extension - The Dallas Morning News

Politicians, it seems, are not so principled

ISLAMABAD

DURING AN EXCITED exchange on a Pakistani talk show earlier this month, a government minister produced a well-polished boot and placed it on the studio desk. Scorning the oppositions claims to champion civilian authority over the armed forces, he accused them instead of laying down and kissing the boot. Even in the confrontational world of Pakistani politics shows, Faisal Vawdas stunt had the power to shock.

Everyone in Pakistan knows the army gives instructions to politicians, not the other way around. But its supremacy is not publicly acknowledged except in coy references to the establishment or the selectors. Imran Khan, the prime minister, is said to have banned Mr Vawda from talk shows for his frankness.

The boot was under discussion because of a febrile few months in Pakistani politics. First came a confusing debate about the extension of the tenure of the countrys top soldier, Qamar Javed Bajwa, the chief of army staff. While no civilian prime minister has ever completed a full parliamentary term in Pakistan, several military chiefs have managed to stay on beyond their allotted three years. Mr Khan, doubtless hoping to prolong his own time in office, approved a second three years for General Bajwa with alacrity.

But that, surprisingly, was not that. The Supreme Court unexpectedly chose to take up an obscure petition challenging the extension, pressing on even when the petitioner got cold feet. Days before General Bajwas original term was due to expire in late November, his fresh stint was put on hold as Asif Saeed Khosa, the chief justice, deliberated. After three days of suspense, the court passed the buck to parliament. It gave MPs six months to legislate more clearly on the tenure of army chiefs, and said General Bajwa could stay on in the meantime.

Parliament, predictably, approved the necessary legislation in record time, giving the government full discretion to extend the army chiefs term and banning legal challenges to such extensions. Even the two main opposition parties, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which often bemoan military interference in politics, passed up the chance to clip the wings of the generals. Instead, both meekly voted with the government, thereby earning those gibes from Mr Vawda.

Next, in December, a special court handed a death sentence to Pervez Musharraf, a coup-leading former army chief, for suspending the constitution in 2007. The army again bristled. The sentence had been received with a lot of pain and anguish, the high command declared. Earlier this month an appeals court relented, and ruled that it was the set-up of the special court, not the suspension of the constitution, that was illegal.

Why is the judiciary making life difficult for the army when politicians are not? Some think Chief Justice Khosa, who retired in December, had an eye on his legacy. Some of his predecessors, after all, have cast themselves as fearless judicial superheroes. Alternatively, he may have wanted to restore some distance between the judiciary and the armed forces, after the courts were decried for doing the armys bidding by ousting Nawaz Sharif, one of Mr Khans predecessors. Another theory holds that unease at the extension within the army itself emboldened the judges. General Bajwas now lengthy term will impede the promotion of many beneath him.

And the opposition parties? Many believe they have come to the conclusion that they can achieve power only with the backing of the generals, as Mr Khan did. The army is popular, after all. Better to wait for it to tire of Mr Khan than to campaign against military influence. Only this week members of the PML-N began propounding a rumour that it was on the verge of persuading the army to ditch Mr Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, and put them back in office instead.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline "Pakistans judges briefly stand up to the army"

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Pakistans judges briefly stand up to the army - The Economist

SAN FRANCISCO Few CEOs tell a story better than bluebirds Nick Leschly.

He cuts a Jeff Bezos figure on stage at the Colonial Room, the JP Morgan presentation hall for A-list biotechs: lean and bald, fast-talking and vest-wearing. He explains in simple language, apologizing when he has to brush on the data. It helps that he has a good story to tell.

We treated them one time, Leschly tells a packed crowd, gesturing to the slide behind him. Look what happened.

The slide shows 9 horizontal bars studded with diamonds. Each bar, he explained, represented a sickle cell patient, and each diamond represented a severe medical event, such as a pain crisis. The diamonds stud one side before the therapy and vanish on the other, afterward.

A 99% reduction in these events this is a functional cure for sickle cell disease, Leschly says. This is unprecedented data.

Upstairs and an hour later, Ted Love stands before a narrow conference room in his suit and polka-dot tie. Love, the CEO of Global Blood Therapeutics, is a 60-year-old physician. His voice trails off at the end of sentences, and the story he tells is less compelling. There are no cured patients.

This is the first drug that addresses the root cause of sickle cell disease, Love says, speaking in front of a slide showing a white pill bottle for GBTs new drug Oxbryta. Right in the label, it says that this drug inhibits polymerization.

In the 60 years after scientists discovered the cause of sickle cell, almost no treatments emerged, even as the condition debilitated hundreds of thousands of Americans, most of them black or Hispanic. But the last few years have seen a resurgence of interest as new technologies have made the disease seem newly beatable.

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Merck-partnered biotech hands Roche its half-life extension tech as it pivots to immuno-oncology - Endpoints News

As the holiday bills are coming in and stress levels begin to rise, January and February are typically the busiest months of the year for counselors at the Iowa Concern Hotline.

Tammy Jacobs, the hotlines coordinator with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, says the free service is available to all Iowans, every day and at any time of day or night. We offer stress counseling. We have counselors who are trained to talk to people about whats going on, help walk them though the steps and develop skills in order to work through those, Jacobs says. We have legal staff available to help out with any legal questions that they might have. We also work with Extension and Outreach finance specialists, if people are having a financial issue going on.

While the counselors work to address any issue callers may bring up, at this time of year, Jacobs says money matters are often front and center. With the holidays being over, people are starting to get together with their tax consultants, going over some of their bills, Jacobs says. People are starting to meet with their bankers and farm financial providers in order to get operating loans for the next season.

With last years heavy rains and widespread flooding, many calls to the hotline focused on worries about spring planting and the fall harvest. With 2020 being an election year, Jacobs couldnt predict how the call volume may fluctuate. Generally, we see between 400 and 600 calls a month just on the Iowa Concern Hotline, Jacobs says. Sometimes, we may see 700 or 800 calls a month. It just depends on whats happening in the world, and if its flooding and there are disasters, then those calls may be a little bit higher.

To reach the Iowa Concern Hotline, call 800-447-1985, or some people might be more comfortable using a computer. Weve got the live chat. We also have Email an Expert, so if people just want to email a question in, then we can respond back to them, Jacobs says. Were looking at probably within the next month, adding a text option to the Iowa Concern Hotline as well.

The service was launched in 1985 during the Farm Crisis and was then known as the Rural Concern Hotline. The name was changed in 1993 to the Iowa Concern Hotline to reflect a broader reach and availability to anyone, farmers and non-farmers, rural and urban Iowans.

(ISU photo)

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Free Iowa Concern Hotline available to help deal with stress of life - Radio Iowa

From their base deep within a former World War II U-boat pen, Norwegian outfit, OceanTech, is developing a set of robot tools that cling to offshore structures in order to effect inspection, maintenance and repair, or IMR. Old submarine anchorages are now subsea testing and training sites, but the North Sea is still the target. Hundreds of aging platforms and subsea structures require IMR thats too costly, complex or hazardous for divers or remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs.

As he walks us through Dora II, the original name of the U-boat pen, OceanTech CEO, Berndt Schjetne, points to corners of the building stashed with rental tools custom-built for a range of past clients: a lift palette for the serpentine ROV, Eelume; a large splash-zone tool with its own crane for immersing probes into a platform jackets wave-lashed splashzone. We use it as a kind of subsea workshop, Schjetne says among the mostly dank recesses.

The former anchorages, from four to eight meters deep, are crammed with training platforms and testing equipment. IMR tools are in increasing demand, as offshore operators and their contractors look to extend field life and increase oil recovery. This is where OceanTechs prototype, all-electric iCon inspection robot was tested for its ability to lower itself and its probes below the splashzone to effect subsea inspections of you name it: pipe, riser, concrete or jacket. The iCon is the latest in a series of about five OceanTech access tools that are either joystick controlled or semi-autonomous.

Crucially, OceanTechs splash zone tools may be key, for some operators, to securing inspections and then certifications of platform integrity.

Subsea test center (Then): In WWII as a U-boat pen, and now as OceanTechs subsea training, test and fabrication center.CREDIT: The author/OceanTech

Subsea test center (Now): in WWII as a U-boat pen, and now as OceanTechs subsea training, test and fabrication center.CREDIT: The author/OceanTech

Splash zone climberJudging by a DNV GL study, the surf is a neglected area of safety: In areas with harsh environments, such as in the North Sea, it is common to assume that structural details located below or in the splash zone are not accessible for inspection and repair. The splash zone is defined in DNVGL standard, ST-0126.

Inspection of structures in the splash zone and below water focuses in addition on the corrosion protection systems (steel wall thickness, anodes, coating, etc.), marine growth and scour protection. Yet, OceanTechs tools do that hazardous work. The iCon robot addresses these and subsea structures as well, starting with risers that could lose buoyancy if fouled by marine life: they can also develop tiny leaks, as can infield pipelines accessible via an iCon-equipped ROV.

Climbing down a platform and into those difficult areas is sort of natural for OceanTech. The companys origins lie in putting up the transmission lines that crisscross Norways fjords. In 2009, they began bringing the tech and techniques offshore. Masts and platforms are structurally similar.We made climbing our trade, Schjetne says. We saw that there was a need for working just below the surface. Divers couldnt work there. No one could work in the splash zone. Work between 2007 to 2019 created a line of ready-to-go access tools, with five or six concepts sent recently on missions to Azerbaijan, the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

The VAT, or vertical access tool, is at the core of the robotized line. This climber can travel all the way from the splash zone to the bottom along risers and production lines using its robotic arm or arms. Tools attached at its back are accessed by a second robotic arm. Operators in a control cabin topside uses screens and joysticks to manipulate and gain all-round awareness. When developed in 2012, the system quickly won work in the Dutch sector and now forms the basis for future deployments of the iCon.IMR Range: OceanTechs own range of access tools. CREDIT: the iConNo support

Development hasnt been all straightforward. Perfection, OceanTech learned, can be a setback. An access tolo that was 20 meters long and cost EUR 2 million to develop epitomized the companys early eagerness to create the perfect IMR Swiss Army Knife. Weve never used it. It was too good. Too big. Too perfect. Too heavy to install. We learned a lot. We made smaller tools.

So, a two-meter-long arm for inspection and cleaning was devised. It can inspect grout work on wind installations or clear marine fouling on aquaculture pens. We believe it can be transferred to other industries, but right now its done 99 percent (of its work) for oil and gas. Industry pilots paid for its development, and now it does expert cutting, inspection, cleaning, Whatever you need to do underwater. We do everything from the platform on down. We dont need any support vessels that use a lot of fuel. The important thing is we dont need any divers in the water. Thats the HSE aspect and the cost aspect.

The smaller robot splashzone tool won work from the start. Jobs were unusual for being in areas that looked easily accessible but were, in fact, death traps. After the bends and being dragged around on the ocean floor in their habitat, North Sea saturation divers No. 1 fear was getting tangled up around jacket legs or zapping themselves by touching their electric wands to a structure before they were ready, something could help ensure happened.

A recent Australian work order to place giant clamps in 16 m of water illustrated how a robot clinging to a structure was superior to exposing a diver to pummeling waves. We were supposed to work in behind (a massive structure). So, we made an access tool for the subsea clamp installation that went down to 23 m with these robotic arms to install subsea clamps on (a stretch of pipe), Schjetne recalls.The Aussie customer had planned to do the work with divers but called a stop after seeing the risks. They didnt do the work. Work in those zones was difficult but needed to be done.More IMROceanTech was able to engineer an automated solution and redesigned the repair clamps for robotic arms rather than for divers. It was a minor cost in the overall picture, he recalls, adding, We also rigged up pipe behind hard-to-access (I and J tubes). It would have been an extremely dangerous place for divers to operate, Schjetne says. At most, divers have a day or two in which to work. The robot arms weather windows can last 30 days or a whole season.

The industry seems to agree. As platforms age, Schjetne is getting more calls. While North Sea jobs have always been at-hand, OceanTech is also active in the Gulf of Mexico and has been lined-up for jobs in the sprawling UKCS decommissioning market. In contrast, much decommissioning in Norway has been put on hold by a wave of life-extension projects, where platforms and subsea structures are given new life another niche market for the robot arms. The equipment and the techniques can be used in many different ways, says Schjetne. Meanwhile, ConocoPhillips, BP, Aker BP have all called in to inquire ahead of necessary inspections.VAT vs ROV

It isnt just steel these splash zone robots can repair. They can lock on by magnet or suction. They can bolt on to concrete, as in Russian and Norway. We havent had any projects where we have had to say, We cannot do this.

Watching the VAT lowered into place with the platforms own crane before lowering the robot into the sea is like imagining a gremlin grip onto a structure.

Thats what its all about. We attach to the structures. Theyre fixed. They dont flail around. Thats the main difference between our system and ROV operations (of this type). The subsea unit with its tools launches from the VAT down into the water on a vertical access beam that can be 23 m long. An affixed robotic arm with lights and cameras and tools needed for the work seems a most efficient worker. The tools are hung around like a tool belt. We dont have to go back up for a new tool.IMR range: OceanTechs own range of access tools. CREDIT: the iConSubsea robot

The robotic arms can also install subsea assemblies in waves 6 m high while doing very detailed work.

We can start in April and continue until September, says OceanTech CFO, Geir Ingar Bjornsen. Schjetnes adds that with the normal diver window of a few days, 30 days of work would take seven years. So, major splash zone IMR has simply not been done. Now, inspecting nodes or changing out anodes can be part of a service package that includes yearly inspections or pre-project surveys.

We do the planning. We can take care of all the installation planning and modifications and then do the installation.

Classs DNV GL says there is in fact much to do at or just below the splash zone: apart from clearing marine growth and checking for leakage or corrosion, there are the effects of collisions and even earthquakes that warrant a closer look or, sometimes, a surface wrap.

iCon inspections

The new iCon, with its sensor package, could be decisive in an operators bid to get a life-extension project approved. With new tools just out of development, it can inspect for fatigue cracks using alternating current field measurement, or ACFM.

A year ago, for the first time, a degree of autonomous movement turned the iCon Deepwater Inspection Tool into a splash zone tool able to effect repairs below the waterline. Its crack-finding sensor originally a handheld tool for divers is affixed a probe carried by the robot and allowing it to trace subsea structures. Its delivered by VAT. Using machine vision and automated thrusts in six directions, the tool follows a weld right around a structure, staying just millimeters form item being studied.

When a crack is detected, its length and the depth are seen topsides and another splash zone tool can be deployed. For deeper water, an ROV will be able to deploy the robot probe in the future: so, from 5 m to 12 m into the splashzone. Below that, you might prefer an ROV for the iCon.OceanTechs strength is an ability to create a unique access tool from which to deploy inspection robots in days or weeks. If the tool fits, then we can go right out to the job. The right clamp size for the pipe is all thats needed to get an inspection robot fixed in place ahead of monitoring, reinforcing, grinding down or drilling the crack to an end point.

The iCon tool also creates a digital twin, and that has raised eyebrows among operators, including tech-savvy Equinor. The Norwegian operator is understood to be already piloting its use, precursor to coming contracts.IMR range: OceanTechs own range of access tools. CREDIT: the iCon

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Subsea Robots in the Splash Zone - Offshore Engineer

The mission of the New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service is to provide the people of New Mexico with practical, research-based knowledge and programs to improve their quality of life.

There is an Extension office in each of the 33 counties across the state, and during the months of October through December, I had the opportunity to intern at the Valencia County Extension Office in Los Lunas.

I am a Valencia County native, having lived in Belen my entire life. While in high school, I was actively involved in FFA (Future Farmers of America). I am now a student at NMSU, where I am studying agricultural education. One of my college classes required I complete an internship, so I chose to intern at the Valencia County Cooperative Extension Service.

During my childhood, I was involved in the 4-H/Youth Development Inc. program and I thought I had some understanding of what happens at the Extension office. My internship taught me I had only a vague idea of the responsibilities and skills required of an Extension agent.

My internship provided me a behind-the-scenes view of the work of an Extension agent. This is what I learned.

Extension agents must be flexible. Every program, workshop or activity provided to the community seemed to always run longer than we anticipated. This required that we constantly readjust our schedules to be prepared for the next event.

Extension agents must be well rounded in subject knowledge. During my internship, I attended six different activities, including a forage growers workshop, beef quality assurance training, a cooking class and two after-school activities for kids.

I also know the Extension office provides a number of other programs and outreach in the community, including the 4-H/Youth Development program, Ideas for Cooking and Nutrition (ICAN), Master Gardeners, diabetes education, Strong Womens exercise program, job sills/workplace re-entry education and much more.

While teaching these activities, I noted the Extension agents are skilled at working with and relating to different audiences. Students or participants in the programs and activities ranged in age from 3 years old to 92 years young.

Teamwork is also a necessary skill. In order to accomplish what they do, Extension agents communicate with each other, making sure everyone is on the same page. This communication also occurs with the many volunteers who support the Extension agents and help to extend the reach of education in our county.

There is a lot of planning that goes into everything Extension agents do. When we, as the public, normally attend events, everything is always set up and ready to go. We often do not think about all the work that went into organizing and providing an event, such as figuring out the logistics of hauling equipment, supplies and materials to the actual site. Extension agents have amazing packing skills and move and set up a lot of tables and chairs. Set up and preparation has to start sometimes weeks before the actual event.

Extension agents are also very comfortable public speakers. At each event, they have to speak in front of a group of people. They seem to do it without any problems or fear. They spend a lot of time answering questions to the best of their ability and if they do not know the answer, they are willing to find it, always making sure that everyone is satisfied.

The most important quality of an Extension agent is true dedication to their community. During my time at the Valencia County Extension office, I observed a team committed to serving our county while working to make it a better place.

I never truly knew how much they do, and I only saw a small portion of their efforts during my short internship. I gained a deeper respect for everything they do for our community.

If you have yet to meet our county Extension agents, I encourage you to stop by the office, email or give them a call. They are committed to serving and providing the citizens of New Mexico with knowledge, though their hard work and dedication.

Program Announcements

To register for an upcoming program, call the Valencia County Cooperative Extension Service at 565-3002. For more information, visit valenciaextension.nmsu.edu.

Gardening Survival Series, Garden Planning: 10-11:30 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 18, at the Bosque Farms Public Library, 1455 W. Bosque Loop.

Beef Heifer Feeding and Nutrition: 9 a.m. to noon, Monday, Jan. 20, at the Valencia County Extension Office, 404 Courthouse Road, Los Lunas.

StrongWomen Exercise Program, 12-Week Strength Training Program: 10:30 a.m., Monday, Jan. 27, at Belen Eagle Park Community Center, $10. Doctors release needed.

Nurturing Parenting Program, Building Self-Worth: 4:30 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 30, at San Clemente Church in Los Lunas.

Pruning Workshop: 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Feb. 8, at NMSUs Agricultural Science Center, 1036 Miller Road in Los Lunas.

If you are an individual with a disability who is in need of auxiliary aid or service to participate in a program, please contact the Valencia County Cooperative Extension Service office at 565-3002 two weeks in advance of event.

(Jolene Wulf, a student intern from NMSU, is studying agricultural education. She is from Belen, and graduated from Belen High School.)

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Behind the scenes of the Valencia County Cooperative Extension Office - Valencia County News Bulletin