UI 2001 was organized and co-sponsored by the Association of Diving Contractors International Inc. (ADC) a non-profit organization established in 1968 and the Marine Technology Society (MTS), also a non-profit organization established in 1963. The technical program was put together by Doyle Publishing Company Inc. of Houston.

Some 211 companies exhibited with over 2,600 attending the conference which began with an Icebreaker/Early Bird event on Sunday evening and ended on Wednesday afternoon. The well-attended technical forums included intelligent and often vocal participation from both the committee and the floor.

The unique experience at the Aquarium on Tuesday's Waterside evening proved to be a welcome distraction from the heavy business chat during the day.The awards and presentations ceremony was well supported with awards given for Corporate Excellence, the President's Award, and Scholarship Awards as well as the coveted John B. Galletti and Thomas B. Devine Memorial Awards. UI 2001 was a success measureable also by the fact that over 70% of this year's number of exhiitors are already pre-booked for UI 2002 !

UI 2002 will be held in New Orleans next year (February 26 through March 3) at the Convention Center and with The Doubletree Hotel acting as conference HQ.

For more information contact the sponsos at:
The Association of Diving Contractors International Inc. (ADC) at http://www.adc-usa.org or E-mail either rsaxon@adc-usa.org or barbarat@adc-usa.org

The Marine Technology Society (MTS) at http://www.mtsociety.org or E-mail Publications - MTSPubs@aol.com or Membership - MTSmbrship@erols.com or the Executive Director - MTSdir@erols.com

The new year began with the installation of a suction pile and manifold at Mississippi Canyon 211 in 4,400 feet of water. At month-end the vessel will move to Shell Brutus, where CDI is responsible for the installation of 20-inch diameter risers and related spool pieces at two separate locations, and 11 pipeline/umbilical post crossings. Working with alliance partner Fugro-McClelland, the vessel has up to 60 days set aside to perform geotechnical investigation at a number of Deepwater fields. Interspersed throughout the first six months are five well intervention and well servicing projects, including a well abandonment for Conoco this week.

Martin Ferron, President and Chief Operating Officer, stated, "It is unusual, and gratifying, to have visibility such as this in the slower half of year. The features of the Uncle John, particularly the stability offered by her semi-submersible hull design, were important in the suction pile award and those projects scheduled in the difficult winter weather months." For full press release, go to: http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=cdis&script=410&layout=7&item_id=144213

Headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia, WS Envirotech will strengthen the WS presence in the United States which is already one of its major markets for the NAS-2E in-situ nutrient analyser; the U-Tow MkII undulating towed vehicle; the "smart" Aqua Monitor water sampler; and data loggers.

Contact Jeanne Dorsey WS EnviroTech Inc., Chesapeake, VA 23320, USA E-mail:JeanneDorsey@aol.com or visit their web site at http://www.wsenvirotech.com

Drilling superintendents on exploration rigs need real-time information on ocean currents in order to assess present and upcoming stresses on marine risers which may produce vortex-induced vibrations (VIV). In extreme cases these can cause the riser to separate from the blowout preventer (BOP) stack. Other operations, such as the deployment of underwater vehicles and subsea systems also benefit from knowledge of the ocean current regime.

Real-time information in shallower waters is already obtained using RDI's acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) mounted on rigs and looking downwards through the water column. However, in greater depths - beyond around 1000m - it is not possible to obtain the required range and resolution. Shell Global Solutions is therefore using an RDI near-bottom buoy-mounted Long Ranger ADCP to look upwards through the water column and a 38kHz rig-mounted instrument to look downwards through the water column, thus achieving a complete profile of currents from near-surface to ocean floor. The Long Ranger ADCP and a LinkQuest acoustic modem are both installed in a new Flotation Technologies buoy; the Long Ranger sends data to the rig in real time via the modem. The data obtained will be used not only to assist day-to-day drilling operations but also provide valuable information for future design engineering plans.

RD Instruments has sold over 2500 ADCPs for work in 50 nations worldwide on rigs and ships, in harbors and in rivers to support offshore drilling, hydrographic surveys, environmental studies and marine civil engineering activities such as dredging and port development.

For more information contact: Darryl Symonds, RD Instruments, Email: dsymonds@rdinstruments.com or visit http://www.rdinstruments.com

The new 150 horsepower ROV, a Venom 3k-150, is custom-designed for the Q4000 and is depth-rated to 3000 meters (10,000 feet). It is currently being built by Hydrovision to Canyon's specifications, and will incorporate an extensive package of specialized tooling and other advanced features. It will be integrated into the Q4000 this year, and will include a special heavy weather deployment system.

The Q4000 is a state-of-the-art DP Class 3 vessel. Designed for ultra deepwater, it will support a wide variety of complex and demanding offshore tasks, including J-lay of pipelines, well completion and well intervention. Canyon Offshore will use its 150-horsepower ROV to provide deepwater exploration, drilling and production support services, including construction support, pipelay, well intervention, geotechnical investigations. Visit: http://www.oilonline.com/news2/news_domestic_expanding_can011801.html

The turnkey contract was awarded to Fugro Survey Ltd, Aberdeen, UK (previously Fugro-Geoteam Ltd). The company called on the services of a further six companies within the Fugro group for specialised activities. Fugro Ltd's North Sea soils database was used as part of a comprehensive desk study performed before the site work. This was followed by an initial geophysical and bathymetric reconnaissance survey over a wide survey corridor to best define a suitable route for the pipeline, using Fugro Survey Ltd's vessel Geo Scanner.

Onboard processing and interpretation enabled a suitable route to be designed within this initial corridor avoiding areas of potential environmental impact and zones which might compromise the integrity of the pipeline. Fugro Survey Ltd provided a turnkey service to BP via a single all-encompassing contract. Other Fugro companies involved in the project were Fugro GEOS, Fugro-UDI, Fugro Geoteam AS, Fugro Ltd, Fugro Engineers BV & Alluvial Mining Ltd.

For the full press release and more details of this project, contact: Phil Meaden, Fugro-Geoteam, Aberdeen E-mail:PM@fugro.geoteam.co.uk

The systems provide information essential for the safety of day-to-day operations, including helicopter movements, supply boat unloading and equipment deployment. The seven rigs are the Santa Fe jack-ups Britannia, Galaxy I, Galaxy II, Galaxy III, Monarch and Monitor and the semi-submersible Rig 135. Parameters measured by InstallOcean Weather Stations include wind speed and direction, barometric pressure, air temperature, humidity, sea temperature, visibility, cloud base height, wave height and surface currents. On floating rigs and FPSOs the additional parameters of heave, pitch and roll are measured to the CAA's CAP437 guidelines. The system sensors, which are built and installed to meet European and North American hazardous area requirements, are wired back to the rack-mounted control and display unit which also supplies sensor power.

The system runs on InstallOcean's Weather Windows operating software and is designed for continuous unattended operation with automatic data quality control. Data is provided to the rig LAN for remote displays with automatic updates. Standard data displays show MetOcean values, with up to nine values per screen, adverse weather alarms, trends every two minutes and system alarms. Data are logged automatically at preset intervals. The Santa Fe installations bring to over 70 the number of InstallOcean systems on offshore exploration and floating production facilities.

Contact Alan Greig, InstallOcean Ltd, E-mail:iocean@installocean.co.uk or visit their web site at http://www.iocean@installocean.co.uk

David Stone, Managing Director of GeoAcoustics Ltd, said, "Alden produced an excellent recorder ideal for use with our seabed survey systems. We have sold a good number of them to our customers because of their high reliability and competitive price. So were sad to hear that the manufacturer had gone out of business. We looked into what could be salvaged from the situation, so that we could support the recorders that our customers had in the field, and were pleased to discover that the production assets were for sale. So we bought them. It is our intention to produce a successor to the Alden 9315CTP in the near future.

In the meantime we would be happy to provide support to existing recorder owners". For more detials, contact David Stone, Managing Director GeoAcoustics Ltd., or send E-mail to sales@geoacoustics.co.uk - website http://www.geoacoustics.co.uk

The agreement is a significant step for Bowtech and ROS enables them to provide greater support to their existing customers in the above countries through local trained representatives. MacArtney will now be able to supply a full range of ROS cameras, rotators, pan & tilts, lights and integrated systems along with the Bowtech/ ROS low cost camera range, and Bowtech's Xenon strobes, diver video inspection system and surface controllers.

For more information contact Bowtech Products Ltd, Aberdeen, or E-mail: bowtech@bowtech.co.uk or visit thier website at http://www.www.bowtech.co.uk

The project includes the installation of 437 miles of 36`` diameter concrete coated pipe from the LB 200. She will be supported by the derrick-lay-barge DLB 801 which will lay pipe in the shallow waters depths leading up to the shore approaches. They will be supported by the Seaway Hawk and other ships from the Stolt Offshore shallow water fleet in the Gulf of Mexico. Visit: http://www.oilonline.com/news2/news_domestic_expanding_st011801.html