The new guidelines, in the form of a document called a Notice to Lessees and Operators, updates the older rules and regulations and consolidates them into one document. The MMS said the document would provide much greater clarity of exactly what information an operator must submit to MMS and thus streamline the entire process, saving countless hours in clarifying questions. Most of the changes are minor technical amendments. Major changes include requirements for oil spill and chemical product information, the MMS said.

The MMS' Gulf of Mexico Region receives between 600 and 700 plans from oil and gas operators per year. For a complete review and details of these changes, visit: http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/whatsnew/newsreal/010111.html

This includes Multibeam Processing software, Seafloor Characterization software, Mosaicing software, and Mapping and Digital Terrain Modeling software (DTM). The bid was submitted by CARIS’ European office in The Netherlands, in cooperation with Quester Tangent Corporation, British Columbia, Canada. CARIS will supply multiple licenses of its multibeam processing, mosaicing, mapping and DTM software (CARIS HIPS, SIPS and GIS) to GSI while Quester Tangent will deliver its seafloor characterization software - a multibeam classification system. The characterization software was developed by Quester Tangent’s multibeam seabed classification research team, and builds on the success of the QTC IMPACT package for single beam echo classification. Seabed classification is a growing need in ocean research, extending into many new application areas. The success achieved through the cooperative effort and integration of technologies between CARIS and Quester Tangent for this tender will likely result in collaboration on other similar projects.

Quester Tangent is a leading supplier of seabed classification technology, Quester Tangent offers real-time data acquisition and classification products, notably QTC VIEW and sophisticated post-processing software represented by QTC IMPACT. www.questertangent.com. Supplying software solutions to hydrographic and marine organizations since 1979, CARIS pioneered the use of geomatics technology in this industry. In this time the company has gained a secure understanding of the daily operations, technological needs, and challenges faced by their extensive hydrographic clientele. Contact Sheri Flanagan at flanagan@caris.com or visit http://www.caris.com.

SonarData develop and support the "SonarData Echoview®" software for display and analysis of data from scientific echosounders such as the Simrad EK60, BioSonics DT6000 and Kaijo KFC3000. Echoview is the leading software package for fisheries releated acoustic data analysis with around 60 institutes using the software world wide. Echoview offers users advanced multi-frequency and image analysis techniques for fish species classification. New innovations for 2001 include analysis of water column data from multibeam echosounders, support for the Simrad ES60 fishing echosounder and improved support for Simrad EA500 hydrographic sounder.

For more information E-mail Ian Higginbottom, at sonardata@sonardata.com or visit their web site at http://www.sonardata.com.

Richard Nasmith has accepted the challenge of directing a new PCI Geomatics Business Development department and will be responsible for increasing corporate involvement in new areas through joint ventures, strategic alliances, and other means, as well as identifying unique avenues of expansion. The position was offered to Richard due to his record of accomplishment in new revenue generation while directing International Sales for PCI Geomatics. PCI Geomatics believes that he has proven himself as the perfect candidate for this enterprising new role and is confident he will succeed in bringing new ventures to the company over the years to come.

Arnold Hougham has accepted the position of Vice-President of Sales and will be leading the overall worldwide sales efforts, excluding India, for PCI Geomatics. Arnold has been instrumental in promoting PCI Geomatics products by helping customers get the product solutions they need, while strengthening relationships with distribution channel members in North America. Arnold Hougham has been recognized by the Canadian Remote Sensing Society for partnership building in the remote sensing community. Arnold Hougham will apply his talents immediately in 2001 when overseeing the global promotion of PCI Geomatics products and furthering customer satisfaction. Contact Anthony Melihen at: melihen@pcigeomatics.com or read the full press release at: http://www.pcigeomatics.com/pressnews/2001appointments.htm For digital photos: http://www.pcigeomatics.com/pressnews/2001appointments.htm.

The Autosub development is a continuing program funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) which has successfully designed, built and operated Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV's) for use in environmental and oceanographic research. Autosub, an 'underwater robot', has the ability to navigate a predetermined course collecting data from a suite of sensors. When it returns to the surface, it down loads the data for analysis. Southampton Oceanography Centre (SOC), a joint venture between NERC and the University of Southampton, has been involved in the program from its inception in 1994 and the AUV and development teams have performed more than 250 operational missions. The vehicle is currently on its way to the Antarctic to commence a series of under-ice missions on behalf of the British Antarctic Survey.

Halliburton Subsea, a leading Offshore Construction, Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) and Survey contractor, intends to build on the know-how from the Autosub Program. Using its experience in the design, build and operation of underwater vehicles, Halliburton will introduce an advanced range of AUV's for use in the field of offshore oil and gas exploration and production. A team of engineers has already started the transfer of technology from SOC and the commercial development to bring Autosub to the offshore market, with trials of a Survey AUV scheduled for the third quarter 2001. Keith Birch of SOC said, "We are very happy to be part of this agreement. We have always had the hope that the development of Autosub would lead to commercial applications. We hope that the continued development of subsea technology at SOC for science missions, such as the under ice program, will lead to further commercial applications."

The deal, to run over 10 years, should be worth several million pounds to the University of Southampton and will benefit SOC in particular. "This is a very significant licence agreement for the University, SOC and NERC," said Dr Peter Hooper, Deputy Director of the University's Centre for Enterprise and Innovation. "AUTOSUB is a world beating, technologically advanced development and it is exciting to see it taken up by one of the world's biggest companies in the marine survey sector. This is an excellent example of technology transfer, where a major investment in science has now led to an advanced technology with real commercial applications," he said.

Dr Hooper also acknowledged the contribution of DERA to the AUTOSUB program, and confirmed it will also be a beneficiary of the deal. For more details and the full press release, visit the Halliburton Corporate web site at the following link: http://www.halliburton.com/corp/corpNWS/corpNWS_011701.asp

Under the deal, Mexico obtained rights to about 60 percent of the 6,500-sq. mile area in the Gulf, and the United States 40 percent. U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Davidow called the agreement, signed Wednesday in Mexico City, "a historic moment in relations between our two countries." "The negotiations were always difficult, but the result was equitable for both sides," Davidow said. For more details, go to: http://news.excite.com/news/ap/010118/04/int-mexico-us-gulf

Companies will have tight, flexible integration between Autodesk's family of popular GIS software products and a proven enterprise GIS server. In addition to engineering users, business users can now visualize and edit mapping and design data in their day-to-day business operations and processes, reducing operational costs, streamlining decision-making, and improving customer service.

Autodesk GIS Design Server, based on the proven performance of the VISION technology acquired by Autodesk in 1999, seamlessly and quickly delivers location-based and design data to the engineering and business user's desktop, via the Web and in the field. For more details and the full press release, visit: http://www.profsurv.com/ps_scripts/news_db.idc?id=2375

The notice which emanated from the Marine Inspectorate of the Federal Ministry of Transport stated that all implementation would be guided by-- for full details, visit: http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/maritime/mr809702.html

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