The world's leading suppliers are exhibiting in Miami next week at the first Oceanology International exhibition and conference to be held in the Americas. Few leave OI off their exhibition or conference calendar. Attend once and you'll be convinced. The Oceanology International series is the benchmark against which other marine science and ocean technology events are measured.

The OI team works constantly year-round, networking with industry, academia, the R & D community and governments to ensure an unsurpassed audience. 3000 of your colleagues are expected to meet in Miami for Oceanology International Americas from April 3 - 5, 2001. Are you planning to join them?

Visit the website for full information on who is exhibiting, where to stay, the location of the meeting and the full schedule of events. Visit http://www.oiamericas.com

Personnel Available / Personnel Wanted
Next month E-PageAds will turn on it's 'PERSONNEL' portals. These sites will be FREE to people wanting to post their CV's/resumes with a small fee to companies advertising for personnel. Once again the site will initially be focused towards the Geophysical, Survey and Underwater markets. Individuals seeking employment and companies recruiting personnel are invited to e-mail personnel@E-PageAds.com for further information.

E-PageAds has emerged as one of the most focused sites in the industry recording almost 6-figure monthly hits on their sites. E-PageAds Inc. offers online web page services where subscribers have 365/24/7 password protected access for easy editing of their own advertising web pages. Your Ad can then be viewed in six languages and you can send your unique URL to your own client database to advise them of new products etc. E-PageAds also sends out a FREE weekly newsletter to promote the service. To subscribe email subscribe@E-PageAds.com or click here. Visit E-PageAds.com Inc. Used and Surplus Equipment Equipment Portal at http://www.e-pageads.com/consigned/

EPC has also new representation in Finland with Oy Meridata Finland Ltd. Meridata, founded in 1977, is a Finland-based company that in addition to representing EPC, designs, manufactures and markets hydroacoustic survey systems for high resolution bathymetry and sub-bottom profiling. For more information, e-mail Ted Curley or visit thier web site at http://www.epclabs.com

The information in "Wrecks" Database is provided by combining two public domain resources-positioning information from the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The nearly 200,000 records available make this the largest database of its kind on the Internet. Nauticos is committed to continuously updating, refining, and discovering more data to include in this database, as well as other public databases which will be accessible in the near future.

Nauticos provides operations and navigation expertise that specializes in deep-ocean search and underwater problem solving. Its deep-sea exploration experts offer extensive experience and unique technologies that significantly reduce the search time and lower the cost of at-sea operations. These core capabilities enable Nauticos to find any object on the ocean floor to the deepest depths. For more information contact Amy M. Heck at +410-859-8080 or on the web at http://www.nauticos.com

The AUV Industry Group is organised as an ad hoc sub-committee of the ROV committee of the MTS. The agenda will be to set up a committee and working groups to look at several issues raised at UI2001 in Tampa. These are:

• Standardisation of sensor/hardware interfaces.
• Drafting a Code of Operational Conduct (This item has already been looked at by IMCA and a document prepared, should this be the basis for our document?)
• Attempting to set QA/QC standards for (a) Navigation/positioning data and (b) sensor data (this last item could possibly be looked at by two related working groups).

Participants are requested to turn up promptly. For more details, contact Brian Morr of Technosphere, Inc. at brianmorr@t-sphere.com

"These assets are ideally situated in and around existing Ocean-operated properties and complement our strong position in east Texas and north Louisiana," said John Schiller, Ocean executive vice president-operations. "We have identified a significant number of opportunities that will enhance our project inventory and create operational synergies that will benefit our cost structure in this area."

The deal should close on or before April 20, Ocean said. Ocean shares closed Friday at $17.60 on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock 52-week range is $10.50 to $12.70. See press release: http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/010326/n26496104.html

It listed in a statement Conoco, Enterprise, Phillips, RWE-DEA and Statoil as those companies which have received offers of operatorships in new areas. Companies which have received offers for participation were Agip, Aker Maritime, Chevron, Enterprise oil, EssoMobil, Fortum , Norsk Hydro and RWE-DEA. The ministry also said the State's Direct Financial Interest (SDFI) has a 30 per cent share in one licence. "The North Sea Awards 2000 is important for the long-term resource management on the Norwegian Continental Shelf," Oil and Energy Minister Olav Akselsen said in a statement. "Carrying out this round will contribute to increased exploration activity, and may in the longer term give new fields developments," he said. See the complete press release at: http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=12708

Completely refurbished and converted in 10 months last year from the former jackup Marine 7, the Ocean Legend recently was transported from the Gulf of Mexico around the Cape of Good Hope to Dampier Harbor, Australia, on the heavy-lift vessel Transhelf. After offloading, Ocean Legend was wet-towed 62-miles to the Legendre oil fields and jacked-up on location. First oil is anticipated before mid-year. The Ocean Legend has production equipment capable of stabilizing and processing 50,000 b/d of oil, treating and cleaning 60,000 b/d of water and reinjecting 40 MMcf/d of gas. See: http://www.oilonline.com/news2/news_international_hotline_oc032601.html

"They have always had problems in the United States." Fahnestock & Co. analyst Fadel Gheit said of the Anglo-Dutch oil company. "A few years ago they went on a major restructuring because the guys in Europe weren't happy with the U.S. business," added Gheit. "I'm still not sure they know what they are doing." Complete press release at: http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=12734

The alternative, using a diving support vessel, would have been considerably more expensive and much more weather dependent. Additional expenses were saved due to reduced interfaces onto Shell's permanent hardware, which impacted the flowbase design/fabrication costs. As a result, Shell Expro has now selected DFCS interfaces as a standard for future flowbases requiring diverless flexible flowline tie-in operations. Sonsub is a Saipem Group company. For the complete press release, visit: http://www.oilonline.com/news2/news_international_hotline_so032601.html

Sonardyne Inc is seeking an Applications Engineer to work in their Houston facility. Reporting to the Sales Manager, the position will involve extensive technical and commercial contact with new and existing clients.

Suitable candidates will have 3 to 5 years practical operational experience in the offshore industry. Experience in either the drilling, marine survey or seismic industry sectors is essential and a knowledge of acoustic positioning systems would be beneficial. The position will require excellent inter-personal skills, self motivation and the ability to work in a small dynamic customer focussed team. Previous commercial experience is preferred but not essential.

Sonardyne Inc is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sonardyne International, a world leader in the design and supply of subsea acoustic equipment to the world's survey, drilling and seismic contractors. The successful candidate will receive a comprehensive benefits package with good opportunities for career development.

If you are in the offshore industry and are looking to develop your skills in a wider environment we would like to hear from you. Applications in writing or e-mail to: Jonathan Davis, Sonardyne Inc., 11210 Steeplecrest Drive Suite 360, Houston, TX 77065 USA or e-mail him at jpd@sonardyne.com