The expedition was funded by UK-based Channel Four Television (Channel 4) and will be the subject of a major series of documentary programmes and a book that traces the history of these awe-inspiring vessels and sheds new light on the events leading to their sinking. A dedicated website (www.channel4.com/hood) traced every step of the expedition and achieved a UK internet "first" of streaming live-video from the wrecks using a marine-based satellite communication system known as SeaCast.

The international team assembled by BWR first re-located Bismarck in 4,700 metres of water and extensively filmed the intact hull to determine the amount of damage that had been inflicted by British gunnery and torpedoes. Although the wreck was first located in 1989 by a team led by Dr. Robert Ballard, the precise seabed position had been kept a secret so the wreck had to be relocated by side-scan sonar. Broadcast quality video and digital photography of the sides of the hull revealed shell and torpedo damage previously unseen leading to fresh ideas about what actually caused Bismarck to sink.

The expedition's focus then shifted 1,100 nautical miles north to the last known position of Hood in the Denmark Strait. Unlike Bismarck, no attempt had ever been made to locate Hood. Although the team had been prepared to search for 8 days and cover roughly 600 square nautical mile in its hunt for Hood, the wreck was located in just 39 hours. David Mearns says: "our painstaking archive research and navigational analysis really paid off in the fast finding of Hood and saved the project about six days of costly sea-time."

The investigation of Hood concentrated on trying to learn precisely why she sank so fast (in less than 3 minutes) after being hit by a shell from only the 5th salvo from Bismarck. The filming was complicated by unusually strong underwater currents in the 2,800 metre waters where Hood lies and by heavy corrosion and marine growth on the wreck. While no smoking gun answer was found to the main question about the loss of Hood, startling new evidence was uncovered which helps to explain why her sinking was so catastrophic and the loss of life so high - only 3 men from the crew of 1,418 survived.

Memorial services were conducted at the site of both wrecks in honour of the men that died serving on the ships, which included the placing of professionally crafted bronze plaques on the wrecks. The plaques incorporated a digital Roll of Honour listing the name, rank, serial number and service organisation for every man that lost his life. In the expedition's most moving moment, Ted Briggs, the sole living survivor from Hood, was transported to the expedition vessel to pay a final tribute to his former friends and shipmates and was allowed to physically release the memorial plaque on to Hood.

Special legal permissions were granted to David Mearns for the expedition from both the UK and German Governments. The expedition, which was conducted on a strict "look but don't touch basis", also enjoyed the support of the HMS Hood Association and Official Website, the Royal Naval Association, the Royal British Legion, and the Kameradschaft Bismarck.

BWR was supported on the project by a number of key subcontractors: MARR Vessel Management provided the survey vessel Northern Horizon; Oceaneering Technologies provided the Ocean Explorer 6000 side-scan sonar and Magellan 725 ROV systems and operations team; Insite Tritech provided video and digital still cameras; Thales Geosolutions provided DGPS navigation services; Metworks provided weather forecasting; IMC Superhub provided email communications; and BFS Engineering provided consulting services.

The first documentary, HUNT FOR HOOD, was aired by Channel 4 in early August less than a week after the expedition ended. It will be broadcast in a customised format in the US on 31 October by co-producer PBS. Two feature-length documentaries, one on Bismarck and one on Hood, are scheduled to be shown in the UK in late-December and in the US in February - again in a customised format. The programmes have been produced by ITN Factual. A book written by David Mearns and Rob White - "HOOD and BISMARCK - The Deep-sea Discovery of an Epic Battle" has been published by Channel 4 Books to accompany the programmes. It is to be released on 23 November 2001.

For additional information please and Technical matters contact David Mearns, Blue Water Recoveries Ltd., +44 (0) 1730 811 500; david@bluewater.uk.com. For Press & pictures, contact Matthew Robinson: +44 (0) 20 7306 3747 by e-mail at mrobinson@channel4.co.uk

TSS' US facility has expanded over the last few months to increase the level of engineering support TSS provide in the US and to provide expansion for the companies launch of new products over the next few months. Robby's principle tasks will be developing the commercial marine market for the Meridian range of Gyrocompasses and the new OCEAN Voyage Data Recorder, the first of several new TSS products; OCEAN meets the need for 'Black-Box' recorders for marine vessels as defined by IMO Resolution A.861. In addition Robby will support the existing team supporting TSSs extensive operations in the Survey industry.

Robby has worked in the electronics field for 25 years. His past experiences as an engineer has included hydrographic survey project management, hydroacoustic systems, satellite/terrestrial communications systems, GPS receiver development, defense suppression systems, oceanographic sensors, and seismic data collection systems. Previously Mr Coggin was technical manager for Dynamic and Acoustic Positioning Systems at Oceaneering with responsibilities for new build construction and operations of DP-2 systems on Oceaneering's "Intervention" Class vessels.

TSS design, manufacture and support Survey, Navigation and Oceanographic instrumentation for the Marine industry. Regional offices in Houston and Aberdeen supported by an extensive network of agents and distributors world-wide provide 24hr global support to an extensive client base. TSS are committed to providing world-class product and engineering support to all of its customers. For further information please contact Robert Balloch, Sales and Marketing Director, TSS UK Ltd. by e-mail at: rballoch@tssuk.co.uk

Over 100 people from the LIDAR mapping industry attended last year's Forum and represented every major LIDAR operator in North America, as well as LIDAR system and component manufacturers, hardware and software companies, universities and end-users.

This year the ILMF is offering an expanded view of the industry, including both bathymetry and low-level LIDAR systems, and will have key speakers provide an update on the state of the LIDAR industry. Other presentation and discussion topics on the agenda include LIDAR and digital imagery software and data format issues.

Much of the benefit of the Forum is derived from the networking opportunities. The popular Icebreaker will again be held on the preceding evening and this year the organizers are extending the lunch session to allow additional time for attendees to network.

The registration fee is $195 per person. The forum will be held at the Hyatt Regency Denver Downtown where special room rates are available.

For further information please contact the Forum organizers: Andy Bogle, TMS International, Inc. 14739 Bramblewood Drive, Houston. Texas 77049 Tel: +281.870.9407 Fax: +281.870.8847 or by e-mail to organizer@lidarmap.com . Visit their web site at http://www.lidarmap.org

Sub-Atlantic with over 250 thrusters in service worldwide are pleased that Submersible Television Surveys have chosen the SA380 thruster and the lightweight eight station thruster control valve pack. During the selection process great emphasis was put on weight, size, power efficiency and of course reliability. All thrusters supplied by Sub-Atlantic have been tested and witnessed by an independent third party.

Sales have steadily increased over the last year with an ever increasing client base with many repeat orders and a surprisingly small amount of spares being purchased, this proves the Sub-Atlantic policy of high quality innovative engineering where the customer comes first. For more information on Sub-Atlantics range of products contact Scott Jamieson,Tel: + 01224-723623, Fax: + 01224-723822, or by e-mail at: scottj@sub-atlantic.co.uk

Designed as a small inspection class ROV, the Stingray is a flexible and modular design, enabling the customer to easily and efficiently configure the system for a wide range of inspection and light work task operations. The Stingray can be fitted with a range of video cameras, film or digital cameras, electronic flashes, NDT devices, navigation, and a range of manipulators.

Benthos personnel worked with Alternative Structural Technologies, Inc. and The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to survey the face of the dam around the flood control conduits. The Stingray operated in depths of 220 feet and penetrated over 125 feet into the 5-foot wide x 9-foot high conduits to the emergency flood control gates. The Stingray was then used to verify the placement of the emergency bulkhead gate on the face of the dam using a wide-angle camera that comes standard with the Stingray.

After the demo, Benthos received an order from Alternative Structural Technologies, Inc, construction contractors in Rancho Cordova, CA. Delivery of the system is scheduled for October 2001. The Stingray ROV performed its second field service operation to inspect the intake for a lake source cooling plant for Cornell University at Cayuga Lake, Ithaca, NY. Benthos personnel worked with Cornell University's Department of Utilities and Lighthouse Marine to survey the intake as well as the outfall at the plant.

The University needed to inspect the grating around the cooling water intake to make sure that the mysid shrimp that live in the lake were not blocking the intake grate. The Stingray operated to depths greater than 250 feet while surveying the intake. The 3-foot diameter outfall was also inspected to confirm that the diffusers weren't being blocked or damaged by Zebra mussels.

Benthos, Inc., through its Undersea Systems Division, designs, manufactures, sells and services a variety of oceanographic products for underwater applications. The common stock of the Company is traded on the Nasdaq SmallCap market under the symbol BTHS. For more information, Benthos can be found on the Internet at http://www.benthos.com.

Each photo must be accompanied by a detailed caption of 20-30 words. Participation is not contingent upon advertising, and there is no limit to how many images you can submit (the more colorful and unique the image of your vehicle is, the better). Companies are also invited to submit editorial to other features, including:

• Case Studies: Navigation and Positioning - Manufacturers of navigation and positioning software, along with contractors that utilize it in the field, are invited to describe a recent project that showcased their unique capabilities.

• Marketplace: Diving Apparel & Equipment - Manufacturers are invited to describe their latest commercial diving suits, helmets, gloves, boots, knives, tools, and other accessories.

If you would like to promote your company with a submission e-mail editor@doylepublishing.com or call 281-440-0278. Deadline is November 16, although the earlier you get your materials in, the better your positioning and exposure in any given feature.

• Modules in Petroleum Engineering: Oct 2001 to March 2002
• Integrated Reservoir Management: 8 April-5 July 2002 IFP-France/ICL

Using Special Core Analysis in Reservoir Engineering - Wettability, Relative Permeability & Residual Oil Saturation 26 - 28 November 2001 at ICL
Presented by Jess Stiles, this course is designed for reservoir engineers and geologist involved in modelling petroleum reservoirs, and to geoscientists working in the area of reservoir characterisation. In this unique course the causes of discrepancies in laboratory results are revealed and the importance of reservoir wettability, in defining water-oil relative permeability, is explained.

Lectures and practical exercises are used to illustrate how laboratory results can be analysed, assessed and refined for use in either classical hand calculations or reservoir simulation. The course should be particularly useful in explaining why production from some reservoirs declines earlier than predicted and/or why oil recovery from others is significantly more than initially forecast.

For more information regarding course and events at the Imperial College, contact Hersha Mistry, Imperial College, Centre for Continuing Education, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 20 7594 6884, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7594 6883, email: h.mistry@ic.ac.uk, http://www.ad.ic.ac.uk/cpd/rcm.htm

Click Here For More 'NEW' Notices/Announcments From MMS:

MMS is the federal agency in the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages the nation's oil, natural gas and other mineral resources on the outer continental shelf in federal offshore waters. The agency also collects, accounts for and disburses mineral revenues http://www.mrm.mms.gov/Stats/disb.htm from federal and Indian leases. These revenues totaled nearly $8 billion last year and more than $110 billion since the agency was created in 1982. Annually, nearly $1 billion from those revenues go into the Land and Water Conservation Fund for the acquisition and development of state and federal park and recreation lands.

Broad-leaved trees characterised by a faster growth must indeed be cut at precise moments in order not to hinder the development of coniferous trees. In order to better plan and define clearing works that should be prioritised, Abitibi Consolidated has developed a classification system associated to the density of broad-leaved trees obstructing the growth of coniferous trees. Once the classification has been completed, spadework performed with mechanical equipment facilitate the growth of plantations as per planned schedules.

The classification and detailed mapping of clearing areas represent the greatest challenge. Forestry workers must have updated information in-hand with regards to the status of plantations; this data cannot be obtained from aerial photography dating back for more than one year. Up to now, the only means of filling the gap was to perform on-site surveys by foot. However, this approach is not very productive and does not provide a global view of the terrain. The Cyclop-3D georeferenced aerial imagery has been used here by Abitibi Consolidated to classify and map clearing areas. Two main sectors have been selected for technology bench testing.

Preliminary project results confirm the great potential offered by the Cyclop-3D aerial imagery for obtaining such type of information for large territories. Using Cyclop-3D imagery and interpretation guidelines, expert-analysts can identify and regroup according to density and height factors, areas where broad-leaved trees obstruct the growth of coniferous trees. According to the existing classification, georeferenced polygons are traced around homogenous units of vegetation within clearing areas. These polygons are exported to a GIS to complete mapping operations, to perform the classification and calculate the surface area of the territory to handle.

It is then possible to delimit polygons on-site using a GPS to which polygons will have been transferred, or by printing image mosaics built from Cyclop-3D imagery. To optimise production activities, imagery may be shot at the end of the summer in order to perform interpretation during winter. Clearing works could then be performed more efficiently during spring while the absence of leaves facilitates work on the field. Other Cyclop-3D forestry applications are currently under study.

GEO-3D Inc. (http://www.geo-3d.com), a Montreal-based company (Canada), offers software solutions and services in the field of geographic information technologies. The company’s multidisciplinary team has acquired experience and know-how which allows it to offer value-added services to its clients by encouraging the use of high technology and multimedia. GEO-3D financial partners include Energy Capital (a subsidiary of Capitech/ Hydro-Quebec) as well as the Caisse de Dépôt et de Placement du Québec.

*** POSTPONED Oceanology Int. Pacific Rim, Singapore, Dec 4-6 ***