The transponders were deployed on cable sections in 22 m (72 ft) of water and positioned with acoustic acquisition equipment and software aboard one of the line vessels used by the crew. The boat was supplied with an interrogation transducer that was deployed from its 'buoy scooper' recovery device.

The Fairfield crew operates with 5 vessels that include the Explorer, which acts as the source and mother vessel. The Encounter is used to deploy the cable and radio telemetry units and the Vision and Mirage which act as line vessels to monitor and replace ground stations.

The Express, operates as a crew and chase vessel. The trials demonstrated to the Fairfield crew that the ground stations could be accurately and efficiently positioned with varied geometries achieving ranges to the transponders of up to 1,500 metres.

When the full order quantity of transponders has been delivered, they will be used to determine the final positions of all the ground stations. The transponders will also permit the relocation of lost or moved cable sections which is particularly important when shrimping vessels are operating in the area.

Fairfield will use its own radio telemetry based 'BOX' system to shoot 3D 4-component ocean bottom seismic in the Gulf of Mexico. Seismic data acquisition will be controlled by Concept Systems 'GATOR' software.

Sonardyne International is based in Yateley, England. The company has offices in Aberdeen, Houston, Singapore, Macaé and Oslo. It is recognised as a world leader in the design and manufacture of advanced acoustic instruments and systems for accurate survey, positioning and tracking in shallow and full ocean depth operations within the offshore oil and gas industries. More from Paul Eastaugh, Images to accompany this press release are available electronically or on CD by contacting paul.eastaugh@cwcom.net, Sonardyne Media Services or Tel: +44-118-934 1101, Fax: +44 118-934-1137, Mobile: 07889-432014 or on the web at http://www.sonardyne.co.uk

Tasks will include pipeline and flowline touchdown monitoring, setting acoustic arrays, sled deployment and assisting in the installation of SCRs at the host facility. Additional responsibilities for Sonsub comprise flowline and well jumper metrology, installation of span rectification measures and conducting an as-built survey of all export pipelines and flowlines.

Located approximately 144 miles southeast of New Orleans, LA, the Na Kika development is composed of 5 independent fields in the Mississippi Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico, ranging in water depths from 5,800 fsw to 7,000 fsw.

Sonsub, a Saipem Group company, is recognized as an established leader in the development and application of quality, cost-effective solutions for subsea environments. Specializing in subsea construction engineering and remote intervention, Sonsub maintains offices in the USA, United Kingdom, Norway, Italy and South East Asia. For more information, please contact Wade Abadie at Sonsub Inc., 15950 Park Row, Houston, TX 77084. Telephone: +281-552-5800. Fax: +281-552-5909. E-mail: wade.abadie@sonsub.com

SEADeViL incorporates Kearfott's SEANAV inertial navigation system, RDI's Workhorse Navigator Doppler Velocity Log (DVL) and an embedded GPS receiver. SEADeViL provides a highly sophisticated integrated system that offers improved performance over discrete devices as well as eliminating the mechanical alignment normally required during installation.

The system has operational flexibility by offering a choice of two inertial rate sensors (24cm or 16cm path length Monolithic Ring Laser Gyro), three DVLs (300, 600 or 1200kHz), three pressure housings (1000, 3000 or 6000m), the option of an external GPS receiver in place of the embedded receiver and RS422 input/output.

The 457x228mm cylinder weighs 27kg in air (16.8kg in water) in its 3000m mounting, with a power requirement (20-40 VDC) of 35 Watts average at 32 VDC. Contact Graham Lester, RD Instruments, 9855 Businesspark Avenue, San Diego, CA 92131-1101, USA. Tel: +1 (858) 693 1178 Fax: +1 (858) 695 1459 Email: news@rdinstruments.com

Initial system trials were conducted in September 2001 off the coast of Livorno, Italy by Thales-Geosolutions on their vessel MV Thetis. The Harbor Acceptance Test (HAT) involved equipment delivery verification, operation, and interfacing tests. The MV Thetis then set sail and successfully completed the Sea Acceptance Test (SAT). The combination of the HAT and SAT verified the 150° swath coverage, range performance, repeatability, and accuracy.

The Council for National Research, also known as CNR or the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Istituto di Acoustica, had defined stringent range performance requirements and the SAT demonstrated that the SeaBat 8111-ER exceeded these requirements by a significant margin.

The SeaBat 8111-ER is an optional upgrade to the standard SeaBat 8111 MBES system. It operates at 100kHz and is in operation worldwide by leading hydrographic and oceanographic organizations who are tasked with the mapping of the earth's continental shelves. In ideal water conditions, the SeaBat 8111-ER is capable of mapping from one to 1,000 meters below the small and portable transducer.

The "ER" option requires no changes in the transducer array of the standard 8111 system, enabling existing systems to be easily upgraded and maintaining the 8111's portability and installation on small vessels.

For CNR, RESON delivered and installed a custom-designed mounting frame and fairing for the vessel that allows the collection of accurate survey data at speeds up to 12 knots. The 8111-ER system is suitable for both hull-mounting and portable installations.

CNR is the Council for National Research, an organization within the Italian government that promotes and performs various technical and scientific research activities. The SeaBat 8111-ER system will be used for general survey work and research.

RESON is a leading provider of sonar equipment and software that meet the most stringent requirements of today's advanced hydrographic, offshore exploration, marine surveillance, and military applications. RESON provides compelling value to its global customer base by offering complete sonar solutions that span the entire spectrum of data collection, compilation, and presentation. With corporate offices in Denmark and a presence in 24 countries worldwide, RESON has been advancing state-of-the-art underwater acoustic technology for more than 25 years. For further information, please visit http://www.reson.com.

The U.S. government hired SMIT, a salvage company, to tow the Ehime Maru to a more workable water depth of 33 meters. SMIT used the Rockwater 2 to locate and retrieve the Ehime Maru. Undersea operations were completed by Canyon Offshore's three ROVs positioned with C&C Technologies' LBL and USBL acoustic systems.

After the exact location was determined, the sunken vessel was securely harnessed, lifted off the seafloor and slowly towed to shallow waters. Following a 3-day tow, the vessel was finally in diver workable water depths. For more information please send email to info@cctechnol.com.

The AUV is planned to begin a cruise off the coast of Hokkaido in February of 2002. This is the second sale of an Ice Profiler™ for AUV applications, following a sale to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute earlier this year.

For more information contact Chris Elmer, Sales and Marketing Manager, Email: calmer@aslenv.com, or visit their website at: http://www.aslenv.com

Magic Earth will deliver the new bundled software/hardware PC solution to customers in the first quarter of 2002. Commenting on the announcement, Yin L. Cheung, Magic Earth Executive Vice President and Director of Technology, said, "Magic Earth's Linux application marks a strategic move to expand our suite of scalable solutions and advances our on-going business objective to bring value to our customers through constant innovation. Desktop Linux has emerged as a viable computing platform for businesses in the energy industry, and Magic Earth is responding to the growing demand for the reliability and low-cost structure that Linux offers. GeoProbe 2.6 on Linux is a complete solution with the same feature set, user interface and proven performance our customers have come to rely on in their visualization and interpretation workflow. This new product provides the unique capabilities of our industry-leading software on a cost-effective desktop platform."

The new product offering will expand the list of bundled software/hardware solutions available from Magic Earth, and will provide customers with a broader range of seamless choices to fit their exploration technology needs - from very small datasets to the large regional-scale datasets common in the industry.

Magic Earth will continue to develop and support GeoProbe on SGI hardware running IRIX, recognizing that the SGI(TM) Onyx(R) family of graphics supercomputers uniquely serves a critical need in the oil and gas industry - fast, interactive visualization of very large datasets.

Magic Earth, Inc., headquartered in Houston, is a privately held company that specializes in state-of-the-art volume visualization and interpretation solutions including GeoProbe software, training, consultation services for interpretation projects and large-screen immersive visualization centers. Magic Earth's offices are located in Houston and Austin, Texas; and its Europe, Africa and Middle East subsidiary, Magic Earth Ltd., is based in London. For additional information about Magic Earth and GeoProbe, visit the company's website at http://www.magicearth.com . For the complete press release, click here...

As Vice President Operations, David will take responsibility for execution of all offshore projects undertaken by Sonsub Inc. This role within the Sonsub organization has recently taken on more responsibility and added complexity due to the expansion of Sonsub into more complex and comprehensive subsea construction contracting, including the management of long term vessel charters.

Sonsub, a Saipem Group company, is recognized as an established leader in the development and application of quality, cost-effective solutions for subsea environments. Specializing in subsea construction engineering and remote intervention, Sonsub maintains offices in the USA, United Kingdom, Norway, Italy and South East Asia. For more information, please contact Wade Abadie at Sonsub Inc., 15950 Park Row, Houston, TX 77084. Telephone: 281-552-5800. Fax: 281-552-5909. E-mail: wade.abadie@sonsub.com

The two contracts are expected to generate combined revenues of approximately $121 million to Global Marine. Both contracts include options for extension of up to one year.

The Glomar Adriatic I is a Marathon LeTourneau 116-C design equipped with 410 feet of leg. The rig modifications will include installation of a third 5,000-psi mud pump, five new engines, a new top drive, increased mud pit capacity, larger drill pipe, as well as expanded crew quarters. The Glomar Adriatic I is currently operating offshore Gabon in West Africa. Drilling operations for TotalFinaElf are expected to begin in second quarter 2002 after the estimated two-month rig upgrade has been completed.

The Glomar Baltic I, a Marathon LeTourneau Super 300 design with 515 feet of leg, is expected to mobilize to West Africa in the second quarter of next year following completion of its current contract in Trinidad. The jackup recently underwent a significant upgrade with the installation of three new 7,500-psi mud pumps, five new engines and other enhancements. Additional upgrades that are expected to take 10 days will be carried out to the mud pit capacity, setback area and skidding capabilities as well as the crew quarters. Combined, these upgrades will make the Glomar Baltic I the highest specification jackup rig on the west coast of Africa.

Houston-based Global Marine is a major international offshore drilling contractor with one of the industry's youngest, diversified and technologically advanced drilling fleets. The company's 33 premium mobile drilling units include jackups, semisubmersibles and dynamically positioned ultra-deepwater drillships. In addition, the company is the world's leading provider of drilling management services, including turnkey, daywork and project management. For the complete story/press release, click here...

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