The Seaeye Panther Plus is a development of the original Seaeye Panther in response to an operational requirement developed with ROVTECH who operate the largest fleet of Seaeye ROVs. The agreed target was for greater power, payload, interface capability and a true light weight work class capability.

Forward thrust has been doubled to an impressive 220 kg and lateral thrust increased from 85 kg to 170 kg with a relatively small increase of the vehicle's in air weight to 462 kg. Payload has also been increased to 105 kg. These improved performance figures translate into handling characteristics that pilots report as being 'simply spectacular'.

Visually, the distinguishing feature of the Seaeye Panther Plus is 4 additional vectored SM5 brushless DC thrusters providing a total of 8 vectored horizontal thrusters in pairs and 2 vertical thrusters. The ROV frame has been slightly enlarged to accommodate these thrusters, improve through frame water flow and provide space for a 12 function hydraulic valve pack for tooling and manipulator applications.

'We see enormous potential for this new ROV both here in the North Sea and operating from our Singapore Office' said Andrew Beveridge, ROVTECH's MD, 'We now have a work class capability in an electric vehicle weighing under half a ton and costing less than a third of an Alstom Quest. To this vehicle we have added our own tooling for AX ring removal, cable cutting and other drill support as well as survey operations' he added.

For more detailed information visit http://www.seaeye.com/prods1pantherplus.html

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The Model 9206 is a "wide-bed" or 20" thermal recorder that incorporates a High-Speed Parallel, RS-232 and the new Network Socket Interface. Although this new TGR has sold mostly into military applications, the geophysical market has embraced it as an alternative to the all-purpose Model 9802.

The MP-1086 is a multi-purpose recording system that serves as a continuous gray scale printer, analog tow fish driver, mass storage device and signal processor. While operators are collecting side-scan sonar data they can log to the removable medium or save the data over the Network to a server.

Even without the tow fish interface and removable storage, the 1086NT still out-performs any competing thermal recorder on the market. The unit builds upon the industry standard GSP-1086-2 500 Series by incorporating the Network Interface, a 32-bit architecture, 256 shades of gray, speed correction, and slant range correction. The latest Klein sonars (Model 3000 and 5000) have been interfaced utilizing the new Socket Interface. EPC will be exhibiting all three models at the Oceanology International Conference in London Booth # 7/21.

For more details e-mail: sales@epclabs.com or go online to http://www.epclabs.com

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Ideally suited for use with small ROV's or other compact instrumentation packages, the Model 907 provides digital fiber optic transmission for 3 high quality video and 6 data channels in an extremely compact PC/104 form factor (3.55 x 3.775 x 0.5 inches). The module requires a single +5 VDC power input and supports both PAL and NTSC composite video, along with 4 RS-232 and 2 RS-485/422/TTL channels of bi-directional data. The standard 1310 nm dual fiber link supports operation in multimode or singlemode fiber with a typical optical budget of 20 dB. An optional external WDM and 1550 nm transceiver option permit operation on a single fiber. LED indicators provide on-board monitoring of link status and video/data activity.

For more information contact John Purdy, Sales Manager, FOCAL TECHNOLOGIES CORP. 40 Thornhill Drive, Unit 7, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3B 1S1 Telephone: (902) 468-2263 Toll Free (US): 1-800-361-2263 Fax: (902) 468-2249 or E-mail: info@focaltech.ns.ca. Visit their website at http://www.focaltech.ns.ca

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The symposium, which is being held in conjunction with Oceanology International (OI), will hear from 47 specialists, from nine countries, including Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The Alliance for Marine Remote Sensing (AMRS) Association, which has members in more than 40 countries, is hosting the symposium with the co-operation of Spearhead Exhibitions Ltd. Spearhead will host the main OI conference and trade show, which is expected to draw more than 300 exhibiting companies and more than 5,000 visitors.

The list of symposium sponsors is unprecedented for the Association. It includes the European Space Agency, NASA, Canadian Space Agency, British National Space Centre, NOAA, Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, U.S. Office of Naval Research (IFO), Canadian Defence Research Establishment Atlantic, U.S. National Ice Centre, Canadian Ice Services, Canadian Trade Commissioner Service and Industry Canada.

"The AMRS Association focuses on applied aspects of remote sensing" says Dr. Brian Whitehouse, symposium chairman and former executive director of the Association. "I can think of no better opportunity to do so than Oceanology International." AMRS is taking advantage of OI's objective of allowing other organizations to host their events along side of OI.

The event will be presented in three thematic sessions. Dr. William Jobst, Director of the Oceanography Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Stennis Space Center, USA, will give the keynote address at a special session on ocean models for defence-related initiatives. Cheryl Bertoia, Deputy Director of NOAA/NESDIS and the U.S. National Ice Center, Washington, DC, will give the keynote address at a special session on sea ice information. The final day will be devoted to emerging sensors and programs. Dr. David Williams, Head of Strategy and International Relations at Eumetsat, Germany, will give the keynote for this session.

The Operational Oceanography and Remote Sensing Symposium will be held 5-7 March in the ExCeL exhibitions centre, Docklands, London. The complete list of presenters, their abstracts, and an online registration form can be found at http://waterobserver.org/workshop-2002-03/ . Registration is free of charge to AMRS members and employees of sponsoring agencies. The Association's membership form is online at www.waterobserver.org.

Oceanology International's web site located at the following link: (http://www.oceanologyinternational.com/visitor/TheScopeOfOI/ ) provides travel directions, online accommodation booking, online registration for OI itself, and a complete overview of the main OI event.

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The 5 week long campaign began on the 1st December 2001 on board the Thales long-term charter vessel Petr Kottsov. The purpose built hydrographic research vessel was fitted with a hull-mounted Simrad EM 12S and EM 1002 multibeam echo sounder, Simrad EA 500 single beam system and an on-board GeoAcoustic deep tow Probe 5000 system. The primary positioning used for the campaign was the Thales SkyFix/SkyFix Premier DGPS and Thales MultiFix III Multiple Reference Station positioning software interfacing into the Thales Winfrog navigation system.

Thales provided a total of 11-specialist crew drawing upon Thales’ global pool of experienced personnel. Crew members provided by Thales included the Party Chief, underwater engineers, geophysicists and data processors from the Perth, Aberdeen and London offices.

The multibeam bathymetry survey is part of BHP Billiton’s ongoing petroleum exploration program in the Outer Browse Basin, which is located some 460 km north northwest of Broome. Approximately 10,000sq km of multibeam bathymetry and wavelet data capture was acquired and processed by Thales during this campaign in water depths ranging between 500m and 3500m.

"The multibeam bathymetry data acquired by Thales during the campaign is of high quality and met our requirements" said Grant McMurtrie, BHP Billiton Project Geologist.

In total, 3960 line kilometers were surveyed in 21 different areas between the 13th and 29th December 2001. All the data was processed on board the survey vessel and the final stage of data presentation and report compilation is currently being completed in the Thales Perth office. For further information please contact Thales’ Jon Mackay on +61 (0) 8 9344 7166 or sales.au@thales-geosolutions.com.

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Simultaneous real-time mosaic of sidescan sonar and processed Bathymetry data with independent views of each type of data; pipe line tracking and free-span detection on mosaicked data with generation of a data base with related query tools for analysis of pipeline status; These new features will be available in TEI Delph Map.

TEI data displays will take full advantage of 3 D representation including real-time bathymetry fully processed and shown in 3 D. The same new technology will allow a real-time overlay of sidescan and color-coded bathymetry on a 3D surface.

In the seismic domain, TEI will introduce data management for shallow-water seismic and sub-bottom profiles. Interpretation directly on geo-referenced data, cross-line check, and generation of surfaces from sub-bottom reflectors will improve the efficiency of working with sub-bottom data.

Triton Elics International develops integrated survey systems and advanced survey tools for commercial, academic, and military customers. More information is available on TEI's website at http://www.tritonelics.com

If you require any additional details, please contact Francois Wolf, Director of Marketing at +1 831 722 7373 or e-mail: fwolf@tritonelics.com

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This new instrument "looks" horizontally to distances of up to 200m through the water to measure currents at up to 128 individual points. This ability to be able to provide such a detailed description of the flow field distinguishes RDI's H-ADCP from a side-looking current meter and opens up multiple applications.

Applications for RDI's H-ADCP include: in rivers where it monitors discharge rates and obtains horizontal profiles of flow; in ports and harbours where a pier-mounted instrument monitors shipping channels to aid navigation and safety; in estuaries for defining complex circulation patterns and lateral mixing; and on exploration rigs, seismic vessels and in hydro-electric and tidal power plants.

RDI's H-ADCP uses patented Broadband signal processing to obtain the best combination of range, resolution and data quality compared with narrowband solutions. It measures water velocities up to five metres per second at as many as 128 individual points, centred at one depth. H-ADCP is self-contained and can be supplied with a system integration and telemetry module for relaying real-time information from remote sites.

As well as H-ADCP, RD Instruments is showing a full range of acoustic Doppler products at OI2002. These include instruments for measuring water flow in as little as 0.3m to full ocean depth; combined wave and current measuring bottom-mounted systems; and Doppler velocity logs which are installed on over 90 per cent of the world autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) fleet as well as over 100 ROVs.

There are over 2500 RDI ADCPs working in 50 nations worldwide to support offshore oil and gas exploration and development, hydrographic surveys, environmental studies and marine civil engineering activities.

More information from: Peter Spain, 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 or visit their web site at: http://www.rdinstruments.com or contact : Bob Barton. Tel: +44 (0) 1684 892819 Fax: +44 (0) 1684 560006 Email: bbartonmarketing@aol.com

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Valeport's Model 740 Portable Tide Gauge/Water Level Recorder has a vented underwater pressure transducer connected by cable to a battery-powered surface logger. The instrument reads water height at user-set intervals and stores up to three years of data with a single set of batteries. It is truly portable - the logger is 47x110x235mm and weighs just 1.7kg with batteries - and may be calibrated on site.

The Model 740 uses Valeport's Windows-based Tidelog software and is easily interfaced to standard hydrographic survey software packages such as HyPack.

The units sold to the Royal Navy have a radio communications option: real time data may thus be obtained and logged data extracted from an unattended gauge when required. The radio link comes as a separate package to give maximum flexibility in deployment and contains a bi-directional radio modem. Data is in ASCII text format for easy integration and display. The tide gauges were purchased for the Royal Navy by the Directorate Naval Surveying, Oceanography and Meteorology (DNSOM/EM1) Ministry of Defence.

Valeport exhibits on Stand 4/49 at the Oceanology International Exhibition and Conference, London, March 5-8. More details from: Kevin Edwards, Valeport Ltd, Townstal Ind. Estate, Dartmouth, Devon TQ6 9LX, UK T: +44 (0) 1803 834031 email: kedwards@valeport.co.uk or visit their web site at http://www.valeport.co.uk or contact Bob Barton. T: +44 (0) 1684 892819 email: bbartonmarketing@aol.com

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The NWRI has been contracted to help establish the operating protocols and quantitative procedures, as well as provide on-the-job training of Ugandan field staff. They will also provide essential scientific equipment.

NWRI is working with the United Nations University's (UNU) International Network on Water, Environment and Health (INWEH) , to establish a water quality monitoring programme by Africa's largest fresh water resource, Lake Victoria. The Lake Victoria Environmental Management Project (LVEMP) is a regional project being implemented by the three East African countries, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

The project is aimed at addressing the increasing environmental degradation and continued deterioration of the water quality of the lake. This degradation has been manifested through the frequent out-breaks of massive algal blooms resulting from eutrophication, increasing problem of anoxia, frequent fish kills and recurrent infestation of the lake with the Water Hyacinth.

The scientific analysis required requires that field measurements be undertaken for the limnological parameters of interest. This, in turn, requires the deployment of various measurement and sampling systems in designated areas of Lake Victoria that are representative of the spatial and time scales of physical processes being studied. The resultant data bases will provide the background information necessary to interpret the physical regime in the areas of study and serve to verify the results of hydrodynamical models.

RBR has been making precision electronic equipment for scientific research, production testing, automation and monitoring, for over 25 years. RBR provides appropriate engineering solutions for individual scientists, private companies, universities and government agencies.

More information at the following web sites:
National Water Research Institute visit:
http://www.cciw.ca/nwri

International Network on Water, Environment and Health visit: http://www.inweh.unu.edu/inweh

Richard Brancker Research Ltd visit:
http://www.brancker.com

For further details contact R. Sears, Marketing Manager, Richard Brancker Research Ltd, +1 (613) 233-1621 or e-mail: info@brancker.com or visit http://www.brancker.com

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Dion is a partner in the Montreal law firm of Brisset Bishop, she previously served for more than a decade as counsel in the Admiralty and Maritime Law section of the Canadian Department of Justice in Ottawa. An expert on information technology as it relates to maritime navigation, she currently serves as the chairman of the Legal Advisory Committee of the International Hydrographic Organization. Ms. Dion holds a B.A., LL.L., and LL.B. from the University of Ottawa and an LL.M. from Dalhousie University.

"We are proud to have Ms. Dion as our 2002 Conference keynote speaker," explains Conference Chair and CARIS Corporate Marketing Manager, Heather MacLean. "Her expertise in maritime and transportation litigation and electronic chart-related matters is of significant interest to our clients and ties in nicely with the quality presentations we have scheduled in the days to follow."

CARIS 2002, the Seventh Annual International CARIS Users' Conference and Educational Sessions, will be hosted in Norfolk, Virginia, USA, September 3-6 at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott Hotel.

Providing 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 maritime clientele. Join us for CARIS 2002 in Norfolk, Virginia from September 3rd - 6th. Visit http://www.caris.com or E-mail: caris2002@caris.com for more information.

More from Sheri Flanagan - Communication Specialist, Corporate Marketing, CARIS http://www.caris.com Tel: +1-506-458-8533 Fax: +1-506-459-3849

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The procedure is a set of rigorous tests completed by company representatives providing independent real-time QC offshore checks developed by Apache’s Craig Duncan and Thales’ Anthony Kerr.

The responsibility of 3rd party quality control representatives is now placed amongst individual members of the two operating companies. It is envisioned that the increase in responsibility level will encourage rig-positioning operations to be performed more efficiently.

Thales and Apache look forward to reaping immediate benefits with the new working relationship.

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The EGTTC is a state-of-the-art facility, equipped with Unix and PC-based workstations, that offers technical training, with emphasis on the integration of new concepts and modern technologies related to petroleum exploration and development. The courses are:

• Introduction to 3D Seismic Interpretation for Geologists and Engineers (4-5 March 2002)
• Rock Physics, AVO and Seismic Lithology (6-8 March 2002)
• Understanding Salt Tectonics: A Practical Approach for Seismic Interpretation (20-22 March 2002)
• Uncertainty Analysis, Risk Management and Decision Support (11-12 April 2002)
• Geological Significance of Well Tests (25-26 April 2002)
• Basin Modelling for Hydrocarbon Exploration (15-17 May 2002)
• Geological Reservoir Modelling for Flow Simulation (20-22 May 2002)

The presenters of these courses are all experienced teachers, who are also professionals with diverse industrial contacts, which ensures that they are well aware of the needs of professionals active in these fields.

Details of courses are available at http://www.ad.ic.ac.uk/cpd/egttc/courses.htm . For the European Geoscience Technology Training Programme, March to May 2002 at Imperial College, London, visit http://www.ad.ic.ac.uk/cpd/egttc/eg1.htm

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CRC, International Archaeology & Ecology, LLC (Cultural Resource Consultants) is an international cultural resource and environmental consulting firm located in Houston, Texas, USA. CRC is certified to operate in all 50 states, possessions and territories, North and South America, the European Union, Russia, and Ukraine, yet meets the United States Federal and State guidelines for a small business. CRC is well qualified to undertake all types of terrestrial or marine cultural resource and environmentally sensitive projects. Since our inception in 1993, we have built a reputation for high quality and cost effective work. Our main office is located in Houston, Texas, USA, with satellite offices in Navasota, Texas (Laboratory), Lafayette, LA, and Dneprodzerzhins'k, Ukraine.

CRC provides services that are essential to many individuals, industries, and governmental agencies. Pre-construction cultural resource and environmental investigation or mitigation plans are often required for land development, utility installations, oil and gas transportation, logging, ore mining, and construction projects licensed, funded, or permitted by International, Federal, State, and Municipal agencies. Environmental Assessments/Impact Statements are required before certain land disturbance. CRC provides the expert professional services required in guiding development projects through the permitting process and in identifying, assessing, and mitigating environmental and cultural resource issues on both private and public lands and waters. More information at their web site at http://www.culturalresource.com

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The three-day training will cover the changes in the company's new version of HYPACK MAX 005.b, including the new Single Beam editor program, the ADCP module, and the new HYPLOT program.

For more information, contact Lourdes Ramos by phone at +1 (860)349-3800, by e-mail at lourdes@coastalo.com, or you can visit http://www.coastalo.com

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