We were delighted to welcome a group from the Bournemouth School for Girls (BSG) Robotics Club to our headquarters on Monday 18th November. The group, who are part of the UK’s largest all girls robotics club, included five girls who represented the UK at the FIRST Global Challenge competition in Athens in September. Competing against […]

As we discussed in our first blog in this series, supporting education and academia is an important part of our business here at Sonardyne. Championing research in ocean science and the marine environment through the sponsorship of PhD programmes and the use of our products within them plays an important part in the future of […]

In our first two blogs, we explored the importance of subsea monitoring for offshore carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects and the key parameters that need to be measured. In this, our final blog, we’ll delve into how our innovative technology is transforming the landscape of CCS monitoring, making it more efficient, cost-effective and environmentally […]

As we discussed in our first blog, offshore carbon capture and storage (CCS) has emerged as a promising technology to help reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in an effort to combat climate change. Offshore CCS offers great potential for storing large quantities of CO2 in redundant oil and gas wells or saline aquifers deep beneath […]

Climate change, driven primarily by the excessive emission of greenhouse gases, poses a significant threat to our planet’s ecosystems and human well-being. To mitigate this crisis, it is imperative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and explore innovative solutions. One such solution gaining prominence is carbon capture and storage (CCS). In this first of three blogs, […]

Important oceanographic data from Atlantic Ocean currents in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico has been gathered fully remotely, thanks to Sonardyne technology and an uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) supplied by SeaTrac Systems. A number of Sonardyne Origin 65 Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs) and Current Pressure Inverted Echo Sounders (CPIES) are positioned on the seabed […]

Welcome to our blog! At Sonardyne, we only use true north seeking gyrocompasses, not magnetic sensors, in our SPRINT-Nav range of hybrid-navigation products. Today we’re going to discuss why this is important for your subsea navigational needs. The choice of inertial measurement unit (IMU) technology in our SPRINT systems is critical, as it significantly impacts […]

We are proud to announce the next phase of the pioneering On Demand Ocean Bottom Node (OD OBN) development project in Brazil. The project, which began in 2018, involves a collaboration between industry partners including Shell Brasil Petróleo Ltda, Petrobras and SENAI CIMATEC and is supported under the Research Development and Infrastructure funding clause of […]

Edmund Ceurstemont, Oliver Tracey, Aidan Thorn and John Houlder. In our previous navigation series blog, we talked about the value of a tightly calibrated hybrid navigation system. In this blog we focus on the Doppler Velocity Log (DVL), why aperture size is important, and the crucial role it plays in the hybrid navigation system. Subsea […]

Sonardyne is leading a consortium of universities and technology companies in a ground-breaking underwater single photon mapping and imaging system project. They have been awarded £2.7m in funding from the Innovate UK Commercialising Quantum Technologies Challenge. The revolutionary underwater single photon imaging system (USPIS) project will develop next generation technology and equipment capable of delivering […]

Uncrewed surface vehicles are fast becoming a powerful tool in offshore operations across the defence, energy and science sectors. Marine Robotics Business Development Manager Aidan Thorn explains how using our Ranger 2 family of USBL transceivers with your uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) enables truly remote operations when tracking, positioning and communicating with unmanned underwater vehicles […]

In this first blog of our navigation series, we focus on our product calibration and why it’s so important for your operations. In marine robotic operations, reliable and accurate navigation ensures reliable and accurate data collection. Therefore, it’s important the sensors providing navigation inputs to the marine robot are performing optimally each time they are […]

Leading Taiwanese offshore geophysical and geotechnical investigation company PDE Offshore Corporation have upgraded their underwater acoustic positioning system onboard MV Geo Energy to Sonardyne’s Ranger 2 USBL system. This will further enhance their capability in the exploration of offshore renewable energy (ORE) in Taiwan. Their new geotechnical vessel Geo Power, also equipped with Ranger 2 […]

It’s not often you get all the right people in one room. At the end of last year we managed just that. Sonardyne held a two-day Seabed Deformation Technical Workshop bringing together some key members of the Sonardyne academic user community in the USA and Canada to share insights, experiences and how our GNSS-A and […]

Over the coming weeks, our Marine Robotics and Offshore Renewable Energy Business Development Managers Aidan Thorn and Mike Ellis will be delivering a series of blogs and a white paper on the use of marine robotics for planning, monitoring, communications and positioning in offshore wind farms. To begin the series, we look at how robotics […]

Newly formed specialist manned submersible services provider AquaTitans has chosen underwater tracking systems from marine technology company Sonardyne to support underwater vehicles used by scientists, researchers and filmmakers. The Glasgow-based company, formed by submersibles specialists Alan Green and William Arthur in 2022, will use Sonardyne’s Mini-Ranger 2 Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL) positioning system as part of […]

A network of deep-water acoustic sensors that provides India’s coastal communities with an early warning of tsunami waves is being upgraded by marine technology company Sonardyne to extend both their endurance and capability. Deployed at key locations in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, the network of Sonardyne’s Bottom Pressure Recorders (BPRs) is […]

Marine scientists have deployed two hi-tech bottom pressure recorders (BPRs) on either side of the Atlantic Ocean in an effort to measure the strength of global ocean currents that drive much of the Earth’s climate. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a large system of ocean currents that transports warm surface waters from the […]

Marine energy, defence and science company Sonardyne has been selected to provide a subsurface communications and navigation network for the Smart Sound Connect Subsurface (SSCS) Project. Sonardyne will partner with the University of Plymouth and Plymouth Marine Laboratory to install, operate and manage an underwater acoustic communications and navigation network that will link to the […]

Sonardyne, a leading provider of underwater acoustic technology, today announced the launch of its new Origin Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs). The new ADCPs are designed to be simple to operate with class leading data results, integrated communications and positioning, making it ideal for a wide range of applications, including marine research, offshore renewable energy […]

Monitoring and inspection are now a growing part of the offshore wind farm life cycle. Can we do it more efficiently, using CTV down-time to deploy robotics? Mike Ellis and Aidan Thorn take a look. A lot of the focus on offshore wind has been about building the next, bigger, deeper wind farms. Rightly so. […]

US oceanographic research centre Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) has chosen deepwater positioning technology from Sonardyne for its new, state-of-the-art scientific flagship the R/V David Packard. The 50 m-long research vessel, named in honour of MBARI’s founder, David Packard, is being built to undertake a diverse range of missions in Monterey Bay and beyond, […]

Locating, surveying and then raising the iconic wreck of Henry VIII’s flagship, the Mary Rose, has gone down in UK maritime history. Forty years since it was raised from the seabed, Nigel Kelland, reflects on how Sonardyne played a key role in this fascinating piece of history – a role which continues, even today. Today, […]

Ireland’s new state-of-the-art multi-purpose marine research vessel RV Tom Crean has entered service equipped with Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL) underwater positioning technology from ocean science company Sonardyne. Delivered in July, the 52.8 m-long vessel delivers significantly enhanced capability to Ireland’s Marine Institute and other state agencies and universities. The RV Tom Crean provides up to 3,000 […]

Marine technology company Sonardyne has seen an uplift in orders for its Pressure Inverted Echo Sounder (PIES) technology into the exploration and reservoir surveillance market in the first half of this year. The announcement was made on the opening day of the International Meeting for Applied Geoscience and Energy (IMAGE) in Houston where the company […]

Acoustic release transponders from ocean science technology company Sonardyne have been chosen by the UK’s Met Office to secure its network of moored buoy Marine Automatic Weather Stations (MAWS) in the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean. Under a call-off agreement, Sonardyne’s RT 6s and deck topside command units will be used to support deployment and […]

Submarine cable installation and repair specialist Asso Group has chosen underwater vehicle guidance technology from Sonardyne for its expanding trenching fleet. The company, based in Greece and with operations globally, will install Sonardyne’s subsea Lodestar attitude and heading reference sensors (AHRS) on its trenching machines working across interconnector and offshore wind cable installation, protection and […]

Bottom pressure recorders (BPR) have long provided scientists with critical data about the ocean. But until now, their ability to gather data has been time-limited and hampered the ability to look at large and long-scale trends. Our Fetch AZA is now set to change the game by providing the capability to measure bottom pressure more […]

Few would disagree that we need to learn more about our ocean. It’s one of the goals of the UN Ocean Decade. Whether it’s to understand more about how it impacts the earth’s climate, how we’re impacting marine ecosystems, as a resource for energy and food production or to inform maritime security, we have a […]

Recent years have seen a significant uptake in remote operations. We think this trend will continue. With our Remote Offshore Access Module (ROAM) and increasing access to communications when a sea, from low earth orbit satellite constellations to cellular networks, your opportunities are wide open. Senior surveyor Cieran Ryan explains. Over the last two years, […]

The University of Plymouth and marine technology company Sonardyne have agreed a strategic partnership to drive innovation within the UK’s growing marine robotics and autonomous systems sector. The partnership will advance ocean data gathering technologies and platforms by leveraging the University’s academic resources and research facilities, Sonardyne’s leading acoustic and inertial navigation technologies, and the […]

As the world’s smallest hybrid underwater vehicle navigator, SPRINT-Nav Mini is bringing a new level of performance to man-portable AUV/UUVs, ROVs and even hybrid surface and subsea vehicles. Marine Robotics Business Development Manager Aidan Thorn explains how you can unlock more automation and ocean data with less when you add our ROV navigation capability – […]

After more than 100 years lost more than 3,000 m underneath sea ice in the Antarctic’s Weddell Sea, the almost fully intact wreck of Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance has been found, supported with underwater navigation and positioning technology from Sonardyne. The pioneering search, launched in February this year, saw the Endurance22 team deploy Saab Seaeye Sabertooth […]

Metocean and environmental data measurement specialist MSM Ocean and marine technology company Sonardyne have agreed to team-up on the supply of a complete solution for warning coastal communities of a tsunami. The two companies can now jointly provide at-risk coastal nations with a single source of supply of tsunami early warning systems. The agreement combines […]

Managing the increasingly diverse array of assets in the underwater battlespace can be complex. It doesn’t have to be. Tom Rooney, technical sales manager, explains how you can track, command, control and communicate with your underwater assets – diver, UUV, AUV or persistent seabed sensor – with our USV or vessel of opportunity ready Mini-Ranger […]

Acoustic and inertial position reference systems from marine technology company Sonardyne have been chosen to underpin the critical station keeping activities of multiple deepwater vessels operating in the energy and ocean research sectors. Through a combination of upgrades to existing installations and the purchase of new systems, four deepwater drillships, a marine construction vessel and […]

So you’ve now met our new business development managers for offshore renewables, Mike Ellis, and marine robotics, Aidan Thorn. Now it’s time to meet our third new BDM, Michelle Barnett. Michelle’s moved over from doctoral research into ocean biochemistry to help oceanographers across the globe gain more insight, in whatever discipline they’re in. As a […]

Combined long baseline (LBL) acoustic positioning and inertial navigation system (INS) software from energy technology company Sonardyne has helped to support the latest phase of an offshore project northwest Australia. The project is the first full use of Sonardyne’s Fusion 2 software and associated 6 ‘plus’ (6+) hardware in Australia, cementing the global adoption of […]

Last week we introduced Mike Ellis, our (re)new(able) guy! Now it’s time to introduce the second of our recent new starters, Aidan Thorn. If you’re in marine robotics, you’ve probably already come across him. He’s joined us to help us further support the global energy transition, ocean science and defence through advanced underwater robotics as […]

Author: Chris Hammersley – Applications Project Manager Water is an incredibly hard medium to communicate through. In air, we are all used to having almost unlimited data in our pockets and being able to stream the latest YouTube cat video at a moment’s notice. However, go just a few metres underwater and all that stops. […]

Underwater obstacle avoidance technology from maritime defence technology companies Sonardyne and Wavefront Systems has been successfully demonstrated on board an extra-large, uncrewed, underwater vehicle (XLUUV) built and operated by Plymouth-based MSubs. The demonstration of the Vigilant forward looking sonar was part of the first phase of the UK’s Defence and Security Accelerator’s (DASA) ‘Uncrewed Underwater […]

Subsea technology specialist Seatronics has been announced as the first customer for Sonardyne’s new SPRINT-Nav Mini Navigator, launched just one week ago. Seatronics has purchased the technology, the world’s smallest hybrid acoustic-inertial navigation instrument, for its VALOR remotely operated vehicle (ROV), itself designed to be the smallest, most powerful and capable inspection class ROV in […]

Energy, defence and science marine technology company Sonardyne has introduced a range-topping model of its hybrid, underwater and surface vehicle navigation platform, SPRINT-Nav Mini. The new Navigator version, available to order from today, extends the capability of the Guidance model introduced last year, by calculating and providing the position of a remote, autonomous or piloted […]

Kawasaki Heavy Industries’ (KHI) has chosen a suite of subsea navigation, positioning and communications technologies from marine energy, defence and science company Sonardyne to navigate, track and control its first commercial SPICE autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). The SPICE (Subsea Precise Inspector with Close Eyes) AUV, complete with a submerged docking system and unique robotic arm […]

Starting out with a new concept and building a highly capable survey-grade autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) could be a daunting task. How about targeting a launch date within two years? Quincy, Massachusetts, based underwater robotics innovator Dive Technologies has done just that. Founded in 2018, Dive Technologies has now produced a vehicle that’s not only […]

The world’s deepest diving acrylic hulled manned submersible is to be equipped with Sonardyne’s BlueComm optical communications link to allow live streaming of deep ocean expeditions anywhere in the world. The Triton 7500/3 series submersible will operate from REV Ocean, one of the world’s most advanced research vessels, currently under construction for the Norwegian non-profit […]

Oceanographic instrumentation developed by Sonardyne to monitor ocean currents has been acquired by the University of Rhode Island following its successful use in a US$2 million project in the US Gulf of Mexico. The project, led by the University of Rhode Island (URI), saw an array of specialist sensors, including Sonardyne’s Pressure Inverted Echo Sounders […]

Energy, defence and science technology company Sonardyne has launched a new, entirely portable configuration of its shallow water Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL) system Micro-Ranger 2. Everything needed to start tracking divers, remotely operated vehicles, autonomous underwater vehicles or any other subsea targets is contained in a single, IP67-rated ruggedised case small enough to operate-anywhere, from anything. […]

2021 is the start of the UN’s Ocean Decade. It couldn’t come sooner, says Head of Science, Geraint West. We have a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to improve our understanding of the oceans and ensure that their future management benefits humanity. We asked Geraint why – but also how and what his key takeaways […]

In his second blog on measuring the restless earth, Geraint West, Global Business Manager for Ocean Science, explained how Sonardyne technology is being used to measure underwater landslides down the sides of Mount Etna. In this, his third blog, in a three-part series, he explains how an emerging technique called GPS-Acoustic (GPS-A) is having a […]

In his first blog on monitoring the restless earth, Geraint West, Global Business Manager for Ocean Science, explained how scientists are able to measure underwater ‘avalanches’, or oceanic turbidity currents using our Autonomous Monitoring Transponders (AMTs). In this second blog, of a three-part series, he explains how the same versatile instruments are being used to […]

On land, rapid events like landslides and earthquakes are easily measured with satellite imagery, while precise measurement of much slower tectonic plate movements using space geodesy techniques have become routine. Unfortunately, neither of these techniques work underwater, which has meant that such measurements have stopped at the waterline – until now. In a three-part blog, […]

Stephen Auld – Global Business Manager – Subsea Asset Monitoring As I discussed in my previous blog, while operators do take care to prevent leaks from occurring, they can and do happen. When they do, they reach the public domain with the understandable and expected negative response and the resulting financial consequences on the companies […]

Our SPRINT-Nav hybrid navigation instrument is helping to drive a growing move towards the use of resident ROV systems. We visited Norway-based IKM Subsea to find out more. IKM Subsea has been taking a step-wise approach to resident subsea systems. After building its first all-electric remote operated vehicles (ROVs) in 2015, the company has gone […]

Author: Duncan Rigg, Vessel Systems – Technical Lead Have you ever considered how the quality of the equipment you attach your transceiver to affects your transceiver’s performance? We have, which is why over the last 25 years we have been developing and perfecting our own deployment machines to suit most vessel types. These have been designed […]

Science equipment and underwater vehicles deployed from Brazil’s flagship oceanographic research vessel, Alpha Crucis, are to be tracked using Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL) positioning technology supplied by Sonardyne Brasil Ltda. The 64 m-long vessel, which is operated by the University of São Paulo, undertakes research projects spanning global climate change to biodiversity in Brazilian waters. It […]

A new generation of long range, long endurance autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) able to travel from port to port is emerging – with the support of Sonardyne acoustic and optical systems. Ioseba Tena, Global Business Manager for Defence and Robotics, takes a look at one. The concept of a long range autonomous or unmanned underwater […]

BP’s first foray into unmanned over-the-horizon operations, using Sonardyne technology and an unmanned surface vessel (USV), is helping it gather strategic data. It’s also a key step towards a more marine autonomous systems led future. Craig Allinson, Survey and Positioning Lead at BP North Sea, explains. Throughout the life of a field, reservoir management strategies […]

Underwater navigation technology from Sonardyne International Ltd. has been chosen by subsea equipment specialist Soil Machine Dynamics Ltd. (SMD) for its new electric work class remotely operated vehicle (ROV) range, launched today at Offshore Europe in Aberdeen. The Quantum EV will be factory-fitted with Sonardyne’s hybrid navigation solution, Lodestar-Nav 200, as standard, enabling new owners […]

Australian headquartered subsea services specialist Neptune has become the latest company to adopt Sonardyne International Ltd.’s new, all-in-one acoustic and inertial positioning technology platform to support its offshore survey projects. The order, made through Sonardyne’s Singapore subsidiary, includes the supply of Fusion 2 software, Compatt 6 seabed transponders and ROVNav 6 LBL (Long BaseLine) vehicle-mounted […]

Industry leading mooring solutions supplier, SOFEC, Inc., has selected BMT and Sonardyne Inc., under their teaming agreement, to supply an innovative mooring monitoring system (MMS) for a major new deepwater development. The new system will involve monitoring of the turret mooring system on a new-build floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility being built in South […]

We’re a long-term corporate patron of leading UK-based charity the Shark Trust, supporting its work globally to preserve the world’s shark populations. Ahead of World Oceans Day on Saturday, we invited the Shark Trust Managing Director Paul Cox to tell us – and you – about some of the issues the charity is addressing.   […]

Leading seismic monitoring instrumentation and solutions provider Güralp Systems Ltd. and Sonardyne International Ltd. have signed an agreement to cooperate in the provision of cutting edge multidisciplinary ocean bottom research technology, including capabilities for earthquake or tsunami detection. The official Teaming Agreement between Güralp and Sonardyne, announced at the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers […]

Integrated navigation, positioning and communications technology from Sonardyne Inc. will support a new, fuel cell-powered long-range unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) being designed by subsea specialist Cellula Robotics Ltd. for the Canadian defence department. The UUV, called Solus-LR, is being designed to be able to travel up to 2,000 kilometres and stay submerged on multi-month missions, […]