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www.seadiscovery.com Marine Technology Reporter 51 (DSME). Contract value is approxi- mately $36.5 million. This is the fifth deepwater drilling riser system con- tract DSME has awarded Aker

Solutions since last year, taking the total drilling riser orders from the

Korean yard up to NOK 1 billion.

Delivery of the drilling riser system is scheduled for 2011. Contract party is

Aker Solutions Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.

Sonardyne Expands in

Houston

Sonardyne Group managing direc- tor, Barry Clutton, officially opened the new premises of Sonardyne Inc. in Houston, Texas. The event was marked by a customer 'Open House' with equipment demonstrations and tours of the new facilities. Richard

Binks, UK sales director, together with representatives of Sonardyne's

Survey Support Group were also pres- ent to celebrate the occasion.

Sonardyne has had an office in

Houston for over 15 years, acting as a regional sales hub for the company's subsea acoustic products. At twice the size of the previous office, the new facility has been made possible by strong sales growth within

Sonardyne's core North American business.

In a short presentation to invited guests and employees, Binks expressed confidence in the compa- ny's prospects and that further growth will be stimulated by the new premises and its amenities. These include a dedicated sales conferencing and customer training room, advanced repair and calibration facil- ities and space enough to create opportunities for local assembly of products. The new office also con- tains a purpose-built 10 ft. deep, in- floor test tank for acoustic source level and systems testing.

New Option for

Underwater Nav

Teledyne RD Instruments (RDI) released its new self-contained

Explorer Doppler Velocity Log (DVL) for precision littoral underwa- ter navigation applications. Now, in addition to Teledyne RDI's remote head Explorer, the self-contained configuration offers users Teledyne

RDI's proven Broadband technology packed into a single housing for your "power & go" applications. The unit is rated to 500m to cover your littoral navigation needs. www.rdinstruments.com/explorer.html

Planet Ocean Signs Deal

Planet Ocean signed a teaming agreement with nearby Surrey

Satellite Technology Ltd. to explore the opportunities for using bespoke micro-satellites in the oceanographic sector, particularly with respect to oil & gas operators moving into more extreme environments where tradi- tional data sources may not be avail- able. SSTL has been sending small satellites into space more successfully and more economically than anyone else in the world for nearly three decades. www.planet-ocean.co.uk

Down East Delivers

Monitoring Buoy System

Down East Instrumentation deliv- ered and installed a second real-time meteorological & oceanographic monitoring buoy system to the

Carolinas Regional Coastal Ocean

Observing System (Carolinas

RCOOS). The first system was deliv- ered and deployed off the coast of

Wilmington, NC in May 2008 and has been continually operating since then at their ILM2 site. The latest system complements their array of real-time monitoring buoys and coastal platforms that comprise the observational component of the

RCOOS. Carolinas RCOOS is a sub-regional component of the

Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS); a federal-regional partner- ship working to provide new tools and forecasts to improve safety, enhance the economy, and protect our environment. The buoy system is also an addition to the inventory of monitoring assets maintained by the

Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing

Regional Association (SECOORA), of which Down East is a member.

The Carolinas RCOOS supports the mission of SECOORA (www.secoo- ra.org) to meet geographically specif-

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