Page 9: of Marine Technology Magazine (July 2007)

www.seadiscovery.com Marine Technology Reporter 9 news

OceanWorks Venus Project

The Victoria Experimental Network

Under the Sea (VENUS) project designed and manufactured by OceanWorks

International, is a cabled seafloor observa- tory. Through a network of scientific instruments and cameras connected to the

Internet by power and fibreoptic cable,

VENUS provides scientists, educators and the general public with around-the-clock biological, oceanographic and geological data from the seafloor. The first 3-kilome- tre leg of VENUS was installed in Saanich

Inlet in February 2006 and continuous data has been flowing ever since. When completed, the Strait of Georgia leg will feature 40 kilometres of cable and two cen- tral nodes, to which dozens of ocean sen- sors will be connected. The complex instal- lation process is taking place in several stages between now and the Fall. "The

Strait of Georgia is one of themost forbid- ding places to deploy anocean observato- ry," says VENUS project director Dr.

Verena Tunnicliffe. "OceanWorks is thrilled to be involved in the leading edge of ocean observatory systems" says

OceanWorks project manager Alberto

Moreno. This phase of the installation laid the 40 km of cable and two node bases in offshore waters just north of the Vancouver

International Airport. Working with

UVIC's VENUS team, Ocean Works

International, based in North Vancouver, designed and built the 2.5-tonne node bases.

For more information, visit: www.oceanworks.com

Sub Sea Expands Shipwreck

Search, Recovery Capabilities

Sub Sea Research LLC, a privately held shipwreck research and recovery company, purchased M/V Son Worshipper — a 96- ft. swift ship completely set up for diving operations and capable of conducting archaeological excavation and recovery work on the company's shipwreck projects.

The ship is equipped with duel high pres- sure dive compressors as well as being able to house up to 28 divers and guests. "This vessel will put our dive teams on site for an extended period of time and speed up operations immensely," said Greg

Brooks, Co-Manager of the company. "The ship has room for a full spectrum of professionals such as videographers, archae- ologists, as well as the press." "Over the past several years our researchers have amassed a database of roughly 150,000 shipwrecks worldwide.

We believe we have the most comprehen- sive list of shipwrecks in the world today," said Brooks.

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