Page 8: of Marine Technology Magazine (January 2011)

8 MTR January/February 2011 news

MCT: First Tidal

Energy Farm by ‘13

UK tidal energy compa- ny, Marine Current

Turbines, is targeting 2013 to install

Scotland’s first tidal energy farm. The com- pany, which designed and deployed the world’s first commer- cial scale offshore tidal stream energy system in Northern Ireland’s

Strangford Lough, is investigating the feasi- bility of a tidal farm in

Kyle Rhea, a strait of water between the Isle of Skye and the

Scottish mainland.

Fugro Geos Offshore

Wind Projects

Collection metocean data plays a vital role at different phases of offshore wind farm projects ranging from early feasibility studies to engineering design and construction phas- es, as demonstrated by two recent con- tracts won by Fugro

GEOS, for UK Round 2 and 3 projects.

Seagreen Wind Energy has recently awarded

Fugro GEOS a contract for an oceanographic survey of the zone des- ignated for the Firth of

Forth Round 3

Offshore Wind Farm.

Richard Liptrot, Fugro

GEOS Project

Manager, said “The survey will include deployment of wave and current meters at locations throughout the zone over winter 2010/11.”

United States Navy Chief of Naval

Operations Admiral Gary Roughead has been named “Seamaster of the Year” by

Marine Technology Reporter. “Admiral Roughead is driving a transfor- mation of the way in which the U.S. Navy conducts its business, and he has signaled his dedication to the rapid advancement of sub- sea vehicle technology,” said Greg

Trauthwein, Editor and Associate Publisher of Marine Technology Reporter. Admiral

Roughead will accept the Seamaster Award at a special reception in his honor at the Fourth

Annual OceanTech Expo (www.oceantech- expo.com), scheduled to be held May 17-19, 2011 in at the Newport Yachting Center in

Newport, Rhode Island. In addition,

Admiral Roughead will share his views on the future Navy needs regarding unmanned underwater systems via an exclusive, in- depth interview with Marine Technology

Reporter – the world’s largest circulation b2b publication serving the global subsea market – scheduled to be published in conjunction with the Seamaster Award. www.seadiscovery.com www.oceantechexpo (Sour ce: U.S. Navy)

Materials Systems Inc. (MSI) is supply- ing piezocomposite sonar sensors for use in the upgraded Manatee Protection System at Florida’s Canaveral navigation lock. The system is designed to help safeguard

Florida’s endangered manatees from serious injury or death.

The manatees travel through the canal lock gates in search of food. Watercraft col- lisions are the leading human related cause of manatee deaths, but lock gate accidents are second. Approximately 200 manatees have been crushed by Florida lock gates since 1974 because the turbid water often prevents gate operators from seeing the manatees. In 2000, the Army Corp of

Engineers funded development of a mana- tee protection system. Scientists and engi- neers at Florida’s Harbor Branch

Oceanographic Institution (HBOI) devel- oped a system using a “ladder of sound beams” between two lock gates — one out- fitted with sound emitters and the other with sound receivers — to detect the pres- ence of manatees during gate closure.

Because of the large number of beams, the system is able to distinguish between man- atees and small fish.

When a manatee is detected, the system stops the gate from closing and keeps it open until the manatee passes through safely. Numerous manatees have been saved by this system which is now installed on several locks throughout Florida.

MSI Helps Endangered Species

Seamaster Award

Admiral Roughead to be Honored