Subsea Cable

Thanks to the low oil price, the subsea sector is enduring a challenging period. Operators are being forced to venture into more remote and harsher locations, requiring top tier equipment to meet demanding and dynamic environments.

Systems being deployed require reliable power and communications connections suited to meet these demands. Today, the team at Hydro Group are being asked more and more for increasingly complex composite and physically demanding cable designs, the days have gone when the company was simply asked to provide an underwater electrical connection.

As subsea equipment is becoming more complex with data management and collection systems transferring significantly higher volumes of information at faster rates the Transmission Characteristics, Low Loss and Shielding requirements need to be addressed in the design and composition of the cables.

To ensure the performance of the designs, increasing use of complex software modelling and analysis tools are employed. Hydro Group engineers routinely utilise packages such as Comsol multiphysics software to model designs and provide virtual realisation of the cable characteristics under a variety of simulated conditions. Transmission characteristics and performance are also simulated with the use of Optem software tools.

Hydro Group regularly incorporates stainless steel tubes, rather than PBT tubes, for all Subsea Cable designs incorporating fibre optics. The benefits of utilising optical fibres contained within stainless steel tubes are primarily two fold –

Both of these advantages over PBT Tubed fibre optics are deemed crucial in the demanding conditions seen by subsea optical cables.

Mechanical factors are extremely significant in the overall performance of subsea cable designs. Often these present a much higher risk in the reliability and durability of the design than all other constraints. The application of FEA design and modelling tools such as Comsol and Orcaflex allow simulation and analysis of the design to ensure construction and incorporation of components that will meet the dynamic application requirements.

The combination of the above design factors and the fact that equipment demands are increasing rapidly is driving more customised solutions. In addition to the design approach employed and increased testing capabilities, Hydro Group has invested heavily in new machinery, significantly increasing and improving in-house cable manufacturing capabilities, to compliment this rapidly evolving market.

At the start of 2015, the company installed and commissioned an advanced armouring line, extending its product line providing the company with armouring expertise, offering custom-designed single and multi-layered steel armoured cables in galvanised improved steel and corrosion resistant steels.

The new machinery allows the team to manufacture mechanically protected cables to improve and support subsea operations, which can withstand higher stresses in subsea and defence operations. As well as contra helical armoured subsea control cables, which act to neutralise the tension and compression forces that occur in the wires each time the cable is bent or flexed.

With a full appreciation of all electrical, optical, mechanical and environmental requirements imposed on the application of the cable a robust and reliable cabling solution can be realised.

The bundled hoses, which are available in ¼” to 2” size from Hydro Cable Systems, a Hydro Group company, integrate hydraulic components with electrical and fibre optic cables, resulting in a more compact and easier to handle assembly.

This new capability allows the company to extrude up to 120mm diameter over composite bundles or single hoses. Final produced lengths can be supplied from 50 to 2000 metres depending on the size of hose, number of components and the finished diameter of the umbilical.

Hydro Group has seen significant investment in equipment, facilities and training, enabling the company to expand capability and offer technical skill and resource to respond to significantly varying demands from our customer’s applications. The Hydro Group team are open to exploring solutions that are technically challenging, in tight timescales and within budget. Continuous product development and investment in opening up new markets has enabled the Group to maintain momentum whilst the uncertainty in the oil and gas market has impacted subsea developments.

Maritime Navigation and Communications Equipment Leader Will Begin Marketing Iridium(R) Mobile Satellite Communications Products and Services

Iridium Communications Inc. (IRDM) and maritime navigation and communications equipment leader FURUNO ELECTRIC CO., LTD. (Tokyo Stock Exchange 6814) today announced a strategic partnership in which Furuno will be marketing Iridium satellite services and products initially in Japan. As part of this agreement, Furuno will be developing a new part of its portfolio of satellite communications service with Iridium. That may include the Iridium Pilot® antennas, powered by the Iridium OpenPort® broadband service, providing the industry's only pole-to-pole mobile wireless coverage for ships at sea; Iridium GO!®, the world's first truly global online smartphone access device; weather resistant Iridium Extreme® handset; and the Iridium Short Burst Data (SBD) service.

Furuno will focus on providing its customers with the benefits from the capabilities that will be enabled by Iridium NEXT, the Company's next-generation satellite constellation.

"We are extremely pleased to announce our relationship with Iridium and offer the many benefits of its satellite network to our customers," said Kazuma Waimatsu, director, satcom dept., marine electronic div., FURUNO. "Iridium products and services provide excellent reliability and global coverage, which our customers appreciate and need."

The Iridium global mobile satellite network delivers reliable communications, anywhere on the planet—even polar regions—and its unique mesh architecture of 66 cross-linked satellites is less susceptible to inclement weather or interference that may impact the performance of other systems. This reliable, truly global coverage is necessary for critical maritime communications.

"We are excited that Furuno—recognized as a global leader in maritime navigation and communications gear—has joined Iridium's ecosystem of partners," said Bryan Hartin, executive vice president, sales and marketing, Iridium. "Together, we'll be enabling more ships to navigate safely—anywhere and everywhere at sea—leveraging the unique benefits of the Iridium network."

For more information on Iridium, go to www.iridium.com.

Intellian, a global leader in satellite communication antenna systems, has been successfully selected as the hardware partner on RigNet’s recently announced contract to provide remote communications solutions to a premium offshore driller across its entire global fleet of existing and newbuild rigs. RigNet, a leading global provider of remote managed communications solutions, telecoms systems integration services and collaborative applications to the oil and gas industry, will provide comprehensive solutions across the customer’s fleet of jackups, drillships and semisubmersibles operating in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Asia Pacific, Europe and Africa regions. The contract will require Intellian to supply 17 v240M terminals, delivering the combination of flexibility and robustness key to enabling the provision of reliable remote communications solutions.

The Intellian v240M, a 2.4m multi-band maritime antenna, is the first VSAT antenna designed for the maritime industry with fully automatic switching between Ku-band and C-band. Multi-band satellite communications are becoming an increasingly important capability in the offshore oil and gas market. Vessels operate in a wide geographic area to enable them to maximize vessel returns and therefore require the ability to switch frequency bands as they move between operational areas.

“RigNet counts on advanced terminals to satisfy growing demand for intelligent oilfield solutions driven by the increasing complexity of offshore drilling operations,” said Mark Slaughter, RigNet’s CEO and President. “The automatic switching capabilities of the Intellian v240M terminal help meet these requirements, while delivering the reliability and robustness our customers demand.”

Eric Sung, Intellian CEO, commented: “This contract is an important one for Intellian as it recognizes the quality and reliability of our terminals to deliver superior performance in the most challenging operating environments. We are delighted to be selected to work with RigNet, a company uniquely positioned to provide the mission critical service and support demanded by the offshore drilling industry.”

For more information, visit the Intellian website www.intelliantech.com.

Prysmian, new award worth more than $ 140 M for a submarine power cable project in China This is the first submarine cable project in People’s Republic of China for the Group The new contract paves routes to new business opportunities for the Group in Asia

Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, has been awarded a contract by Hainan Second Cross-Sea Interconnection Tie Project Management Co., Ltd. (a subsidiary company of China Southern Power Grid, the grid operating company in South China) worth a total of more than $ 140 million for the design, supply, installation, and commissioning of a submarine power cable link for the second interconnection between Hainan island and China mainland.“We are particularly proud of this new award as this is the first Extra High Voltage submarine cable project that Prysmian will execute in the People’s Republic of China”, stated Massimo Battaini, Prysmian Group’s Senior Vice President Energy Projects. “This contract has strategic value, due to being awarded in China, a market with high growth potential, which is investing RMB 11.1 trillion (1.8 trillion US$) in its power industry in the period from 2011 to 2020”.

The new submarine cable link will side the existing 500 kV cable circuit connecting Guangdong power grid and Hainan power grid effectively improving the quality of electricity supply between the two provinces. One of the island's key customers to benefit from the extra power will be a 1300 MW nuclear power plant being built in Changjiang County. The combined capacity of the submarine power cables and the nuclear power will help boost Hainan's efforts of being an international tourism island.

The new Hainan interconnection comprises four HVAC (High Voltage Alternating Current) 500 kV single core SCFF (self-contained fluid filled) cables to be laid under the Qiongzhou Strait in southern China, along a 32-kilometer route. The cable system will link the Gangcheng transformer substation in Guangdong's Zhanjiang to the Fushan transformer substation in Hainan's Chengmai County, and have a transmission capacity of 600,000 kW. Cables will be operated in AC configuration, but are designed to work in DC configuration as well. All cables will be produced in the Group’s excellence centre for submarine cables in Arco Felice, near Naples (Italy) and marine installation operations will be performed by the Group’s owned "Giulio Verne" cable-laying vessel. Delivery and commissioning is scheduled for the first quarter 2019.

The Group already has an established presence and employs over 1,500 employees in 9 manufacturing plants, located in Baoying (high-voltage cables), Tianjin and Suzhou (special cables for industrial applications), Suzhou (systems and network components), Shanghai (submarine cables), Wuxi (optical cables), Wuhan (optical fibres and multimedia systems), Nantong Haixun and Nantong Zhongyao (elevators systems).

The Group is already a leading supplier and installer of submarine cable links throughout the strategic and high-growth Asia Pacific Region, with milestone projects such as the Penang Island in Malaysia, the Java-Bali link in Indonesia, the Cheju Island in Korea, the Ha Tien-Phu Quoc in Vietnam, the CNP-1 project in the Philippines and the Basslink interconnector in Australia, just to name a few.

Harris CapRock Communications has transitioned 36 oil and gas customers to its Advanced Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) solution, providing on-demand bandwidth service to nearly 100 sites around the world.

Harris CapRock’s Advanced VSAT is the first secure, cost-effective service that dynamically reassigns satellite capacity according to need and availability in real time to meet the growing communications requirements of offshore and deepwater operations.

Harris CapRock’s dynamic bandwidth management architecture provides customers the required capacity for applications ranging from data logging or drilling at the critical part of a well to streaming a training video or treating a medical emergency via telemedicine. The bandwidth is available on demand when needed.

Harris CapRock launched Advanced VSAT in 2014 and first deployed it on Royal Caribbean Cruises’ global fleet and customer operations networks in the Gulf of Mexico. It delivered unmatched processing capacity and nearly 20 times the information rates of a prior solution.

“The Advanced VSAT network answers customers’ need for unprecedented speed and flexibility in capacity changes,” said Tracey Haslam, president, Harris CapRock Communications. “We combine next-generation technologies, partnerships with key equipment providers and an unmatched commitment to customer service to help advance oil and gas operations worldwide.”

Customer response to the service has been very favorable. “On a traditional single channel per carrier link, any operational challenges related to connectivity could take weeks, technician site visits and higher dedicated bandwidth subscriptions to pinpoint, troubleshoot and solve,” said an offshore Information and Communications Technology support manager. “Now that we’re on Harris CapRock’s Advanced VSAT network, we can adjust bandwidth for communications applications as needed, saving us valuable time and money in the field with a service provider we trust to be safe and reliable.”

• Integrated platform provides connectivity and maritime applications

• Can be used on ships using any satellite system, including VSAT

To support digital transformation in the shipping industry, Orange Business Services has developed Maritime Connect. The fully-industrialized product delivers the key communications functionality and connectivity required at sea. It allows shipping companies to seamlessly integrate their fleet into the corporate network and provide Internet access for crew and applications.

Maritime Connect is a single, integrated solutions platform, which provides the maritime industry with reliable connectivity over diverse communication interfaces and cuts costs at the same time. It delivers voice, VoIP, data and internet access in one solution, independent of the communication technology used. Shipping companies, IT managers, captains and the crew can control access to data and voice services on board vessels or remotely from shore.

Typical uses of Maritime Connect include secure access to enterprise applications via the corporate network; better route planning to improve fuel consumption and cost control; enriched crew welfare by providing communication with the outside world; tracking and monitoring of ships and cargo; and telemedicine for remote care.

Providing connectivity in challenging environments

Delivering innovative maritime bandwidth management and optimization features, Maritime Connect manages voice, video and data in limited bandwidth and challenging weather conditions. It can be used on ships equipped with any type of satellite communications systems, including, but not limited to, Fleet Broadband, Iridium or VSAT systems (Ku or C band). The solution was developed over a year as part of a European Union initiative dedicated to improving communications on vessels at sea.

Maritime Connect is available in three tiered versions. The basic version provides on-board access to essential communications services like IP Routing, link switching, quality of service (QoS) and server hosting for applications onboard; the next level up adds licenses for increased security, WAN optimization and user accounting; while the premium version provides maximum connectivity for crew and captain with Wi-Fi on board, 3G/4G for near-shore operations.

“Orange Business Services is uniquely positioned in the maritime market because we are able to integrate many different technologies and networks, both onshore and offshore. With the end-to-end integration and satellite connectivity offered by Maritime Connect, vessels on the high seas are now as well connected as terrestrial offices. This enables new ways of working right across the shipping industry,” says Michel Verbist, Head Business Development Satellite Solutions, Orange Business Services.

About Orange Business Services

Orange Business Services, the Orange branch dedicated to B2B services, is not only a telecom operator, but also an IT solutions integrator and applications developer in France and around the world. Its 20,000 employees support companies in all areas of their digital transformation: mobile and collaborative workspaces; IT/cloud infrastructure; fixed and mobile connectivity; private and hybrid networks; applications for Internet of Things, 360° customer experience and Big Data analytics; and cybersecurity thanks to dedicated experts and infrastructure to protect information systems. More than 3,000 multinational organizations and 2 million SOHOs, enterprises and local authorities in France rely on Orange Business Services as their trusted partner.

Learn more at www.orange-business.com. 

Data centers anchor the largest capacity cable ever built on the trans-Pacific route

Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), the global interconnection and data center company, today announced support for the new FASTER sub-sea cable system which has the largest design capacity ever built on the trans-Pacific route – one of the longest routes in the world. The cable will be backhauled in to four of Equinix's International Business Exchange (IBX®) data centers on the West Coast of the United States including Silicon Valley, Los Angeles and Seattle, to Chikura and Shima in Japan.

Highlights / Key Facts

• In May 2015, Cisco released its VNI Global IP Traffic Forecast, 2014 – 2019. Global highlights from the updated study include the following projections:

• By 2019, there will be nearly 3.9 billion global Internet users (more than 51 percent of the world's population), up from 2.8 billion in 2014By 2019, there will be 24 billion networked devices and connections globally, up from 14 billion in 2014

• Globally, the average fixed broadband connection speed will increase 2.2-fold, from 20.3 Mbps in 2014 to 42.5 Mbps by 2019

• Globally, IP video will represent 80 percent of all traffic by 2019, up from 67 percent in 2014.

• Networks are an essential part of business, education, government, and home communications. Many residential, business, and mobile IP networking trends are being driven largely by a combination of video, social networking, and advanced collaboration applications, termed visual networking. To remain competitive, network operators are expanding their infrastructures to meet demand for these new services—and are turning to colocation data centers that not only offer all the network-to-network connectivity of a telehouse, but also act as aggregation points for concentrations of customers in network-centric industries.

• FASTER will feature the latest high-quality 6-fiber-pair cable and optical transmission technologies, with an initial design capacity of 60Tb/s (100Gb/s x 100 wavelengths x 6 fiber-pairs). This new cable system will be landed at Chikura and Shima in Japan and will feature seamless connectivity to many neighboring cable systems to extend the capacity beyond Japan to other Asian locations.

• The FASTER cable system has the largest design capacity ever built on the Trans-Pacific route, which is one of the longest routes in the world. By connecting to Equinix data centers, FASTER and its users can leverage Equinix's mature business ecosystems and interconnection platform – Platform Equinix™ – which connects more than 6,300 global businesses in 33 markets around the globe.

• Global businesses are increasingly using more capacity to run IT operations including cloud-based applications. In both the Silicon Valley and Seattle, Equinix offers direct connectivity to leading cloud service providers including AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform via the Equinix Cloud Exchange™. These dedicated, private connections reduce network costs and provide higher, more consistent network performance than Internet-based connections for enterprise customers looking to build hybrid clouds.

• Earlier this year Equinix announced that it is boosting interconnection capacity by opening new data centers on four continents including North America and Asia. By providing this increased capacity, Equinix expands its role in advancing the digital economy's interconnected era, in which businesses are demanding increasing levels of interconnection to accelerate business performance.

• The FASTER consortium is comprised of six parties, including China Mobile International, China Telecom Global, Global Transit, Google, KDDI and Singtel. The system is expected to begin operating during the second quarter of 2016.

Quotes

Jim Poole, vice president, global service providers, Equinix: "Equinix remains committed to accelerating business performance by connecting companies to their customers, employees and partners inside the world's most interconnected data centers. We believe that the FASTER cable system will increase the opportunity for interconnection between North America and Asia and we are excited to be supporting this new venture."

Following completion of successful acceptance trials, the nation’s newest research vessel, the Neil Armstrong, was officially turned over by the U.S. Navy on September 23 to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), which will operate the vessel as part of the national academic fleet.

In May 2010, the Office of Naval Research selected WHOI to operate the new vessel which is designed to meet the range, endurance, and technical requirements for advanced oceanographic research around the world. Named for the Apollo astronaut who first walked on the moon, the Neil Armstrong replaces the recently retired R/V Knorr, which had been in operation since 1970. The new ship will meet the academic community's need for a general-purpose research vessel based on the East Coast of the United States.

“This occasion marks the beginning of a long association between the Armstrong and the Institution and the continuation of our heritage of operating research vessels in order to take science to sea,” said Rob Munier, WHOI VP for Marine Operations. “Our partnership with the US Navy, in particular our mission sponsor, the Office of Naval Research, is also reinforced today. The Navy has supported basic oceanographic research for decades and, with the investment in the Armstrong, will continue to do so for decades to come. WHOI is proud to have been selected by ONR to be the vessel operator.”

WHOI will operate the Neil Armstrong for the benefit of the U.S. ocean science community, coordinating its schedule through the University National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS). WHOI’s experienced crew, many of whom served on the Knorr and have won high praise for their professionalism and service to ocean science, will serve on the Armstrong, with Captain Kent Sheasley in command.

“The U.S. Navy is proud to support the national research fleet by delivering state-of-the-art research vessels like the R/V Neil Armstrong,” said Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Mat Winter. “The Navy's innovative scientific mission will directly benefit from this next generation research ship that incorporates advanced technologies and break through capabilities, enabling new discoveries.”

Over the next month, the new ship, which is 238 feet long and can undertake missions of up to 40 days, will be outfitted with the essentials it needs for operation, spare parts, food stores, and other basic equipment and consumables. In November, the ship will begin the transit to the US East Coast, with scheduled stops in San Francisco and the Panama Canal. The vessel is scheduled to arrive in the southeast US in December at a port and shipyard to be determined, where the ship’s science equipment will be installed and tested, in particular its sophisticated sonar systems and other sensors.

The ship is expected to undergo a series of shakedown and science verification cruises starting in February and March 2016, which will allow scientific users to test the ship and its systems and make any necessary adjustments before it is declared fully operational. The Neil Armstrong’s first science mission is planned for May 2016 in the North Atlantic.

"The R/V Armstrong is an exciting addition to the US oceanographic fleet, particularly for young scientists and future scientists,” said WHOI Senior Scientist Carin Ashjian.“For the next 50 years, the Neil Armstrong and anyone who sails on it will be at the forefront of scientific exploration. This is the ship that will help them make their careers. We know there are many discoveries yet to be made in the ocean, with great potential benefit to society. It’s fitting that the Neil Armstrong will enable the next giant leaps for mankind.”

"Today marks the launch of a new era of ocean research, building on the longstanding support of the U.S. Navy and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for ocean science and exploration,” said Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.). “We look forward to the Neil Armstrong landing on Massachusetts shores and continuing the legacy of scientific excellence anchored in Woods Hole and impacting the world.”

“For 85 years, the scientists and researchers at Woods Hole have been at the forefront of oceanographic discovery,” said Representative William Keating (D-Mass.). “The transfer of the R/V Neil Armstrong represents the continued role of the US Navy’s investments in furthering oceanography and the critical nexus of federal investments in independent, pioneering research. WHOI remains a premier research ship operator – not just for New England as an anchor for academic institutions and students in the region, but for scientists globally.”

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, non-profit organization on Cape Cod, Mass., dedicated to marine research, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930 on a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, its primary mission is to understand the ocean and its interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate a basic understanding of the ocean's role in the changing global environment. For more information, please visit www.whoi.edu.

Ship owners choosing the Northern Sea Route now have additional coverage from Kara Sea to Pacific Ocean

Radio Holland is the first provider who expanded its Global Ku-band VSAT network with additional coverage above Northern Europe/Russia. Recently, the Yamal 402 Northern beam has been added to the Radio Holland Global VSAT Network.

With this extra beam Radio Holland offers improved coverage for its customers sailing from the Kara Sea to the Pacific Ocean. At this point of time, parts are free of ice for only two months per year. It is expected that the Northern Sea Route will be used as a new shipping route. Radio Holland supports customers with added coverage to their Global VSAT Network in the Norwegian-, Barents-, and Kara Sea.

The VSAT network of Radio Holland provides reliable communication connections for crew, captain and other users on board. The extension of Radio Holland’s VSAT coverage in combination with its portfolio of value added services offers ship owners the possibility for a total satellite communication solution. Radio Holland’s broadband communication solution utilizes the iDirect Evolution platform and includes Service Level Agreements, 24/7 Support and automatic beam switching.

Radio Holland is present at Offshore Europe (8-11 September, Aberdeen, stand no. 1E105) and presents its ship to shore communications portfolio there.

Xtera Communications, Inc., a leading global provider of optical networking solutions, has announced the completion of the loading of its second repeatered submarine cable system that will be deployed within the next 2 months in the Atlantic Ocean. This new repeatered project will go live after the successful upgrade of the High capacity, Undersea Guernsey Optical-fiber (HUGO) subsea cable system connecting Porthcurno (UK), Guernsey (UK) and Lannion (France), where Xtera’s next generation wideband repeaters were inserted into the existing cable plant to increase system capacity.

The approximately 1,500 km long cable system was loaded from Nexans cable factory in Rognan, Norway with more than 10 repeaters. In addition to its small mechanical size, Xtera’s Raman-based repeater offers multiple optical transmission benefits, including wider spectrum, better noise performance, longer repeater spacing and higher tolerance to strong increases in span loss compared with repeaters based on erbium-doped fiber amplifiers.

“Following the upgrade of the HUGO system wet plant, we are now deploying a new subsea optical transmission infrastructure with our repeaters and submarine cable from Nexans,” said Stuart Barnes, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Xtera Submarine Business. “Our innovative repeater adds nicely to our portfolio of flexible solutions for building new subsea infrastructure, upgrading existing cable assets under water, or recovering and re-laying existing cable assets.”

Xtera pioneered Raman optical amplification in long-haul optical transmission infrastructure with its Wise RamanTM solution that offers unrivalled optical transmission performances, unparalleled optical spectrum and operational excellence with a seamless integration of Raman amplification into optical networks. In April 2013, Xtera launched the industry’s first opt ical wideband repeater featuring Raman amplification for long-haul subsea cable systems. The new repeater adds nicely to Xtera’s turnkey solutions for building new subsea cable systems or upgrading existing wet plant, including repeater replacement or re-lay of decommissioned cable systems.

Globalstar, Inc. announces that the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (UM) will deploy SPOT Trace satellite trackers in its continued research expedition with the Consortium for Advanced Research on Transport of Hydrocarbon in the Environment (CARTHE). The project studies ocean flow as it relates to the dispersion of pollutants and the effects of hurricanes on the dissemination of environmental hazards over time. This is an extension of an ongoing project that launched in 2012 after the BP oil spill to monitor how pollutants behave in normal and emergency conditions, collecting over six million data points.

SPOT devices are cost-effective, rugged, pocket-sized devices that use satellite messaging technology to allow users to communicate from remote locations around the globe. The SPOT product family uses the GPS satellite network to determine a customer or asset’s location and transmit messages and GPS coordinates to others, independent of cellular phone coverage or radio frequency range. As a result, SPOT devices fulfill a variety of purposes including emergency services, recreational/asset tracking and scientific studies.

For the first time, CARTHE’s field work at sea, combined with laboratory experiments and development of interconnected modeling systems, will produce a comprehensive modeling hierarchy that provides a four dimensional description of oil/dispersant fate and transport in the Gulf of Mexico and coastal environments across all relevant time and space scales. CARTHE was also able to provide useful data and coastal models to emergency responders after the 2013 explosion of the Hercules 265 drilling rig and the Santa Barbara oil spill earlier this year.

“SPOT is at the very heart of our upcoming expedition in the northern Gulf of Mexico, just like in our 2012 study. Almost every aspect of the experiment is tailored around these devices. Such massive simultaneous information has never been obtained before, and we expect that SPOT will provide unprecedented scientific information about ocean currents so we know what to anticipate in the event of future oil spills,” said Tamay Özgökmen, professor of ocean sciences and CARTHE director.

"The CARTHE group, based at the UM Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, continues to produce cutting-edge science and pushes the boundaries of physical oceanography. This will be the largest oceanographic experiment of its kind and to be successful, the quality of the equipment must be exceptional,” said Roni Avissar, professor and dean of the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. “Our scientists have spent years perfecting the drifters and planning the execution of their release, and now we need the SPOT GPS units to do the work.”

“We are thrilled to continue to be a part of such an innovative research project that has such an enormous impact on the communities in which we and many of our customers are a part of,” said Jake Rembert, Vice President at Globalstar. “The University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School and CARTHE are making groundbreaking discoveries with our SPOT devices and we look forward to finding more ways to leverage our satellite technology in this arena.”

For more information on SPOT Trace and other SPOT devices, please visit FindMeSPOT.com.

Asia’s leading satellite operator Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co. Ltd. (AsiaSat) announced that ST Teleport, a full-service satellite and fibre communications solutions provider based in Singapore, has expanded its capacity commitment and strategic partnership with AsiaSat to enhance service offerings to the VSAT and media sectors.

ST Teleport recently expanded its C-band capacity in Asia with a new dedicated antenna for AsiaSat 4 at the orbital location of 122°E to provide leading-edge satellite-based service solutions for maritime, oil and gas, enterprise, and media businesses. In response to strong user demand for high-quality connectivity solutions for data and video services in Asia, both companies have further strengthened their collaboration to offer enhanced land/sea/air based VSAT services.

ST Teleport’s advanced earth station complex facilities in Singapore is now capable of connecting to AsiaSat’s comprehensive fleet of satellites, including the new Ku-band capacity on AsiaSat 8’s South East Asia and Middle East beams, to offer more choices to customers. The extension of the partnership will accelerate growth opportunities for ST Teleport and increase its offerings to customers looking for fast and flexible satellite communications solutions at competitive prices.

“Our partnership with AsiaSat will further strengthen both of our positions in the satellite communication services sector. Access to more AsiaSat capacity will enable ST Teleport to efficiently expand our services geographically and to serve more diverse industries and businesses. ST Teleport's continuous upgrading of its network and capacity demonstrates its commitment to provide advanced and cost effective satellite solutions to our data, maritime and media clients locally and internationally,” said Joseph Chan, Managing Director of ST Teleport.

“We are pleased with this expanded partnership with ST Teleport. We aim to bring a new level of high performance, cost-effective satellite solutions and comprehensive coverage to ST Teleport and their clients through this stronger partnership. This collaboration also underscores our commitment to working closer with our partners and clients to deliver the quality, value and choice of capacity that meet their service needs,” said Philip Balaam, Vice President, Sales and Business Development of AsiaSat.