“Smart” ocean monitoring networks, hi-tech research vessels, hand-held weather forecasting systems and super-detailed maps of the seabed are among the displays featured on Ireland’s stand at the “Oi10 - Oceanology International” exhibition this week in London.
(Photo: Neill Killeen - Marine Institute)
The stand showcases Ireland’s fast-growing marine technology sector with displays by the Marine Institute, Nowcasting, TechWorks Marine and P&O Maritime Services - who manage Ireland’s national research vessel fleet and have just announced their intention to build three specialised vessels to service offshore energy generating installations. (see Notes to Editor below for details of all companies on the Irish stand).
“It’s staggering to think that, even ten years ago, Ireland had only a fraction of the marine technological expertise we have today,” said Dr. Peter Heffernan, CEO of the Marine Institute. “But thanks to our unique geographical position as a gateway to the North Atlantic, to visionary Irish entrepreneurs with the courage to invest in this sector and to strategic thinking that recognised the value of our 220 million acre seabed resource, Ireland is catching up fast in the area of marine technology.”
In 2006, the Marine Institute co-ordinated a wide variety of stakeholder groups, including representatives from the marine technology sector, to formulate “Sea Change – A Marine Knowledge, Research & Innovation Strategy for Ireland,” which identified significant opportunities for Ireland, not only in the marine sensor and communications technology devices on display in London this week, but also in harnessing technology to solve problems in aquaculture, seafood processing, environmental monitoring and ocean energy. Sea Change then went on to formulate a practical strategy of applied research and innovation by academia, government and private companies to achieve these opportunities.
Other displays on the Irish stand at Oceanology 2010 include innovative hand-held weather forecasting systems from Nowcasting in Ennis, Co. Clare, a range of high-tech ocean monitoring buoys and sensor systems from the Dun Laoghaire-based company TechWorks Marine, and results from the national inshore-mapping survey INFOMAR, carried out as part of the Irish National Seabed Survey by the Geological Survey of Ireland, the Marine Institute and partners. Results of this survey are available on the stand in the form of “The Real Map of Ireland” showing a detailed map of our undersea territory, from Ireland’s inshore waters to the abyssal deeps beyond the continental shelf.
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Dr. John Joyce – Communications Manager, Marine Institute
Phone: + 353 87 2250871
Notes to Editor
Oceanology International 2010
Oceanology International is the world’s premier meeting place for the marine science and ocean technology community. As well as the trade exhibition, it also hosts an international conference, developed with the Society for Underwater Technology which this year focuses on navigation and positioning, hydrography and geophysics, marine environment, geotechnics and ocean observations and forecasting.
See: http://www.oceanologyinternational.com/
The Marine Institute
The Marine Institute is Ireland’s national agency for marine research, technology, development and innovation, with the general functions “to undertake, to co-ordinate, to promote and to assist in marine research and development that in the opinion of the Institute will promote economic development and create employment and protect the marine environment.” (Marine Institute Act, 1991).
See: http://www.marine.ie
Nowcasting
Nowcasting’s products and services allow their clients to confidently plan their weather sensitive marine operations. Their speciality involves the merging of advanced metocean modelling with cutting-edge delivery and visualisation technology - in other words making the complex easy to understand and work with.
Nowcasting’s reputation, built over 10 years in the offshore oil and gas industry, is for the delivery of unique tools into the hands of industry users, allowing them to efficiently and safely manage their weather downtime, and in the process saving them money and improving safety. Clients include BP, Tullow Oil, Total, Shell, Exxon, the Marine Institute, Dublin Port, Trinity House, as well as drilling, construction and dive support companies all over the world.
See: http://www.nowcasting.ie
P&O Maritime Services
P&O Maritime Services Ireland is a global provider of specialist maritime solutions. Recognising the opportunities that exist in the offshore renewables market in Ireland and the UK, P&O Maritime Services has partnered with world leading high speed aluminium catamaran designer Incat Crowther, to design and build nine purpose-built Renewable Supply Vessels (RSVs).
These vessels, the first of which will be available from November 2010, have been designed to specifically address key operating and cost issues identified by the market: It is P&O’s ambition to be at the forefront of this industry as it gains momentum in Ireland.
See:http://www.pomaritime.com/
TechWorks Marine
TechWorks Marine provides clients with world-class marine environmental monitoring solutions as well as real-time data from their own monitoring platforms. This real-time data enables their clients to make effective management decisions.
TechWorks Marine solutions are based on their own proprietary data acquisition and transmission system the “TechWorks Marine Black Box, (TMBB),” designed for use in hostile environments delivering data via real-time telemetry to viewed online 24/7. TechWorks Marine is also the exclusive Irish representatives for several of the world's leading manufacturers of oceanographic and meteorological sensors.
See: http://www.techworks.ie