Oceanology International (Oi) returns to London, March 15-17 2022, and is anticipated to be a show of pre-pandemic proportions showcasing the latest ocean technologies and developments, with on-water demos and vessels.
Oi has established itself over the last half-century as the de facto meeting place for professionals from the marine science and ocean technology communities.
“Bringing the Oceanology International community together for the first time in four years gives me enormous satisfaction,” says Oi’s Event Director, David Ince. “While business has continued throughout the pandemic for many of the core ocean industries we represent, there’s now the expectation of getting back to the high-impact face-to-face interactions, networking and knowledge sharing that Oi is known for.
We are such a technology- and solution-focused event, with more than 400 exhibitors showing off their innovation and know-how in a physical environment to a global audience of industry stakeholders all under one roof. And we are lucky to be located alongside the Royal Victoria Dock, allowing us to curate the largest programme of live on-water technology demonstrations that Oi has seen.”
A ‘first’ for Oi this year, and near the top of the ‘must-see’ list for many visitors at Oi 2022, is Blue Essence, an offshore-certified USV (uncrewed surface vessel) from Dutch geodata specialist company Fugro. For Oi, Blue Essence will be carrying an electric remotely operated vehicle (eROV) and demonstrating the important and technologically demanding capability of autonomously launching and recovering the eROV with the vessel being controlled from Fugro’s remote operations centre (ROC) in Aberdeen.
Ivar de Josselin de Jong, Solution Director Remote Inspection at Fugro, said: “The Blue Essence is an exciting amalgamation of our latest remote and autonomy developments and is only the start of Fugro’s transition towards a Net Zero Fleet. I am excited that we now have this newest generation of USVs available for European clients and have the opportunity to show some of its capabilities at Oceanology international.”
Fugro’s Blue Essence will be plying its autonomous way around the on-water demonstration area three times a day every day of the show.
On the smaller end of the remote vehicle scale sits Blueye Robotics. This Norwegian company is a first-time exhibitor at Oi, and is keen to make a big impression with its recently launched Blueye X3 ROV.
Under 50cm long, the tethered vehicle which will also feature in daily dockside demonstrations can be considered an ‘underwater drone’ but one that is up to the task of serious commercial usage, according to Oda Ryggen, Chief Commercial Officer: “The new Blueye X3 is a neat and handy vehicle with mighty capabilities. Four 350W thrusters power the vehicle at up to 3 knots underwater. The X3 has up to five hours’ range and is fitted with three guest ports supporting eight communication protocols. The ROV’s abilities can hence be extended with a wide range of external equipment including sensors, manipulators, grippers, DVLs, altimeters and sonars.”
“We are delighted to be bringing the Blueye X3 along with our other products to Oceanology International. The capabilities of the X3 take us more squarely into the commercial inspection and ocean science markets, so well-served by this important industry event”.
Aidan Thorn, Sonardyne’s Business Development Manager for Marine Robotics, agrees that Oceanology international 2022 is set to mark a milestone for the marine technology sector: “After such a long period with few or no trade events the whole industry seems to be buzzing with the idea of conducting face-to-face business once again; long-established and well-attended industry events like Oi are simply the bread and butter of how we work.
“Oi will be our first chance for a long time for a proper get-together with the industry. As we’re now also in our 50th year in business, we’re especially looking forward to welcoming clients and industry contacts, past and present, on to our stand (F300) to help celebrate this incredible milestone.”
Sonardyne will be performing dockside demonstrations with a C-Cat 3 USV on loan from the University of Southampton every day of the show. Demonstrated technologies will range from the industry-leading SPRINT-Nav Mini hybrid navigator to the Mini-Ranger 2 USBL system, all working together in real-time to output commercially useful navigation and positioning data, including high elevation tracking.
As part of the organisers’ work to make the venue Covid-secure, visitors must pre-register (free of charge) at https://www.oceanologyinternational.com/london/en-gb/enquire.html
