Satamatics' Ocean Alert Ship Security Alert System has been approved by the US

Marine habitat mapping

Satamatics, the operator of satellite- based asset tracking and remote monitoring services, reports that its Ocean Alert Ship Security Alert System has received approval by the US Coast Guard. Following an in-depth evaluation, the US Coast Guard recognizes Ocean Alert as being in full compliance with the technological and operational requirements of its Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circulars, and that the system meets all the relevant IMO standards contained within the ISPS Code. As a result, Satamatics' Ocean Alert is now approved for use by US-flagged vessels (PRNewswire).

All ships over 500 gross tonnes are required to be equipped with a Ship Security Alert System (SSAS), which is capable of discreetly raising the alarm to the relevant authorities and tracking the vessel if the security of the vessel is compromised.

The Ocean Alert Ship Security Alert System, from Satamatics, complies fully with all SOLAS XI-2/6 mandatory regulations and performance standards for Ship Security Alert Systems. Ocean Alert SSAS provides global coverage and fully automatic roaming across all the world's ocean regions.

Does this apply to research vessels?

Atlantis discovered... again!

Marine habitat mapping

12 Noon, New Port of Limassol, Cyprus, on board the Flying Enterprise Robert Sarmast reported success of his recent expedition to Mediterranean Sea in search for the Atlantis. He claims his expedition the first to prove that Plato’s lost city of Atlantis lies 1.5km down on the sea bed 80km off the S.E. coast of Cyprus.

‘We cannot yet provide tangible proof in the form of bricks and mortar, as the artefacts are still buried under several metres of sediment, but the circumstantial and other evidence is now irrefutable – and we hope that future expeditions will be able to uncover the sediment and bring back physical proof’ said Robert, whose book, ‘The Discovery of Atlantis – the startling case for the island of Cyprus’ (Origin Press 2003) has become something of a best-seller in Cyprus – where the tourist industry will certainly be set to gain from this latest discovery (Cyprus Atlantis Expedition Press Release).

AQUATEC - INNERSPACE OPERATIONS LTD. web site shows a selection of 3D reconstruction maps from possibly mutibeam bathymetry sonar and some low-resolution snap shots from sidescan sonar. Multibeam images show several linear features, about 1.5nm long, which are alledged to be remains of the Atlantis city walls. Sidescan sonar images, which should provide higher resolution in 1500m water depth than multibeam sonar are too small to judge the nature and origin of the features.
http://www.aquatec-innerspace.com/gallery/atlantismaps/atlantis110?full=1
What came immediately to my mind is G. B. Faders favorite expression: "Beware of the trap of morphological similarity". I learned a lot from this famous geomorphologist. "Look at this feature", he once said, pointing on a multibeam map. "It looks like female breast! Yet, it is a drumlin!" Ever since all drumlins look like female breast to me, but the moral of the story is that a linear feature on seabed is not necessarily a human made wall (or a part of human body).

Good luck, though, and I am sure that Robert had a lot of fun in Cyprus.