ODIM Brooke Ocean provides hardware, systems engineering and R&D services to the marine science, naval and oil & gas sectors. Our specialty is the development of equipment and systems to operate in harsh marine environments.

ODIM Brooke Ocean has been involved with the design and development of marine and oceanographic equipment for over 20 years and has a track record as a company that can solve problems with simple, yet innovative designs. We have exported hardware to clients around the world, including the U.S., Australia, Taiwan, U.K., China, Japan, Korea and Norway.

One of ODIM Brooke Ocean's primary areas of specialization is in the development of shipboard launch & recovery systems (LARS) to deploy and recover various payloads from a ship at sea. This includes LARS for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and unmanned surface vehicles (USVs). ODIM Brooke Ocean also has extensive experience with shipboard installations and testing at sea.

This LARS was developed to deploy and recover a Bluefin Robotics AUV purchased by Thales for conducting offsore surveys. It is a modular system comprised of a folding marine crane, custom capture mechanism, constant tension winch, tow boom and towing winch. Using remote line attachment methods, the towline and the lifting cable are attached to the vehicle. The vehicle is hoisted into a capture mechanism and secured, brought inboard and stowed on deck.

ODIM Brooke Ocean has supplied a LARS to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) for the deployment and recovery of their Dorado AUV. Operating off the stern of the vessel it uses a two stage J-frame to inboard and overboard a capture mechanism containing the AUV. Remote latching methods are used to attach a towline, at which point the vehicle is drawn into a target zone comprising semi-rigid air pressurized hoses. Attached to these target hoses are lifting slings, which tear free from the hoses when the vehicle is lifted. Once lifted securely into the capture mechanism bumpers, the system is brought inboard.

ODIM Brooke Ocean supplied four crane-based launch systems (CBLS) for the Hardsuit™ 1 atmospheric diving system. The CBLS consisted of a crane, hoisting winch, latching system and hydraulic power unit. These systems were supplied to the Russia Navy, as part of a major investment in submarine escape and rescue equipment, made in the wake of the Kursk submarine disaster.

The LARS is self-contained, air transportable and mounted on an ISO container base, allowing for easy shipment and installation on vessels of opportunity. During recovery, the winch lowers a load latch down the HARDSUIT™ tether. When it reaches the HARDSUIT™, it passively latches to a lifting bullet. The latch is hydraulically released. Overhoisting is avoided with an anti-two-block switch on the overboarding sheave. The LARS operates in up to sea state 3 conditions. The entire system folds within the footprint of a 10 ft ISO container.

ODIM Brooke Ocean and its prime contractor, Hard Suits Inc. (now Oceanworks) delivered a submarine pod posting system to the Canadian Navy. This system will be used to deliver emergency life support stores (ELSS) transfer pods to a distressed submarine.

ODIM Brooke Ocean was responsible for the supply of a containerized launch and recovery system (LARS). The LARS consists of a winch with constant tension capability, crane, overboarding sheave/latching mechanism and diesel-hydraulic power unit all mounted on an ISO skid. The system can be transported by air, sea and ground. The LARS is capable of operation in up to Sea State 5 and can deliver a carousel equipped with five ELSS transfer pods to depths down to 2,000 ft in up to Sea State 5.

ODIM Brooke Ocean supplied a towing and overboarding system for a low frequency acoustic source used for underwater acoustics research. This system, delivered to the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organization, consists of a crane, winch, hydraulic power unit, custom designed towing/capture mechanism, power distribution system and laboratory. The system has been integrated on to the base of a 20 ft ISO container for storage and transport. Also included in this project was the development of a highly stable underwater towbody.

ODIM Brooke Ocean developed a launch and recovery system for Canadian DOLPHIN, a 7m, diesel powered semi-submersible used for ocean mapping. The key to this system is the incorporation of unique line attachment devices which permit a tow line and lifting cable to be attached to DOLPHIN without the requirement to put a person in the water.

ODIM Brooke Ocean developed a launch and recovery system for the US Navy ORCA (Oceanographic Remote Controlled Automaton) semi-submersible. This LARS was very similar to the DOLPHIN LARS described above.

ODIM Brooke Ocean received funding from the Canadian Space Agency to develop a telerobotic operated crane for handling untethered payloads such AUVs. A crane and manipulator are controlled by an intuitive input device that allows the operator to think of the structure as an extension of their own arm. This provides a more intuitive method of controlling a handling device and one where motion compensation is provided by the operator.

ODIM Brooke Ocean developed a method of attaching a tow line to a disabled DOLPHIN unmanned surface vehicle. The system, called FLATTS (First Line ATTachment System), consists of a series of floats and sea anchors which pulls a buoyant line and tow line from the nose of DOLPHIN. A target is thus provided which can be recovered by grappling a safe distance from DOLPHIN. Once the tow line is recovered, DOLPHIN is put under tow and can be recovered with ODIM Brooke Ocean's handling system.

ODIM Brooke Ocean was involved with the conceptual design of recovering the Hibernia platform's totally enclosed lifeboats using one of the standby vessels. The scope of work includes detailed conceptual designs and determining structural loads on the proposed recovery crane.

ODIM Brooke Ocean successfully developed a prototype system to remotely attach lifting cables to hydrographic survey launches without direct human intervention.

ODIM Brooke Ocean is a world leader in the development and supply of sensor platforms for moored and underway use. This includes SeaHorse™, a wave powered sensor platform which utilizes surface wave energy to move up and down a mooring wire. ODIM Brooke Ocean’s Moving Vessel Profiler™ (MVP) collects free fall data profiles from ships underway at speeds of up to 18 knots.

The Moving Vessel Profiler (MVP) consists of sensors housed in a small, streamlined free fall fish, a conductor cable with kevlar strength member, a computer-controlled high speed hydraulic winch and a complete cable metering, overboarding and docking system. The MVP greatly enhances the productivity of CTD, Sound Velocity and other specialized profiling by allowing deep water free-fall casts to be made from an underway vessel.

The MVP allows the free fall fish to fall near-vertically. Deployment is executed under computer control and can be restrained by three parameters: desired depth of cast, preset height above the bottom or maximum cable out. Using this concept, the system can achieve a much deeper depth for a given vessel speed than a comparable towed system. Once the programmed downcast depth has been reached, the fish is towed near the surface where it can be recovered or re-deployed.

SeaHorse™ utilizes surface wave energy to move a sensor platform up and down a mooring wire. It permits a complete vertical profile to be obtained with a single sensor, eliminating the need for multiple sensors on the mooring line, and the sensor platform can be pre-programmed to dwell at depth for set periods of time.

The Sea-Bird Electronics SBE 19 CTD is standard equipment on the SeaHorse™, and most sensors capable of being piggybacked on the SBE19 can be employed as well. The SeaHorse™ can be configured to carry a variety of payloads including CTD, optical and acoustic sensors.

SeaHorse™ uses a ratchet system controlled by an onboard microprocessor to harness the natural energy of waves and transfer it into motion. This ratchet system can be set to glide freely or engaged to set the profiler in motion. The profiler can climb down to depth, wait for a pre-programmed length of time and then float along the mooring wire towards the surface by disengaging the gripper mechanism. During the profiling motion, the onboard microcomputer logs sensor data in memory. The profiler will operate reliably, even in very calm conditions (as little as 15 cm wave height at 2 second period will cause the profiler to activate).

FFCPT was developed to collect geotechnical and geophysical data during route location surveys for seabed cable and pipeline installations, bottom classification and acoustic groundtruthing, mine countermeasures and geo-environmental studies.

FFCPT is a very robust device designed to free fall through the water column, then impact the seabed. The amount of penetration into the seabed is controlled by the sediment type, bulk density, dynamic shear modulus and the undrained shear strength. The FFCPT records data that permit evaluation of these and other geotechnical parameters. Onboard acceleration and pressure sensors monitor the sediment penetration response, producing continuous profiles similar to a conventional piezocone penetrometer.

Developed at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, the LOPC is a state of the art instrument for counting and imaging zooplankton.

The LOPC is small enough to be installed in a variety of existing towbodies. Its lightweight construction from aluminum allows a variety of mounting arrangements. The instrumentation is contained within a single housing allowing for a compact design and the sample tunnel is interchangeable with a large volume (2.5X) sampling tunnel.

The LOPC uses a high quality laser accompanied by precision optics to create a laser beam or plane which is used to detect a change in the laser path or ‘light blockage’, thus indicating a particle in transit through the tunnel. The detection band is very thin [1mm] and the scan rate is extremely fast (35 µs) which combine to enable the LOPC to operate in very high concentrations of particle while keeping coincidence levels very low.

With such a high resolution 0.1 mm - 35 mm (100µm - 35000µm) and the ability to individualize particles even at a high flow rate, extremely large amounts of data have to be processed. To accomplish this, the LOPC utilizes high speed signal processors and a combination of other analog and digital electronics.

ODIM Brooke Ocean supplies custom electrical and electro-hydraulic slip ring winches for the overboarding and towing of a variety of payloads. ODIM Brooke Ocean also supplies cable handling systems for free fall instrumentation packages comprised of a free-wheel winch and powered line puller.

ODIM Brooke Ocean’s Instrumented Metering Sheave can be used for the overboarding (while on station) and the towing of instrumentation and hardware. Comprised of a rugged, lightweight sheave block, PC based lab unit and remote displays, the system is equipped with sensors to measure cable tension, scope, speed and angles.

A key feature of the sheave is the display software, which not only displays sheave data but allows messages to be sent from the lab PC to the winch operator.

The NOVASEAL cable cleaner/lubricator was developed by ODIM Brooke Ocean to lubricate electro-mechanical cables and to clean all types of wire rope and cable. The system performs the following:

The NOVASEAL system is comprised of two sections; one for washing/drying and the other for lubrication. Each section can be used separately.