On December 19, 2023, the U.S. Department of State announced updated data on the outer limits of the U.S. continental shelf in areas beyond 200 nautical miles from the coast.  Since 2003, U.S. government agencies have been engaged in gathering and analyzing data to determine the outer limits of the U.S. extended continental shelf.  This...Read More

Today, the U.S. Navy, on behalf of NOAA, has awarded $146,778,932 to Skanska USA, from New York, to design and build a new NOAA facility on Naval Station Newport in Rhode Island. This facility will eventually be the new home of NOAA’s Marine Operations Center – Atlantic.  While the details of the facility’s design are...Read More

Our oceans are filled with items that do not belong there.  Huge amounts of consumer plastics, metals, rubber, paper, textiles, derelict fishing gear, vessels, and other lost or discarded items enter the marine environment every day, making marine debris one of the most widespread pollution problems facing the world’s ocean and waterways. To help address...Read More

Central Atlantic Offshore Wind Proposed for Offshore Delaware, Maryland, Virginia On December 11, 2023, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced the proposal of an offshore wind lease sale in the Central Atlantic that includes one area offshore the States of Delaware and Maryland, and one area offshore the Commonwealth of Virginia. Lease Area A-2 consists of...Read More

According to the U.S. National Park Service, 2,403 American service members and civilians were killed and another 1,178 people were injured in the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941.    In its ongoing mission to support the Pearl Harbor National Memorial that now marks the site of the tragedy, the Pacific...Read More

For those whose interests are focused on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf, particularly in research, offshore energy and marine mineral exploration, development and production, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has several upcoming events during early December 2023 in which to participate: BOEM Environmental Studies (ESP) 50th Anniversary Showcase It’s hard to believe it’s...Read More

In a history-making decision, the origins of which date back to 2011, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced its approval of construction and operation of New York’s Empire Wind offshore wind project on November 21, 2023. A joint project of Equinor Renewables and BP, Empire Wind US LLC will develop two offshore wind facilities,...Read More

NOAA’s National Coral Reefs Monitoring Program (NCRMP) launched a new data visualization tool on November 15, 2023 that will provide free and easy-to-access information on the status of U.S. coral reefs.  It is the first tool focusing on shallow tropical coral reef data to be hosted on the NOAA GeoPlatformoffsite link, which is NOAA’s central...Read More

Perspective is everything.  Great feats of American engineering and infrastructure have never been created by just one person or one company, but rather, they’re the collective product of many people working together over many years to produce a monumental accomplishment.  The offshore wind infrastructure arising now in the United States Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf of...Read More

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced on November 9, 2023 that it is beginning to formulate its Fiscal Year 2025–2026 Studies Development Plan covering all of its offshore energy and minerals activities. Through December 7, 2023, the agency is inviting interested parties to submit study ideas for consideration in Alaska, Atlantic, Gulf...Read More