Ocean Infinity

Ocean Infinity is an American seabed exploration company based in Houston, Texas, and founded in 2017.

Ocean Infinity
Private
IndustrySeabed exploration
Headquarters
United States
Key people
  • Oliver Plunkett
  • (CEO)
  • Melanie Smith
  • (COO)
Websiteoceaninfinity.com

Ownership and management

Based in Houston, Texas, Ocean Infinity was founded in July 2017, and is led by CEO Oliver Plunkett and COO Melanie Smith.[1] Privately held, its ownership is unclear, but according to Sky News, Anthony Clake, a British partner in hedge fund Marshall Wace and investor in several ocean salvage companies, is the primary shareholder, and the South China Morning Post found that the company is associated with several individuals and organizations with interests in seafloor exploration and salvage.[1]

Equipment

Soon after its founding, the company leased the Norwegian vessel Seabed Constructor for six years, along with the ship's complement of two remotely operated underwater vehicles, six autonomous underwater vehicles, and eight unmanned surface vehicles, which can search up to 1,000 km2 (390 sq mi) of ocean daily.[1] In July 2018, Ocean Infinity signed a seven-year charter for the undersea construction ship Island Pride from Island Offshore.[2]

Missions

Ocean Infinity was involved in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in early 2018, deploying Seabed Constructor between January and May without success.[3] In November of the same year, Seabed Constructor located the wreck of Argentinian submarine ARA San Juan, which had disappeared a year earlier.[4] At end December 2018, Ocean Infinity was contracted by the South Korean government to search for the wreck of the sunken bulk carrier ship Stellar Daisy, which sank in March 2017 in the South Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Uruguay.[5] On 17 February 2019, the company announced that it believed it had found the ship's wreck,[6] and soon afterwards retrieved the voyage data recorder.[7]

In addition to the high-profile wreck searches, Ocean Infinity has also undertaken seabed surveying in support of energy exploration, such as Seabed Constructor's deployment to survey the Scarborough gas field west of Australia in mid-2018.[8]

In spring 2019, the wreck of Grande America was localized by Island Pride, which arrived 30 March and started inspecting the wreck using remotely operated underwater vehicles.[9] In July 2019, the company found the French Navy submarine Minerve, 50 years after its disappearance.[10]

References
  1. "MH370: mystery of private company behind renewed search for missing plane". South China Morning Post. 23 March 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  2. "Ocean Infinity charters Island Offshore's subsea vessel". Offshore Energy Today. 9 July 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  3. "A Search for MH370, Missing Since 2014, Ends 'With a Heavy Heart'". The New York Times. 29 May 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  4. "Argentine Submarine San Juan Is Found". The Wall Street Journal. 17 November 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  5. "Ocean Infinity to Support South Korean Government in Search for Stellar Daisy". oceaninfinity.com. Archived from the original on 5 August 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  6. David Aaro (17 February 2019). "South Korean tanker Stellar Daisy found on ocean floor 2 years after it sank, explorers say". Fox News.
  7. "Search ship retrieves voyage data recorder from sunken Stellar Daisy". The Korea Herald. 18 February 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  8. "Woodside awards Scarborough survey to Ocean Infinity". Offshore Energy Today. 13 June 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  10. Silvia Ayuso (22 July 2019). "Localizados los restos del 'Minerve', un submarino francés desaparecido en 1968". El País.
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