NOR Americas Update

Following our acquisition of ECHO81 in October 2025, we can now share that the integration is complete and ECHO81 is fully transitioned into NOR.

This is an important milestone that strengthens our presence and capacity in the US, and brings us even closer to our customers across the Americas.

In this article, we are putting the spotlight on NOR in the United States. With offices in Houston, Hartwell, New Jersey and Maine, we are closer to the work and ready to respond.

Rental or purchase, our US teams are ready to move quickly. And with 24/7 global support, we are always within reach.

NOR US Locations: Houston, Hartwell, New Jersey and Maine

Get in touch with our Americas team

Phone: +1 706-522-3022 | Email: sales.americas@norgroup.com

From ECHO81 to NOR Americas

ECHO81 became part of NOR in Q4 2025, marking an important step in strengthening our presence across the Americas. Since then, we have continued to invest in both capability and capacity to better serve customers across North and South America.

With support from NOR headquarters in Haugesund, Norway, including an investment of more than USD 14 million, we have significantly strengthened our rental pool and expanded our operational readiness in the region. We have also opened a facility in Houston, TX, allowing us to better support our oil and gas clients along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

These developments have positioned us for continued growth, and we expect to see further investments and expanded service offerings across the Americas as the year progresses.

ECHO81 to NOR

Words from the Americas

Damon Wolfe, Regional Director at NOR Americas, shares:

Hello from the Americas!

The past several weeks have been busy and productive across our U.S. operations. Our commercial team recently returned from Subsea Tieback in New Orleans, where the response from clients and partners was very positive. There is clear excitement around NOR Group’s continued expansion into both the North and South American markets, and the event provided a great opportunity to strengthen existing relationships while building new ones across the subsea community.

We have also begun receiving shipments tied to our 2026 CAPEX investments, which will further enhance our operational capabilities in the region. Our team in Houston is actively preparing this subsea equipment for deployment ahead of the upcoming survey season. Early indicators suggest a strong year ahead, with increasing demand expected across both North and South America.

Meanwhile, our Hartwell office continues to experience strong growth in the government sector while also supporting several offshore renewable energy clients along the U.S. eastern seaboard. The team’s continued dedication and expertise have helped strengthen our position in these important markets.

Focus areas for the future

As we move further into 2026, the outlook for the Americas remains strong. Demand continues to grow across multiple sectors, and with additional equipment arriving alongside continued investment in our operational capabilities, our teams are well positioned to support both existing customers and new opportunities across the region.

One of our main priorities for Q2 and Q3 is to expand our calibration offering in Houston. This will strengthen our operational efficiency, support inventory readiness across our rental fleet, and enable faster deployment of equipment when our clients need it.

At the same time, enhanced local calibration capabilities will allow us to offer quicker and more convenient support for client-owned assets. By reducing turnaround times and helping minimize downtime, this initiative strengthens the service we provide while further establishing Houston as an important hub for NOR in the Americas.

Houston

Located in the heart of Houston’s Energy Corridor, our Houston office places us close to key operators, contractors, and service companies supporting offshore activity along the U.S. Gulf Coast and beyond. This allows us to respond quickly, work closely with clients and partners, and support a wide range of subsea and offshore operations.

With more than 15,000 square feet of combined office and warehouse space, the facility is built to support both technical excellence and operational readiness. It houses a modern inventory of subsea positioning equipment and advanced acoustic sensor technologies used across navigation, positioning, tracking, survey, inspection, and installation activities. Our equipment inventory is maintained to the highest standards to ensure reliability, accuracy, and readiness for deployment in demanding subsea environments.

Supported by an experienced commercial and operations team, Houston serves as an important hub for project planning, equipment preparation, and client support. The integrated office and warehouse setup allows engineering, logistics, and operations teams to work closely together, helping ensure equipment is configured, tested, and mobilized efficiently. This streamlined approach supports faster turnaround times and helps minimize downtime for our clients’ offshore projects.

Houston Office

Hartwell

Our Hartwell, Georgia office is strategically positioned along the I-85/I-95 transportation corridor just outside Atlanta, providing convenient access to key markets throughout the southeastern United States. The location plays an important role in supporting public sector clients, including government agencies and educational institutions, while also enabling efficient mobilization of equipment, personnel, and technical support along the eastern seaboard.

Hartwell serves as a specialized hub for geophysical and mapping technologies used in nearshore and coastal infrastructure projects. From shoreline surveys and harbor assessments to bathymetric mapping, subsea imaging, environmental monitoring, and infrastructure inspection, the facility supports a wide range of survey and geospatial applications across ports, bridges, utilities, and marine construction projects.

The office is also home to the NOR Academy, our dedicated training and professional development center. Through structured courses, hands-on workshops, and practical field exercises, the Academy supports both internal teams and clients with training in the deployment, operation, and support of our technology solutions. More on the NOR Academy to come.

A unique advantage of the Hartwell location is its direct access to Lake Hartwell, which provides an ideal setting for equipment testing, validation, and on-water training. This gives both our teams and our clients the opportunity to work with advanced survey and subsea technologies in realistic conditions, helping strengthen field readiness and support safe, effective deployment.

Hartwell office

Meet the management-team

Damon Wolfe

Regional Director, Americas

Evan Martzial

Commercial Manager, Americas

Moustafa Ibrahim

Finance Manager, Americas

Missy Vaughn

Business Operations Manager, Americas

Derek Sykes

Operations Manager, Americas

New hires

Our strength has always been our people. Following the recent integration and continued investment in the region, our team in the Americas continues to grow. We are pleased to welcome several new colleagues to the NOR family.

John McKinnon
Senior Sales and Support Specialist

John McKinnon grew up in Boston, Massachusetts, and began his career in the U.S. Marine Corps as an Avionics Technician, where he earned recognition as a Master Training Specialist in Advanced Avionics. After transitioning into the offshore industry, he worked as an ROV Pilot/Technician with C-Innovation before moving into subsea survey as a Senior Survey Engineer at UTEC. He later advanced to Project Support Manager for UTEC Americas, supporting operational delivery across regional projects.

John also served as ROV Operations Lead and Sales Engineer at Seatronics, combining technical expertise with customer-focused support. At NOR, he now works as a Senior Sales and Support Specialist, providing technical guidance, sales support, and operational insight to clients across the marine and subsea sectors.

Andrew Benedetto
Warehouse Technician

Andrew Benedetto has been part of the ECHO81 team for the past eight months and is now continuing that journey as part of NOR. Before moving to Texas, he graduated from Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington, North Carolina, where he completed the Marine Technology program.

During his studies, Andrew gained valuable hands-on experience through practical coursework and real-world surveying opportunities alongside industry professionals. He is excited to continue learning and developing his expertise together with his colleagues at NOR.

Caleb Ell
Tech Sales and Support Specialist

Caleb Ell served four years in the U.S. Navy aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72). After his naval service, he built extensive domestic and international experience as a contractor supporting hydrographic surveying projects. He later became Lead Surveyor for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Galveston, Texas.

Today, Caleb is part of the NOR team in Houston, where he works as a Technical Sales and Support Specialist, helping clients with hydrographic and subsea survey solutions. Outside of work, he is a proud father of eight-month-old twins and calls Houston home.

Mike Burciaga
Workshop Manager

Mike Burciaga has worked in subsea rentals for around seven years. After studying Electrical Engineering, he began his industry career at Seatronics, where he developed broad experience and progressed into leadership. He has now joined NOR, where he is stepping into a management role and is looking forward to contributing to the team’s continued growth.

Outside of work, Mike enjoys spending time with his wife and young son, going for runs, playing video games, and visiting Disney World whenever he gets the chance.

Tay Taylor
Workshop Manager

Tayunn (Tay) Taylor is from Houston, Texas, where she was born and raised. She brings around 17 years of logistics experience from across the oil and gas industry, with a background spanning distribution, manufacturing, and related operations.

Her interest in this side of the business has grown through years of working closely with equipment flows and customer needs. After joining ECHO81, Tay became part of the transition into NOR and looks forward to the opportunities ahead as the integration continues.

Our partners

We proudly partner with some of the world’s leading manufacturers of hydrographic, oceanographic, and geophysical technologies. These strong relationships allow us to provide our clients with proven equipment, seamless integration, and trusted technical expertise.

As a certified reseller and technical partner, we work closely with manufacturers such as AML Oceanographic, EdgeTech, Kongsberg, Applanix, and others. These partnerships help ensure that our customers have access to reliable, high-performance technology and the latest developments in the market.

Through close collaboration with our partners, we provide:

At NOR, partnership means more than distribution. We work closely with our suppliers to solve complex challenges and support mission-critical projects around the world. Whether optimizing a system for deployment in demanding environments or troubleshooting a multi-sensor setup, our team brings both field experience and factory insight to every solution.

We also welcome new collaborations with manufacturers who share our focus on innovation, precision, and customer service.

Our partners

US Equipment Investments

Over the past months, we have made significant investments in new equipment for our US locations. The goal is simple: more local availability, faster mobilisation, and reliable support for offshore operations. We are building one of the strongest and most up to date equipment pools in the US, and we are not slowing down. More additions are already on the way.

Octans Subsea

Manufacturer: iXBlue High-performance subsea gyrocompass andmotion sensor Octans Subsea is a subsea survey-grade gyrocompass and complete motion sensor for water depths up to 3,000 m. Based on Exail’s FOG technology it outputs heading, roll, pitch, heave, rate of turn and acceleration. Octans Subsea can be easily upgraded to full INS mode (i.e. Rovins).

iXBlue Rovins

IXBlue ROVINS is a combined survey-grade full featured Inertial Navigation System (INS) for water depths up to 3,000m. Designed specifically for offshore survey and construction works, ROVINS improves the efficiency of all operations where accurate position, heading, 3D speeds and attitude are key benefits. Manufacturer: iXBlue

Sonardyne SPRINT-Nav

The Sonardyne SPRINT-Nav is the world’s highest performing all-in-one hybrid navigator for all subsea vehicles and survey operations and is available in two frequencies: 600 kHz or 400 kHz for higher altitude tracking. Manufacturer: Sonardyne

Valeport Bathy2

The Bathy2 is an enhancement of the MIDAS Bathypack offering Valeport’s proven construction survey industry standard sensors to generate precision Sound Velocity and Density profiles for highly accurate depth and height data. Key features include interchangeable pressure sensors to maximize accuracy for depth application, external input from a Digiquartz pressure transducer and separate output for INS or other use. Vibration & Shock tested to ISO 13628-6:2006 (Q2 levels). Manufacturer: Valeport

Valeport Mini IPS2 Intelligent Pressure Sensor RS232 & RS485

The miniIPS2 is a precision underwater pressure sensor with an accuracy of 0.01%FS and can provide a data rate of up-to 100Hz. Key to this design is the unique interchangeable pressure module that allows customers to change pressure transducers for maximising operationally specific depth requirements. This innovative pressure module, with integral calibration, can be changed in a couple of minutes without opening the instrument and is available in 0.01% accuracy, available in 10, 20, 30, 50, 100, 200, 300, 400 and 600 BAR variants. This is a cost-effective solution for offshore engineers, vehicle pilots, and other operators who require highly accurate depth information in real time, combined with the knowledge that testing to the standard ISO 13628-6:2006 (Q2 Levels) for vibration and shock has been attained. The miniIPS2 is compatible with Valeport’s MIDAS BathyPack and BathyLog software, allowing the depth data to be continually updated for Density variations in the water column.

Valeport Model 106

The Valeport Model 106 Current Meter is a light weight, cost effective impeller current meter, designed for real time current measurement or short to medium term autonomous deployments. Titanium construction ensures durability, and the optional temperature and pressure sensors increase the versatility of the instrument. Ideal for use in rivers and coastal applications, or from small boats, the Model 106 is simple to use with either the Windows based PC software supplied, or an optional dedicated display unit. Manufacturer: Valeport

Valeport Mini SVS – SPEED Sound Velocity Sensor

Valeport’s unique digital time of flight technology gives unmatched performance figures, with signal noise an order of magnitude better than any other sensor. The miniSVS is available in a selection of configurations and with optional pressure or temperature sensors. There are a number of size options to suit many applications. The miniSVS is titanium housed as standard and 6000m rated, its rugged design allows it to withstand the toughest conditions. Manufacturer: Valeport

ORCA Subsea IP-camera

Step into the world of fully digital subsea video with the new SubVIS Camera HD Ethernet 1080p@60fps low latency video streaming Camera with powerful Embedded Computer Ready for advanced image enhancement and Computer Vision Software client with basic OSD Standard video streaming protocols RTSP/RTP HTTP commands for configuration and control Basic client for four cameras included 12x Optical Zoom Manufacturer: Imenco AS

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