US Navy ship upcycled for ocean exploration

The Manila Times

US Navy ship upcycled for ocean exploration  A unique 'flipping' ship from the 1960s, capable of rotating from horizontal to vertical - as if sinking - is set to be saved from the scrap heap. Flip, which stands for Floating Instrument Platform, was built for the US Navy in 1962 to carry out acoustic research but was finally decommissioned last year. But before she could be broken up, a UK-based ocean engineering company called DEEP has brought her to Europe to refit her with state of the art technology. Half ship, half submarine, Flip is 108 meters (355 feet) long and can sink more than 90 meters (295 feet) of its hull vertically in less than 30 minutes, by taking on around 600 tons of water. It reverses the process and returns to the horizontal by expelling the water using compressed air. The refitting of the ship will take place over the next 18 months in a shipyard in the south of France.  REUTERS/DEEP / SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY / STEVE GRESHAM  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe    Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net    Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion    Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital    Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein   #TheManilaTimes #tmtnews #usnavy  #flip

Transcript

00:00So it's the only vessel which you can sunk and put back in the water, and it's the only

00:27vessel which you can work and operate in two different configurations, horizontal and vertical.

00:39So this is what is making FLIP absolutely unique.

00:51One of the few only vessels that can change mode from horizontal to vertical using seawater.

00:59Seawater is allowed to enter the vessel in certain compartments, this changes the buoyancy

01:04and stability.

01:05We flip vertically, we're able to control our draft and also our inclination using the

01:11internal tanks built on board, again filled purely with seawater.

01:17The reverse process going from vertical to horizontal, we expel that water using compressed

01:23air that we store on board.

01:48So FLIP is able to transition from horizontal to vertical in about half an hour, and the

01:53reverse at sea.

01:56The vertical condition is our main operating mode.

02:00When she's vertical she is very, very stable and comfortable, not reacting at all to the

02:04sea conditions.

02:05So in the roughest seas, FLIP remains immune to this wave action and remains comfortable

02:13on board and a stable platform for the scientific operations and data collection being undertaken.

02:27Our goals are to bring technological advances to FLIP, as well as make her accessible to

02:31a much broader market.

02:33We believe that our biggest challenge when it comes to the ocean is not necessarily pollution

02:37but our ignorance.

02:38And we believe that FLIP can be an important part of learning more about the ocean.

02:43Because, as you may know, FLIP was intended to be scrapped, to be cut in pieces, so we

03:03literally saved from death this amazing piece of history.

03:33The vessel behind me, as you can see, is of an age, it's from the 1960s, and a lot

03:48of the technology on board was also from that era.

03:51Even though it has been a platform to support a lot of really important innovation of science

03:56and technology and marine research since then, we want to create a platform that is versatile,

04:03but also has modern requirements for power, modern technology for communication, and will

04:11allow the very latest technologies to be deployed in this otherwise austere environment.

04:33We're really thrilled to see that the community in the science and research and marine space

05:02are incredibly excited to see that FLIP is going to have a new chapter.

05:07And the engagement that we'll have with them through the discovery phase is going to determine

05:11how we prioritize where she should be deployed first.

05:14She's never operated in the Mediterranean before.

05:18We're really excited to see her come and work here, but we want to ensure that she can operate

05:22safely with a global footprint, so she can go anywhere in the world and achieve what

05:27she's been built to do for anyone and anywhere safely.

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