It can take a land lubber quite a while to get their sea legs, so MARINTEK (the Norwegian Marine Technology Research Institute), working with Norway’s Salt Ship Design, have created a boat that can actively cancel out the rolling motion of the ocean’s waves.
Designed for use alongside oil platforms under construction as a temporary place for workers to live, the Offshore Accommodation Vessel — as it’s called — features a U-shaped water tank lining its hull. The tank is only partly filled with water, though. And by controlling the amount of air pumped into either side of the tank, a gentle inner wave is created which can be used to counteract the motions of a rolling sea, stabilising the ship.
The full-sized version of the ship, which is currently being built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea, also uses a set of six azimuth thrusters which are self-contained swivelling propellers that use GPS data to constantly re-position the ship so it doesn’t drift away — basically a 21st century version of an anchor. Somewhere the dramamine industry is quaking (but not queasy) in its boots. [Marintek via Gizmag]
