Feasibility Study on Recovering Human-Occupied Vehicle with An Offshore Crane

Launching and recovering human-occupied vehicles(HOVs)has always been a challenging problem.The current recovery process requires staff to manually complete the tethering task,which is inefficient and endangers the lives of staff.This paper suggests moving the recovery position from the surface to underwater at approximately half the wavelength of the water depth(30−50 m underwater),where the HOV experiences less environmental disturbance.An ROV equipped with a ultra-short baseline beacon(USBL)and a manipulator was used to complete the tethering operation.Additionally,a shackle customized to the shape of the manipulator’s gripper is fitted to the end of the cable to simplify the tethering process.To investigate the dynamic response of recovering the HOV using this suggested method,a comprehensive numerical model is developed in this research.The effects of wind,surface waves,ocean currents,and nonlinear interaction between the installation vessel and the HOV are quantitatively examined.The results show that the proposed recovery method can reduce the motion amplitude of the HOV and that the wave has the greatest influence on the dynamic response of the HOV during the recovery process.This model provides better insight into the proposed HOV recovery method and confirms the effectiveness of the heave compensation system.The proposed approach aims to enhance safety and operational efficiency by reducing direct human involvement in the recovery process and mitigating potential dangers.This finding holds particular significance,especially in environmentally sensitive areas,where reducing the impact on the surrounding ecosystem is crucial.

Experimental Study on Coupled Motions of Mother Ship Launching and Recovering of Human-Occupied Vehicle in Regular Waves

The launching and recovery process of a human-occupied vehicle(HOV)faces more complex wave effects than other types of submersible operations.However,due to the nonlinearity between the HOV and its mother ship,difficulties occur in theoretically simulating their coupled motion and hydrodynamics.The coupled motion responses and the load under different regular wave conditions are investigated experimentally in this study.The optimized design of the experimental scheme simulated the launching and recovery process of the mother ship and HOV in regular waves.The attitude sensor performed synchronous real-time measurement of the coupled motion between the mother ship and HOV as well as obtained the load data on the coupled motion under different cable lengths.The results show that models in heading waves mainly lead to the vertical motion of the hoisting point.In beam waves,the transverse and vertical motions of the hoisting point occur in a certain frequency of waves.Under the heading and beam wave conditions,the longer the hoisting cable is,the greater the movement amplitude of the submersible is.Moreover,compared with the condition of the beam waves,the hoisting submersible has less influence on the mother ship under the condition of the heading waves.The findings provide theoretical support for the design optimization of the launching and recovery operation.

An Overview of Submersible Research and Development in China

Given the recent success in the development of several submersibles in China, people's interest in the history of submersible development is increasing. This paper presents the history of submersible development in China, which can be briefly divided into three periods. The first one is the early period of hardship(1971–2000). Many prototype submersibles of HOVs, ROVs, and AUVs were developed at this time, but the main achievement was the establishment of special research organizations and the training of research and development personnel. The second period can be regarded as the quick development period(2001–2015). All currently used submersibles were developed during this period. The most remarkable achievement was the successful development of 7000 m-deep manned submersible "Jiaolong." The third period aims to develop 11 000 m submersibles for challenging the full ocean depth(2016–2020). In this period, two unmanned submersibles and two manned submersibles will be the significant indicators of achievement. If this 5-year plan can be successfully completed, China can play a significant role in the investigation of the deepest part of the oceans, namely, the hadal trenches(6500–11 000 m).