The flipping ship

27 febrero 2007

The FLIP research vessel (Floating Instrument Platform) is the only ship in the world having the ability to flip from a horizontal position to a vertical position while at sea.

The FLIP ship is designed to study wave height, acoustic signals, water temperature and density, and for the collection of meteorological data.

FLIP is 108 meters long and weighs 700 long tons. According to Alan Bellows, "when in horizontal traveling mode, the long, hollow ballast area trails behind. When it reaches the desired location, the "tail" is flooded until the nose sticks straight up into the air, taking about twenty-eight minutes to reach vertical position". You can see the process in this video:

Even in stormy conditions, it is as stable as a fencepost, because most of its length lies in the untroubled waters beneath the waves.



During the flip, the crew stand on the outside decks. Scientists and crewmembers literally walk up the walls to stay upright. Suddenly, the aft side of the barge becomes its floor. That makes for some ingenious engineering feats in equipping its bridge, galley, crew quarters and scientific laboratory. Even its head, or bathroom, had to be constructed to operate in a vertical and horizontal position.

As you can see in the video, some of FLIP's furnishings are also built so they can rotate to a new position.

In 1995, FLIP received a $2,000,000 modernization. The structural build is currently excellent and instrumentation will allow FLIP to be an oceanographic powerhouse in the future.

More info and sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

15 Respuestas ( Deja un comentario )

  1. Anónimo dijo...
  2. INCREDIBLE!!

    nice Blog at all. Where are you getting this excellent content from? ;)

  3. Antonio Martínez Ron dijo...
  4. Well, just a pact with the Devil ;-)

  5. Anónimo dijo...
  6. FLIP doesn't have an onboard engine. It requires a tug-boat to take it out to sea. The ballast system then floods the tank with water and it becomes a stationary object, virtually resistant to passing waves and swells.

    -a.programmer@scripps

  7. Avi Abrams dijo...
  8. that is a spectacular find, sir

  9. Anónimo dijo...
  10. so can it be towed while under water ...
    or it has to be on water to be towed ...
    kewl ship ...
    kewl blog ...
    kewl content ...
    thanks for all these incredible info ...

  11. Anónimo dijo...
  12. Flipping great article. Who woulda thunk it?

    Sorry to be a pedant, but don't you mean 'weighs'.

  13. Anónimo dijo...
  14. i just wanna say that is f...ing amazing. Where did u get all this stuff? It's amazing. do u now where this ship floats...on what seas..??

  15. Anónimo dijo...
  16. Correct abt that tugboat. While I was the senior US Navy Deck Officer aboard the USS Conserver (ARS-39)http://www.nafts.net/images/Ships%20pics/ARS/Conserver/conie.jpg
    We towed her on a project in the Hawaiian Islands in 1984. She only tows above water....
    nice blog for sure!
    snp@tbsphils

  17. Anónimo dijo...
  18. wow! that is insane!

  19. Anónimo dijo...
  20. wow! this is nice! I love technology

  21. oldman&thesea dijo...
  22. How can people who are actually putting information out there for all to see be such bad spellers? The ship "weighs" not "ways"!

  23. Antonio Martínez Ron dijo...
  24. I don't know how it hapenned. Now it is corrected. Don't you ever commit a mistake?

  25. Anónimo dijo...
  26. oldman&thesea: the author is not an English-speaking native. He does a great effort to translate his posts to try to reach a wider audience.

    It's ok for you to point him to his mistakes, but I think there are more correct ways to say that things.

    BTW: I'm not an English speaking person, so I'm pretty sure there are mistakes in this comment. I hope you can understand what I mean.

    BTW2: aberron: you are doing a great, great job... ¡SIGUE ASÍ !

  27. Anónimo dijo...
  28. Thanks for the wonderful pics!

  29. Anónimo dijo...
  30. That's a-f******-mazing!! I've never seen anything like it :-)
    Going to bookmark this for sure!
    I'll probably screw this up - I don't speak Spanish/Portuguese

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