TABLE 15.3 ALCOA SEAPROBE CHARACTERISTICS 



Length 



Beam 



Draft 



Displacement 



Speed 



Range 



Endurance 



Main Power 



Auxiliary Power 



Propulsion 



Auxiliary Deck Equipment 



Ship Control 



Primary Ship Construction Material 



Derrick 



Drawworks 

 Pipe 



Pipe Handling 

 Berthing 



243 feet 



50 feet 



14 feet (Propeller depth) 



1700 tons 



10 knots 



6,600 miles 



45 days 



Two 800 kW dieselelectric generators 



Two 250 kW dieselelectric generators 



Two VoithSchneider cycloidal omnidirectional propulsion units 



Two 5-ton cranes 



Oceanographic winch-interchangeable drums 



Decca ship control consoles on bridge and in search/recovery control center 



5456-H117 aluminum plate 



5456-H1 1 1 aluminum extrusions 



Height: 132 feet (above water line) 



Capacity: 250-ton hook load with safety factor of 2 



Material: 6061-T6 aluminum tubing 



5456-H321 aluminum plate 

 EMSCO 800 with 600 hp motor generator power supply for DC control 

 4/4" external upset-internal flush 

 Sections 60 feet in length 

 Semi-automatic pipe handling system 

 All spaces air conditioned 

 Crew - 30 

 Scientific party - 19 



TIME-LATE. Essentially, TIME-LATE re- 

 fers to the passage of time involved from the 

 occurrence of an event (disabling of the sub- 

 mersible) to the point where rescue is no 

 longer possible. In a submersible "time" be- 

 gins when the hatch is closed, and "late" is 

 invoked when life support expires. In a hypo- 

 thetical situation, from the moment the 

 hatch is closed the following events occur 

 before rescue: 



1) Descend and work for some period of 

 time 



2) Emergency occurs: Evaluate and make 

 decision whether or not additional help 

 is required 



3) Report emergency 



4) Ascertain availability and martial as- 

 sets 



5) Transport available assets to emer- 

 gency scene 



6) Locate submersible 



7) Deploy assets, attempt rescue. 



With a general limit of 48 hours the chances 



of all the above occurring before "late" is 

 reached are indeed slim. Let us examine one 

 of the most recent incidents in the light of 

 TIME-LATE. 



PISCES III Incident: 



The Vickers Oceanics Ltd. submersible was 

 in the process of retrieval when the aft ma- 

 chinery sphere hatch cover was torn off and 

 the sphere flooded. The vehicle sank to 1,575 

 feet and landed stern-first on the bottom 

 some 0.95 to 1.5 tons heavy and 150 nm 

 southwest of Cork, Ireland. In attendance at 

 the time of the incident was the support ship 

 VICKERS VOYAGER. The dive commenced 

 at 0115 hours on 29 August 1973 and life 

 support for the two occupants was subse- 

 quently estimated to last ". . . well past 

 midday" on 1 September (6), a total of 85.75 

 hours assuming ". . . well past midday" to 

 be 1500 hours. This value was reduced by 8 

 hours 3 minutes due to use of life support 

 during the dive to 77 hours 42 minutes. The 

 major assets used in the recovery were: 



707 



