THE future of lifeboats. The newest lifeboat has hit the market after passing a safety test which saw it drop from a whopping 61 metres from a crane into water. The GES50 lifeboat was designed with massive container ships and drilling platforms in mind, so that in case of emergency,...
THE future of lifeboats.
The newest lifeboat has hit the market after
passing a safety test which saw it drop from
a whopping 61 metres from a crane into water.
The GES50 lifeboat was designed with
massive container ships and drilling
platforms in mind, so that in case of
emergency, workers can hop into the vessel
in a maximum of one and a half minutes,
and fall from over 60 metres to land safe
and upright in the water.
Measuring 15 metres in length, and able
to accommodate 70 people, the vessel
includes an engine which is sealed in a
separate waterproof compartment.
Testing of the vessel involved its droppage
from 61 metres, where it fell “head first”
into water, filled with 70 100kg sandbags
which were seatbelted into the seats, as
well as gear to measure g-forces etc…
The vessel, which is designed to land,
unlike toast, topside up every time, passed
the test with flying colours.
The company has now begun processing
orders for the high-flying boat from
Australia, the UK and Norway.
SEA Cloud Cruises is celebrating a victory
after Sea Cloud II set a new sailing record on
a transatlantic voyage from Las Palmas to
Barbados.
The windjammer averaged about 7 knots,
but a speed of just over 9 knots was also
attained on the voyage.
“In a record for Sea Cloud Cruises, 151
hours were spent under sail and 1,061
nautical miles were covered on the voyage,”
the company said.
Even a small tear in the sail could not put
a stop to the record voyage, with the crew
managing to replace the “main royal”
during the sailing.
