Airborne tugboat for emergency aid for seagoing vessels
View Patent ↗An airborne tugboat with three hulls ( 4 ): an underbody ( 4 ), surface body ( 5 ) and inflatable body ( 6 ). When stationed on shore the inflatable body is not activated, but is folded up against the surface body. Gas turbine ( 1 ) drives the propeller ( 3 ) via the reduction gear ( 2 ). The rotatable ring ( 8 ) round the propeller makes the airborne tugboat maneuverable, and when the disabled ship is towed, it will be able to influence towing direction without the risk of the airborne tugboat heeling over. By its design the airborne tugboat should be regarded as a slow-moving towing boat where the speed is low but the power in the towing direction is great. The design is characterised by low weight in all machinery and equipment. The amount of fuel restricts the operating time, but the helicopter and airborne tugboat, for example, use the same fuel, thus providing the advantage that the helicopter can refuel the airborne tugboat before it returns to base.
1. A tugboat surface vessel comprising a buoyant, surface-floating body, an intermediate body and an underbody provided with a propulsion system including one or more engines and one or more propellers, said tugboat vessel being arranged to receive a towline attached between a disabled ship and the tugboat whereby the towline is fastened to the underbody in the propeller's/propellers' direct or resultant force direction, said propeller being mounted in a rotatable thrust ring and the towline being attached to a hook arranged in a straight line from the propeller's pulling direction, wherein said buoyant surface floating body further comprises an inflatable buoyancy member, the inflation of said buoyancy member being automatically activated upon contact with water, said vessel being further adapted for transport in an aircraft is its uninflated state, such that the vessel may be launched into the water, whereupon the inflatable buoyancy member will inflate.
2. A tugboat surface vessel comprising a buoyant, surface-floating body, a fin-shaped intermediate body and a tubular underbody with a propulsion system including one or more engines and one or more propellers, said tugboat vessel being arranged to receive a towline attached between a disabled ship and the tugboat whereby the towline is fastened to the underbody in the propeller's/propellers' direct or resultant force direction, wherein said buoyant surface floating body further comprises an inflatable buoyancy member, the inflation of said buoyancy member being automatically activated upon contact with water, said vessel being further adapted for transport in an aircraft is its uninflated state, such that the vessel may be launched into the water, whereupon the inflatable buoyancy member will inflate.
3. A tugboat surface vessel comprising a buoyant, surface-floating body, an intermediate body and an underbody provided with a propulsion system including one or more engines and one or more propellers, said tugboat vessel being arranged to receive a towline attached between a disabled ship and the tugboat whereby the towline is fastened to the underbody in the propeller's/propellers' direct or resultant force direction, wherein said buoyant surface floating body further comprises an inflatable buoyancy member, the inflation of said buoyancy member being automatically activated upon contact with water, said vessel being further adapted for transport in an aircraft is its uninflated state, such that the vessel may be launched into the water, whereupon the inflatable buoyancy member will inflate, said vessel further comprising an elongated exhaust pipe and an elongated air intake pipe arranged between the engine and the water surface wherein the air intake pipe and exhaust pipe are telescopic and arranged for storage in the intermediate body of the tugboat vessel prior to launching.