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A
sailor from Sheean makes his way up the escape tower into
the safety of rescue vehicle Remora during Ex Black Carillon.
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Australian
Submarine Rescue Vehicle Remora.
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The
RAN successfully carried out a rescue from a ‘disabled submarine’
at depths of 100m in Exercise Black Carillon last month.
Black
Carillon, carried out in waters west of Perth, demonstrated the
navy’s ability to rescue submariners from a disabled boat.
It
was the first recorded instance of a dynamic positioning mothership
supporting a submersible submarine rescue vehicle, transferring
personnel to the surface. The last personnel transfer using the
Australian Submarine Rescue Vehicle (ASRV) was in 1998 at a depth
of 40m, with the mothership four-point moored.
Black
Carillon is designed to test Navy personnel and Navy equipment
under emergency conditions associated with a real life scenario.
HMAS
Sheean played the role of a disabled submarine. Sheean lay on
the seabed in a safe bottoming area approximately 100 metres down.
The
ASRV Remora, coupled with HMAS Sheean and transferred four personnel
from the submarine to Remora. Remora then transported the ‘rescued’
four to the surface.
Named
after the sucking fish, Remora is a 16.5 tonne remotely operated
rescue vehicle built about a diving bell. It has room for six
survivors and the operator.
Representing
the leading edge of submarine rescue technology, Remora is capable
of operations at depths in excess of 500 metres in a current of
three knots and can mate to a sunken submarine lying at angles
of up to 60 degrees.
Remora
is maintained ready to deploy within 12 hours of an alert being
raised and can be anywhere in Australia within 36 hours. It can
also be deployed onboard a ship within a further 24 hours.
