UK design firm joins project to develop new diver delivery submersible

UK naval architects Bar Technologies has been chosen to support local maritime technology business SubSea Craft in the design and build of an advanced submersible diver delivery vessel for defence and security applications.

The six-person submersible is currently in “finishing” where the carbon fibre hull is completed prior to receiving a synthetic, coloured outer “wrap.” This step provides the vessel’s streamlined shape, reduces the acoustic signature, and assures watertight integrity, which are essential components for a craft designed to operate at speed on the surface before submerging rapidly to transit, discreetly, below the surface.

Bar Technologies’ contribution to the project includes designing and optimising the hull and fly-by-wire control system to enable the vessel to achieve surface speeds of up to 40 knots, a surface endurance of 250 nautical miles, and a submerged endurance of 25 nautical miles.

The vessel’s initial sea trials are scheduled for 2021.