The most stable ship in the world Kilo Moana

The research vessel Kilo Moana is one of the most advanced vessels of its kind. It was built in 2002 as a floating laboratory with automated workstations for conducting experiments aimed at studying the oceans and their relationship with the environment. Every year, 200 scientists spend about 300 days on the ships, mapping the ocean floor and collecting data on living organisms, water salinity and currents. They are looking for a way out of a crisis that could affect everyone on an overpopulated planet.

The Kilo Moana was originally designed by the US Navy and built for research purposes, but is owned by the University of Hawaii Marine Centre. This explains its ability to take modular laboratories on board. While in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, in addition to conducting scientific work, the ship encountered a long-standing problem: seasickness.

Centuries ago, when the age of the steam engine replaced sails, millions of sailors and travellers were and remain at the mercy of the ocean's mood. When the ocean begins to rage, a single-hulled vessel has a difficult time. The force with which the ship is tossed about by the waves depends on its waterline area, i.e., the area of the hull that is in direct contact with the water.

Comparison of waterline area between vessels:

1 - single-hull vessel 2 - catamaran 3 - vessel with a small waterline area

When the water rises and falls, the ship moves with it, which can result in seasickness, rendering the crew incapacitated and putting the ship in danger. If you look at the sea during a storm, it seems as if the waves are carrying water from one place to another, but this is not the case. Like a crowd in the stands doing the ‘wave’ without moving from their seats, the water also stays in place. The closer to the surface, the stronger the movement, and it is precisely this surface of the water that the bottom of the ship comes into contact with — this is called the waterline area.

So far, there is only one type of vessel that does not depend on the waterline area, as they move underwater at a certain depth: submarines. This stability during pitching inspired scientists to create a new type of vessel: twin-hulled vessels with a small waterline area. This idea prompted one of them to take a risk, resulting in the creation of a radically new technology.

Frederick G. Creed, the inventor of ships with a small waterline area, from Nova Scotia, first developed this concept. He was born in 1871. At the age of fourteen, Frederick Creed joined Western Union. At the age of 30, he invented a special device that converted the dots and dashes of Morse code into readable printed text — the teletype. But he had a dream. He had travelled across the Atlantic several times and experienced seasickness first-hand. So in 1899, he left his multimillion-dollar telegraph business and began developing a revolutionary new ship that would feel much more stable during rough seas.

Frederick Creed knew that waves lift and toss a ship so much because of its large waterline area. The solution to the problem was the idea of building a ship that was a kind of platform supported by two hulls, resembling a submarine in shape, each with its own propeller. Frederick G. Creed calculated that such a vessel would be virtually immune to pitching.

Comparison of ship stability in sea conditions of 6 points:

Single-hull vessel

Small waterplane area ship (S.W.A.T.H.)

He constantly invested his own money in new projects. He constantly convinced the US leadership of the need to use such a hull in the construction of aircraft carriers, ensuring safe landing for aircraft. But his project was not accepted in any country. He died in 1975, never having managed to go to sea on the ship of his dreams. Later, this technology formed the basis for the construction of the research vessel Kilo Moana.

Kilo Moana research vessel

The advantage of a vessel with a small waterline area is not only in the comfort of movement. On the Kilo Moana, scientists are not affected by rolling in storms up to 6 points and can calmly study the waters of the seas and oceans. It is the two underwater mini-boats (gondolas) submerged to a depth of 2.5 metres that make the ship so stable and unique. The location of the propellers far apart from each other makes the ship easy to manoeuvre even in crosswinds. A distinctive feature of the ship is the absence of a keel.

Two gondolas are located under the hull of the vessel

There is a space between the pontoons and the hull of the ship, which dissipates all the fury of the ocean. With side waves, the force of the waves is directed vertically rather than horizontally, i.e. the wave goes up and then forward. But most of the waves hit the space between the pontoons of the ship, which are much lower than the surface of the ocean.

Kilo Moana, a vessel with a small waterline area

The captain's bridge is also full of innovations: the latest navigation and radar systems, autopilot with dynamic positioning and a photography system. Satellite communications and excellent cabins for rest and laboratories for the crew. The conditions on board are incomparable to those encountered several hundred years ago by Captain James Cook, who conducted research on the Pacific seabed by throwing a marked rope with a weight into the water.

Equipment for scientists

Water is drawn using a lifting device

Kilo Moana performs the same task, but in a different way—with the help of modern equipment. Sensors in a deep-sea echo sounding system send out a signal, and the data received from them is scanned and displayed on maps.

More than 70 years ago, Frederick G. Creed left his multimillion-dollar business and devoted himself to developing a new type of ship. His research led him to poverty, but enriched thousands of sailors around the world. The first generation of ships with reduced waterline area opened a new page in the history of shipbuilding. Stability and steadiness are the secret to the next generation of ships and vessels.