SHE IS CALLED LR5 ....
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 On board the support vessel
GEOFJORD, several men are
working intensively on a strange looking craft that looks as if it was
taken straight out of the movie "Star Wars". The craft is the UK
Search and Rescue Vehicle, LR5, which is being prepared for the
troublesome days to come during Exercise Sorbet Royal 2002. LR5 is used to
locate and rescue the crew of a distressed submarine.
Some of the men are working on an entirely new unit, the "Universal Deck Reception Chamber" that can be used to move the rescuees from LR5 to the decompression chamber, which is situated on the mother ship – in this case GEOFJORD. The new unit is not quite in place yet and among other things it still needs to have the hatches fitted, but the guys are working hard on the job.
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Mark Taylor, one of the guys working on the vehicle explains how LR5 is designed and how it operates. Mark is a rescue chamber operator on LR5, but he also works with the maintenance of the vehicle. On LR5, the same people who operate the vehicle also perform the maintenance. Mark says: "We have a certain interest in the vehicle working properly."
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| The crew on board LR5 consists of 3 persons, the first
pilot, the second pilot and the rescue chamber operator. Prior to the
launch of LR5, a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) is typically used to
exactly locate the distressed submarine and to establish the angle where
it lies. LR5 can handle an angle of up to 60 degrees. Once the distressed
submarine is located, the LR5 is launched. The pilot drives the vehicle
precisely to the distressed submarine, and by means of low pressure, LR5
"sucks" on to the hull right above the escape hatch. When the
pressure between the submarine and LR5 has been equalised, the crew can be
transferred on board. LR5 has the capacity to rescue 16 people at a time
at a depth of up to 400 metres. Mark and his buddies estimate that in the
Danish waters, it will take less than 15 minutes from the time LR5 is
launched until the transfer of people from the distressed submarine can
begin. "Of course it depends on the skills of the pilot", one of
the guys laughs.
LR5 and GEOFJORD crews are looking forward to participating in the Submarine Search and Rescue Exercise SORBET ROYAL taking place in the waters off the coast of Frederikshavn. May the force be with you!
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