The new SDO-SuRS (Special and Diving Operations – Submarine Rescue Ship) unit is the response of the Navy and the national shipbuilding industry to support special operations, underwater operations, and the rescue of distressed submarines, as well as the growing need to protect vital underwater infrastructure in the Mediterranean Sea.
The ship will also provide support to new generation drones and submarines, also developed by Italian companies, thanks to the excellence of the sector and the coordination that will be provided by the National Subsea Hub.
The central element of the ship’s diving capabilities will be the saturation diving system produced by DRASS called “DRASS 100 Saturation Diving Series”. The system will allow 12 divers from the COMSUBIN GOS (Underwater Operations Group) of the Italian Navy to conduct saturation dives up to a depth of 300 meters. The T. Mariotti shipyard will also integrate, on this advanced platform, sophisticated instruments such as electro-acoustic sensors (multi-frequency sonar and towed scanners), hydro-oceanographic systems with towed probes, wire-guided underwater vehicles (ROV – Remote Operate Vehicle) and autonomous vehicles (AUV – Autonomous Underwater Vehicle).
Another element of great technological value will be the ability to board “SAVER”, the air-transportable submarine rescue system, developed by a partnership between DRASS and SAIPEM.
Thanks to the on-board sensors, the ship will be able to locate a distressed submarine on the seabed, stay vertical to the latter through the use of the dynamic positioning system DP (Dynamic Positioning) and provide assistance to the personnel trapped on board through the SAVER system.
The SDO-SuRS unit represents one of the most advanced platforms in the world built for this purpose, whose flagship is represented by its operational versatility not limited solely to submersible rescue functions and the support of COMSUBIN’s special operations, but covers a broader range of underwater operations, in the civil sector also, such as the search for polluting elements, seabed exploration, marine archeology support, and the repair and structural maintenance of infrastructures laid on the seabed.
Marco Ghiglione, T. Mariotti Managing Director “Serving the Defense Industry by building the SDO-SuRS vessel is a source of prestige for our business and for Made in Italy as a symbol of manufacturing excellence. We will deliver to the Italian Navy an Italian concept in which the best Italian professionals converge, such as that of DRASS who will supply the diving system, a characterizing element of the naval unit”.
Sergio Cappelletti, DRASS Managing Director commented: “We are proud to collaborate in this important initiative with the Italian Navy and the Mariotti shipyard. The SDO-SuRS project is emblematic of the exceptional merit of the national shipbuilding and underwater industry and represents the most complete and technologically advanced submarine intervention and submarine rescue unit in the world”.
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