A unique 'flipping' ship from the 1960s, capable of rotating from horizontal to vertical - as if sinking - is set to be saved from the scrap heap. Flip, which stands for Floating Instrument Platform, was built for the US Navy in 1962 to carry out acoustic research but was finally decommissioned last year. But before she could be broken up, a UK-based ocean engineering company called DEEP has brought her to Europe to refit her with state of the art technology. Half ship, half submarine, Flip is 108 meters (355 feet) long and can sink more than 90 meters (295 feet) of its hull vertically in less than 30 minutes, by taking on around 600 tons of water. It reverses the process and returns to the horizontal by expelling the water using compressed air. The refitting of the ship will take place over the next 18 months in a shipyard in the south of France.
REUTERS/DEEP / SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY / STEVE GRESHAM
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