marine airbag is a unique Chinese marine product and can not be found in other countries. Marine airbag is widely used for ship launching, caisson conveying and marine salvage nowadays. In China it is estimated that more than 80 percent new built ship who’s DWT below 60,000 and about 50 percent caisson fabricated for gravity quay are launched by marine airbags. Not only in China but also other Asian countries marine airbags are acknowledged as the powerful and versatile tool for marine works.
The history of marine air bag dates back to 1990s. A Chinese ship repair and building shipyard launched a 60 DWT tank barge with marine airbags on January 20, 1981 and it is known as the first use of marine airbag. The invention of marine airbags was expected to develop a flexible, less limited ship launching method.
Over the past twenty years, marine airbags have made great advancements in the manufacture and application. The first generation marine airbags employ rubber dipped canvases as reinforcement material and two cone-shaped ends are stuck to the chamber trunk. Now the top marine airbags are seamless and their performances are about 15 times of the first generation with the same specifications. Regarding the launching/landing technology, marine airbags have also achieved a significant leap. In the beginning, only small and flat bottom ships located on a fabricated slope could be launched with marine airbags. Now this technology is more flexible and less limited by the ship and landform. The DWT of launched ship reached 55,000 and launching ramp can be flat. Not only for ship launching marine airbags are widely used for heavy conveying also. Marine airbags contributed much to the success of famous Nanhai No.1 ancient ship salvage project. The 4,800 tons cassion which hold the invaluable ancient ship landed from the semi-submersible barge and transported to the museum named Crystal Palace riding on 16 pieces marine airbags.
The advantages of marine airbag ship launching
Less landform limited
Marine airbags only need the enough bearing power ground.
Fewer fixtures needed
For most works, marine airbags need no more than air compressors, winches and forklifts.
Environment Protective
Marine airbags do no harm to the environment. No chemical needed.
Multi-functional
Marine airbags can be used for ship launching /landing,heavy conveying, buoyancy lifting even the temporary ship fenders.
Cost-effective
For ship launching, marine airbags can save the investment of traditional slipway or drydock. For caisson conveying projects, marine airbags can save 50 percentage cost compare to the traditional way of employing crane ship and semi-submersible ship .Caisson can be launched by marine airbags and suspended in the sea with the help of attached airbags’ buoyancy then one or two tugboat can complete the sea transportation. When caisson arrive the appointed spot, marine airbags can be deflated to let the caisson sink.
