Air cushion ship 'made in VietNam'

Ho Chi Minh City Polytechnic University has just completed the air-cushion ship - the vessel has just operated under water and has run on shore. The train is 4.7m long, 2.2m wide, weighing more than 180kg, carrying three people, the speed is 40-50km / hour. The ship has been tested on land many times.

>>>Manufacturing the first air cushion ship in Vietnam

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The ship was built from a key subject of the National University of Ho Chi Minh City, with a budget of VND 600 million. While waiting for funding from the National University of Ho Chi Minh City, Lam Son Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Joint Stock Company has advanced to the research team 200 million VND to buy supplies and equipment. Ms. Le Thi Tu Anh, General Director of Son Lam Company said, the company has sponsored this project because of its high practical application and scientists devoted to making ships.

Previously, there were many research groups and enterprises started to build air cushion ships but were not successful. In order to successfully build the first air cushion ship to operate safely in practice, Dr. Le Dinh Tuan (Ship Department, Department of Traffic Engineering - Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology) has assembled a team of scientists. , experts and enterprises in the field of design, motivation, materials, numerical control .

It is said that there are enterprises that sponsor to build ships, some units cooperate with the research team to propose replacing wooden hulls into aluminum shells, but Dr. Tuan did not agree, because if the ship hull is made of aluminum The ship will increase. Instead, Dr. Tuan transferred the dynamic balancing machine, a previous study to have money to invest in ship construction.

Although the ship shell is made of wood, thanks to vacuum technology, it is very sturdy and waterproof.'This is a new technology compared to the world, but in Vietnam is very new,' said Dr. Tuan. This ensures that the ship has amphibious nature, which means that both can run under water and run on land.

Serving for travel and rescue

Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Thien Tong, Department of Traffic Engineering, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology said: The construction of this first ship will open opportunities to make lighter ships, go faster, carrying more people. In particular, this is a very suitable ship for the Mekong River Delta water area that needs to travel at high speed in emergencies such as rescue, emergency and travel.

Compared to traditional ships, air cushion has the advantage of running on land and running under water. Therefore, the preservation of the ship is also very convenient. Customers only need to leave the ship . indoors and when necessary, the engine can run straight to the river.

Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Cong Nghi, Faculty of Shipbuilding and Floating Works, Ho Chi Minh City University of Transport said, the research team has put a lot of effort to build a complete hovercraft which is very welcome. The manufacturing team followed closely the design and dynamic calculations. However, to confirm that the ship is really successful, it has to conduct tests on the river.'If the water test is as stable as on land, we can apply the ship to Vietnam's specific conditions in the current situation and dream for further purposes , ' said Dr. Nghi.

Dr. Tuan said that after the ship was checked, he would start building a next air cushion ship. The following ship will be built faster, thanks to the construction experience.