愛爾蘭造出“海上不倒翁” 再也不怕翻船了
The Thunder Child is a revolutionary search and rescue boat that is virtually impossible to capsize. Even when flipped upside down in the water, the vessel is able to right itself almost instantly.
“雷之子”是一艘具有革命性意義的搜救船，幾乎不可能傾覆。即便在水裏翻個底朝天，這種船也能立刻再翻回來。
Developed by Irish company Safehaven Marine for use by the Irish Navy in high-pressure situations, the XSV-17 ’Thunder Child’ can reach speeds of up to 54 knots (62 mph), fits a crew of up to 10 people, and is designed to absorb shocks from rough seas. But its most impressive feature is the ability to bounce back into an upright position in any situation, which makes it impossible to capsize.
這種船由愛爾蘭安全港船舶公司研發，供愛爾蘭海軍在高壓環境下使用。XSV-17“雷之子”時速可達54海里（100千米），可容納10人，能吸收波濤洶涌的海浪帶來的衝擊。但是最讓人印象深刻的功能是船在任何情況下都能翻到直立位置，所以不可能傾覆。
“It is a combination of three factors: A very low center of gravity, the buoyancy of the cabin and the cabin must also be completely water tight,” Frank Kowalksi, managing director of Safehaven Marine, told MailOnline. “The area of the cabin must contain enough air to keep the vessel afloat and it is important no water gets into the cabin.”
安全港船舶公司的總經理弗蘭克·科瓦爾克斯告訴每日郵報網站說：“保持船隻直立需要滿足3個條件：非常低的重心、船艙的浮力和船艙的水密性。船艙裏必須有足量的空氣來保持船隻漂浮，而且千萬不能有水進入船艙。”
To ensure that the boat maintains its high buoyancy at all times, its air inlets close automatically.
爲了確保船始終保持高浮力，船的進氣口會自動關閉。
The low center of gravity not only makes the Thunder Child harder to flip over, but in the off chance that a strong wave does manage this feat, when underwater, the center of gravity shifts to the very top of the boat, making it extremely unstable and able to flip back to its normal position.
船的低重心不僅讓“雷之子”不容易翻過來，而且即使運氣不好一個大浪把船打翻了，船在水下的重心也可以轉移到船的頂部，讓船變得非常不穩定，從而能夠翻回到正常的位置。
To prove that describing the Thunder Child as impossible to capsize wasn’t just a bombastic claim, the Irish company recently staged a demonstration where they used a crane to flip the boat over to 180 degrees while on water, not once, but twice. The first time the boat was empty, and the second time with a small crew. In both instances, it returned to its correct position almost instantly.
爲了證明“雷之子”不會傾覆不是誇大其詞，這家愛爾蘭公司最近還做了一次展示，讓起重機把水上的船180度大翻轉，而且是兩次。第一次船是空的，第二次有幾個人在上面。兩次船都是幾乎立刻回到了正位。
