Island group
moves fast to buy
another deep-water
submersible
Purchased at a bargain price,
By Helen Altonn
HURL's second sub will be on
standby if the other has
an emergency
Star-BulletinQuick action has enabled the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory to acquire a second submersible to enhance its deep-water explorations of the Pacific.
Laboratory Director Alex Malahoff scrambled to find money to make a bid when he learned Canada was selling Pisces IV, similar to HURL's Pisces V.
He bought it for about $100,000, and noted it would cost about $20 million to build such a submersible today.
Terry Kerby, HURL operations director and chief submersible pilot, ditched his vacation plans and rushed to Canada to pack up the submersible for shipment.
"It was a real coup for us to get Pisces IV," he said.
Malahoff said Canada and the U.S. Navy have abandoned submergence activities, leaving Japan and Hawaii with the only deep-ocean research systems in the Pacific.
Pisces IV will be kept as a standby in case Pisces V has an emergency, he said.
"If there's a problem, who's going to rescue us?"
With the breakup of Canadian and Navy submersible systems, Malahoff said, "It left us in a real hole. Now I feel much more comfortable going to extreme parts of the Pacific."
Canada's maple leaf was quickly replaced with the new owner's insignia when Pisces IV arrived recently at HURL's Makai Pier, across from Sea Life Park.
Kerby said Pisces IV and V were the best of 10 Pisces class submersibles built for Canada.
Another party offered twice as much for Pisces IV as the Hawaii lab, but the former operators and Canadian Coast Guard wanted it to go to HURL for scientific use, Kerby said.
Also, he said, "We probably have the longest history besides the Russians of operating Pisces submersibles."
HURL was established in 1980 under an agreement between the University of Hawaii and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Undersea Research Program.
Looking around the world for a deep-diving submersible, Malahoff found Pisces V in a Scotland warehouse and brought it here in 1985.
Kerby said Pisces IV originally was contracted by the Canadians to the Russian government -- a plan blocked by the U.S. government. "It was technology they didn't want the Russian government to have."
When the ban was lifted, the Russians got two other Pisces subs, which are still in use, he said.
Pisces submersibles are about 20 feet long. While some have an operating depth of only 3,300 feet, IV and V can dive 6,600 feet, Kerby said.
He said Pisces V has more emergency life support than any other manned submersible, with enough oxygen to last a three-member crew six days, instead of the usual three.
Submersibles must be reclassed every three years by the American Bureau of Shipping. HURL's pilots -- Kerby, Allen Wright, Tym Catterson and Chuck Holloway -- do their own engineering, Malahoff said.
"They're very strict, very conservative," he said. "That's why we've never had any accidents with submergence."
Entanglement is one of the worst dangers, Kerby said, particularly in fishery dives that can run into anchor lines, bottom traps and nets.
Should Pisces V become fouled now, HURL has a remotely operated vehicle to rescue it. The RCV-150, used for the first time last year, has a small manipulator and a radial cutter saw so it can grab a line and cut it, Kerby said.
Pisces V is dissembled now for overhaul and the Bureau of Shipping survey.Pisces IV also will be overhauled and tested, Kerby said, noting it was damaged when a giant wave struck the barge bringing it here.
He said changes will be made so its system is compatible with Pisces V, which HURL has gradually upgraded for scientific investigations.
