The notion was popularized over 50 years ago by a management consultant’s nine-dot conundrum—how to connect every dot using just four lines? The answer: Apply lateral thinking, looking beyond the confines of the box for a logical solution. The lesson is clear: by exhausting the options within the box, we might realize that the problem lies in the box itself, forcing us to question conventional thinking.
Marine technologists often face pressures to create entirely novel solutions to navigate legacy pitfalls. But often, true innovation lies in identifying when an existing solution, albeit conceived for another purpose, can inform a creative direction. Rather than reinventing the wheel (to borrow another shopworn colloquialism), can we build upon what’s already spinning?
This interplay between leveraging and adapting tried-and-tested approaches is all too familiar to those of us in the deep-sea exploration business. The remotely operated vehicle (ROV) industry is a great example of how the successful application of a subsea asset for one purpose—initially to service offshore oil and gas E&P—can trigger innovation and utility across the entire ocean sector, spawning a growing range of ROV classes and models for an expanding array of underwater tasks.
Instead of settling for one-size-fits-all answers, outside-of-the-box thinking that capitalizes on existing successes proffers solutions to exacting needs. Whether it’s designing a custom deck handling system or streamlining a manufacturing process for a winch, fit-for-purpose solutions enhance effectiveness and fuel meaningful progress.
MINING THE DEEP
Across the ocean sector, we are now seeing the fruits of such ingenuity, from the dawn of uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) to an ecosystem of intelligent sensors and systems in operation below the waterline. These technologies now touch almost every activity in the marine domain. But there is one emerging industry, yet to begin in earnest, that is less transparent when it comes to the application of advanced ocean tech—deep-sea mining, or more specifically, the collection and processing of polymetallic nodules from the seafloor of the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ) at depths greater than 4,000 meters.
Deploying assets at these depths can be perilous, and very few operators are equipped to do this in a cost-effective and sustainable manner. A large part of the proposed commercial extraction practices hinges on equipment borrowed from the offshore oil and gas playbook—drill ships and riser pipes—hence nullifying the need for reinvention. The same cannot be said, though, for the collector systems, the tethered vehicles designed to gather and feed the nodules into the riser pipe. While most mining entities remain relatively guarded about their proprietary systems, there are several documented collectors, all claiming to return a more precise and nondisruptive harvest than the last. The range of concepts unquestionably reflects the degree of operational complexity at deep-sea depths.
From a purely economic standpoint, the key to establishing commercially sustainable operations—running drill ships is an expensive endeavor—is the yield of nodules per hour. Reliability at these challenging depths is paramount. If something breaks, so does the budget. This is where “out-of-the-box” thinking meets “not reinventing the wheel”. Mining the CCZ is, by definition, a new frontier, but pertinent lessons from the past still remain.
KEEP. IT. SIMPLE. STUPID.
Back in the 1970s, I worked for International Nickel’s Ocean Mining Development team. Tasked with developing a collector that could traverse the CCZ seabed without getting stuck in the soft, cohesive abyssal mud while collecting polymetallic nodules, the goal—much like today—was to introduce the nodules into the riser pipe for transport to the surface while minimizing the quantity of environmental disturbance.
Given the unknowns—not to mention the threat of financial ruin had things gone awry—our design approach was to keep things simple. Unlike other methods, we favored rudimentary towed designs and avoided tracked, self-propelled, or otherwise complicated blueprints. The collectors only had one moving part, an electric motor driving a simple ducted propeller-style water pump. This pragmatic design later went on to deliver almost 1,000 tons of nodules to the surface vessel during official pilot mining tests.
Our process was guided by practicality: how to cost-effectively test the designs before conducting in-situ tests in the CCZ, at which point we would be paying a high day rate for topside support. Initially, we developed eight different collector designs, all built to test scale, and created our own tow tank facility, repurposing unused land inside a local sand and gravel mining operation. We contracted a local mix plant to develop a batch of simulated seafloor mud and used broken-up concrete to simulate the nodules. We purchased water from the city and used a nearby fire hydrant for access.
4,000 meters down is not an environment to experiment in. With our repurposed testing facility, we were up and running collector tests in just a couple of weeks and were able to quickly eliminate several of our less productive designs, leaving more time at sea for the most promising concepts.
REPURPOSING PROVEN TECHNOLOGIES
Some solutions are somewhat more serendipitous. As clients seek to explore deeper, more hazardous waters, the demand for increasingly robust and reliable deck handling equipment naturally follows suit. Earlier this year, Okeanus responded to just such a brief, the result of which was the recent launch of a 20-Ton A-Frame and 125HP HPU system.
The original objective was to create a versatile A-Frame package capable of handling equipment geared towards heavy-lift geotechnical and environmental survey work in volatile offshore environments. However, in testing, the engineering team realized that the system was highly suited to the launch and recovery of uncrewed vehicles, especially long-endurance USVs, from a larger mothership thanks to the load tolerance and the system’s large internal clearances. Coincidentally, this was a separate requirement from another customer, and with only minor adjustments—as opposed to a new interpretation of the proverbial wheel—we had a fit-for-purpose handling system for two distinct purposes. This additional utility translates into sustained operator value.
Squaring what is possible with modern ocean technology with what’s needed in the field today is nothing if not a balancing act. Against the backdrop of ever smarter technologies driven by AI, edge computing, and seamless real-time communications, the ocean technologist’s role is evermore the arbiter in the tussle between inspiring innovation and optimizing proven approaches.
This story was originally featured in ON&T Magazine’s August 2024 issue. Click here to read more.
