Mad Question

I have an almost impossible question to answer, but I'd appreciate your help.

I need to give a very rough quote to my boss about a boat design - by the end of today! We are both not naval architects.

The vessel in question would be a small 12-15 ft boat with submersible capabilities down to 50m. I am vaguely aware of the numerous technical questions that need to be answered, but can you attempt to guess very roughly the cost for complete designs in the UK or US? Would it be in the tens or hundreds of thousands? Any opinions would be helpful.

Many thanks,
Julian

 

A little more specificity would be encouraged. Welcome to the forum.

 

Thank you hoytedow!

I don't have much more detail, and also I fear it might steer the conversation. I wonder if anyone has an idea of what a good designer charges per day and how many days it takes to complete a project. My guess is $1,000 a day and 30 days, but that's a guess.

I've had no luck getting a number from the couple of local design companies I called, because they do not want to talk numbers before they have a clearer brief, which is fair enough.

 

Your question is so lax that deserves a less rigorous response yet. If the designer was you, ask 60000 pounds. If you have to buy the project, try not to pay more than 5000 pounds.
Cheers.

 

I fully appreciate your point TANSL! Would you consider £60k the top end for such a project?

 

If you and your boss are not NAs, you're way out of your depth trying to develop design quotes for a 15-foot surface craft, let alone a 15-foot submersible.

Is this craft supposed to be manned? Is it an ROV? The first thing you should have in hand is a 'Statement of Requirements' for what this craft is supposed to do.

 

My most sincere answer - if those are the vessel's specifications and you've been given 24 hours to produce an economic offer, stay away from that job.

 

Concur...50m operational depth, even without class certification, places this out of the expertise of most engineers, so you'll have to charge for the steep learning curve. This smells of one of two things: a) someone with lots of cash who doesn't know how difficult submergence is or, b) someone involved in the "small package trade". Neither lends itself to the designer getting paid.

 

First question: is this a wet or dry submersible? 50 meters is well within the limits of SCUBA.

 

I think the question can not be answered without safety certification specification. It must be pressure controlled and dry because it could kill you too easily otherwise. The only recreational sub I know of close to these specs is electric and 'flys' to such depths. It is always buoyant so if it stops it floats back to the surface. This avoids crazy expensive safety systems but you can not sit still at depth. The guy spent years developing it and you can buy one for 1 to $2mil if I recall but it's a little over 20ft.

If this is not recreational then worker safety will dictate design and expense.

 

The SOR in the first post stated "down to 50M", nobody said anything about coming back up.
My proposal is $100Million 60% up front, SCUBA training & equipment included, construction & finish to builders satisfaction....
We have to move fast here, send funds to ***-789 - 1234567* time is of the essence.
A surface supported bathysphere may well be the best option... or not?

Jeff.

 

A wet sub can be built fairly economically. It doesn't need any certification. The purpose is to move divers fast.

 

Where's Wilmer when you need him?

Also,are they planning to run it on railway tracks perchance?

 

FYI

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/b/bbeee7c5-2b5a-49e4-a27c-2cb9006eb2b4

 

This is what I'd ask for the project, including calculations of naval architecture and scantlings to meet, for example, asme.pvho-1.

As for what julianmv says, "a small 12 to 15 ft Boat with submersible capabilities" it seems to me that there is not a device for diving. No one has asked yet about the ease and cost of construction. That question will come tomorrow.