4-North Shore News ~— Wednesday. Augus! 16. 2000 NV company stands by to aid Russians Fram page 1 action from inside the sub chat there is only a portion of the crew yet alive.” Nuytten is the originator of a single-aumosphere diving suit called the Newtsuit. The Newtsuit and its patented rotary joints originated with Can-Dive Services Ltd. some [5 vears age. The atmospheric suit tolerates external pressure only. Nuytten has also conceived and patented an articulated mating skirt for tse in submarine rescue systems. North Vancouver-based Hard Suits Inc. designs and manu- factures the Hardsuit, the Newtsuit’s successor, as well as a vari- ety of related subsea tools and accessories. Hard Suits Inc. vice- president and general manager Jim English said on Tuesday thar the company has been in contact with the U.S. Navy and has several Hardsuit systems on standby should they be called in to assist the Russians. “We're wanting to help if we can,” English said, Hard Suits Inc. also designs and manufactures submarine rescue equipment for military customers. For example the Remora, a surface-tethered remote vehicle capable of mating to a sunken submarine and bringing crew to the surface where they are transferred under pressure to treatment chambers on a sup- port vessel, was delivered to the Royal Australian Navy in 1995, The U.S. Navy is acquiring a number of Hardsuit 2000 sys- tems to support submarine rescue and deep diving operations. The Italian, French, and U.S. navies own systems. Hard Suits is one of three companies currently bidding for a U.S. Navy contract to supply a submarine rescue system. Meanwhile, Nuytten has come to the conclusion that the on EE Oe ee Se ee ~ prea aT Eee Ol, Lube & Filter 21 pt. Safety check. 15 minutes - FAST! includes up to $ Iitres of 1 OW30 Quakerstate 1362 Marine Drive 980-9115 Mon-Sat 8:00am-6:00pm, Sun 9:00am-500pm Expires Aug 30/2000 Next to the liquor store . (inside) at Lynn Valley Centre * Auto * Home * Business* Tenants we) {Gpore?] ‘ ‘se We want to be your insurance broker!! Mon. - Fri. 9am - 9pm /Sat. 9am - 6pm Sun. 12pm - Spm. 1199 LYNN'VALLEY RD - ATHY tes 7 RBOY Clearanee Sale Designer women's wear S-M-L-XL & “Plus” Sizing SAVE UP TO 85% 4 DAYS LEFT!! “Stretch” knits & wovens 1324 LONSDALE at 13th North Vancouver Lots of Parking 11:00am - 6:00pm — August 16th thru’ 20th a 5 Exosuit, a personnel pressure suit, is the way to go for subma- ane crew rescuc. His company has a proposal before the Canadian Department of National Defence that would see the navy use Esosuits to support its submarine rescue needs. Said Nuytten, “We did a feasibility study for them and it indi- cated that this new form of submarine self-rescue is quite feasi- ble and would solve most of the existing problems, such as the probiems facing the Russian sub on the bottom.” In Nuytten’s scenario, the suits could be carried on board or delivered in a mini-sub, “We're looking at a suit thar will toler- ate internal pressure as well as external pressure, The Exosuit, hike the exoskeleton of a crab, is designed to protect the wearer from pressure and hold internal pressure,” he said. When a submarine hits bottom and loses power, it takes on the pressure surrounding it. So do the people inside. “If vou attempt to take them direetly from the sea floor to the surface, the result would be instantaneous death by massive bends. “A submarine escape suit would have to be able to withstand the full outside pressure but also hold the pressure that you are at inside and bring it to the surface with you where you can then ODYSS Mow ly decant the pressure and decompress,” Nuytten said. The Exosuit is in its pre-production stage. It offers life sup- port of 48-man-hours minimum, it will he made of composite fibre and metal. For submarines, it is designed for escape depths of up to 1,200 feet (365 mi. Despite the end of the Cold War, submarines are still used by over 40 nations. Canada has three Oberon-class diesel-electric submarines based in Halifax, The Oberons were built in the United Kingdom bv the Royal Navy, and commissioned into the Canadian navy in the mid 1960s. ‘The Oberons will continue to operate until the vear 2000. In 1998 Art Eggleton announced that Canada was buying four slightly used, but “state-of-the-art” diesel-electric sub- marines from the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence at a cost of about $750 million. The Upholder submarines replace the Oberon-class submarines and are expected to fast for 30 years. Nuytten said Canada has no submarine rescue capability other than what's called the industry “blow and go.” “It is not a very desirable way to go. You pop out through an escape hatch wearing buovant escape equipment and come to the surtace letting the gas out of your lungs as you do to avoid massive embolism. [If you are pressured at all, you will die of massive bends on the way up,” he said. - CLEARINGOUT- CLEARINGOUT. _ CLEARINGOUT- ALLIN STOCK» ALLREMAINING ALL REMAINING ~ 2000 MODELS CIVIC HATCHBACK . 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