100-foot-long narco sub found in Colombia

[Serpo]

The Colombian military has seized a 100-foot-long submarine capable of transporting eight tons of cocaine from Colombia to Mexico, news reports say.

The vessel was found in a jungle area in Timbiqui in southwestern Colombia on Sunday, according to a report from RTT News.

Colombian navy officials said the homemade sub had two diesel engines and sophisticated navigational equipment that would enable it to travel to Mexico while remaining up to 30 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean.

The vessel was set up for a crew of four but was unoccupied when found, RTT reported. Officials estimated it would have cost $2 million to build.

The submarine is just the latest example of crafts smugglers have made to try to get their illicit cargo past law enforcement.

Last year, VBS.TV got access to the Colombian naval base where many captured smuggling vessels are taken.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/15/100-foot-long-narco-sub-found-in-colombia/?hpt=T2

vid............
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/06/29/vbs.colombian.narcosubs/index.html

[Ash_Williams]

Did anyone else imagine it painted up like a joint?


The vessel was set up for a crew of four but was unoccupied when found, RTT reported. Officials estimated it would have cost $2 million to build.

Officials probably estimated the project being bloated and over-budget with their families hired on as consultants and half the money going to interest fees. If they estimate 2 million, I bet the black market could do it for 500k cash.

[mightymanx]

I would love to see the inside that is nice worksmanship for a home built. I think if they spent 2 mil they did it on the cheap Submarines are way more complex than spacecraft Space craft are like submersibles they always need to be constantly tended. Taking a craft under big ocean without support that is tallent. Most homebuilts can only stay real close to shore and travel short distances.

[SLV^GLD]

If it is DIY then the 30' depth number makes a lot of sense. 30' is roughly the depth one can be submerged and surface without having to do decompression stops to off gas accumulated nitrogen. 2mil seems steep for the DIY, though.

Based on the looks of the thing it's a product of the MIC which makes the 2mil number sound more reasonable but then I'm perplexed at the 30' depth limit.

[Awoke]

Personally, I think it looks like it was made from paper-mache.

:D

[Neuro]

I would love to see the inside that is nice worksmanship for a home built. I think if they spent 2 mil they did it on the cheap Submarines are way more complex than spacecraft Space craft are like submersibles they always need to be constantly tended. Taking a craft under big ocean without support that is tallent. Most homebuilts can only stay real close to shore and travel short distances.
It does have a nice rough look to it, still looks like a real sub with tower and all...

[Plastic]

Also looks like it has been worked to death.

[sirgonzo420]

Personally, I think it looks like it was made from paper-mache.

:D


I thought so too.

lol

[joe_momma]

If it is DIY then the 30' depth number makes a lot of sense. 30' is roughly the depth one can be submerged and surface without having to do decompression stops to off gas accumulated nitrogen. 2mil seems steep for the DIY, though.

Based on the looks of the thing it's a product of the MIC which makes the 2mil number sound more reasonable but then I'm perplexed at the 30' depth limit.


The 30' depth limit is more likely a function of the length of the snorkel - these subs are diesel/battery driven - the subs stay submerged using the snorkel to pull in fresh air.

I'd assume that the sub has normal air pressure (i.e., 14 psi) - keeping the snorkel open would simplify the issue of rebreathers/air synthesizing.

(Also, you can have instances where you need to decompress using scuba even if you'd not gone below 10m - these guys are doing 4 - 15 day runs - they'd definitely be ask risk for decompression sickness if they were at >1 atm.)

[ximmy]

The submersion factor depends on the stratospheric biometric pressure principle mass indicator of fiberglass bodies. Assuming a four man crew oxygen consumption would necessitate DUAL 40mm tanks with suppression shields for conducting 30' depth for 6 hours, afterward, the sub would have to regenerate, it must yield to normal biometric surface temperature... the master helmsman must have known this limitation during construction, or a manual would have been made by the engineers, even if it were a DIY project. Therefore a 2 million dollar build price seems reasonable... ::)

[SLV^GLD]

You know what? Last time we talked about submarines I came out of it feeling dumb as hell (great lakes). I'm getting that feeling again. I know SCUBA but apparently I don't know shit about submarines.

[tekrunner]

With todays technology it'd be much simpler to simply make it an unmanned submarine then equip it to support a living crew. Think UAV autopilot for subs.

[mightymanx]

You know what? Last time we talked about submarines I came out of it feeling dumb as hell (great lakes). I'm getting that feeling again. I know SCUBA but apparently I don't know shit about submarines.


Most people don't know things about submarines trust me in the 20 years I have been on them you should see some of the questions I have been asked.

Here is the SCUBA to submarine conversion a submarine is a really big 1 atm hard suit. Inside that hardsuit you make everything you need to live except food and durable goods. The submarine is subject to various barometric pressure changes from venting air breating making oxygen etc. This is not like diving it is more akin to going from Denver to Death valley. we do manipulate the ratios of atsmopheric gasses though due to the fire danger (fire in a submarine is WAY BAD!!!) we normaly run it around 16% vice the 21% of normal air.

The difference between submarines and submersibles is how long they can stay down and what support they need For example Alvin or MIR need to have batteries charged from some where else and lowered into the water for about a 12 hour trip where they use certian things like O2 if they run out they die. A submarine can make potable water oxygen remove carbon dioxide carbon monoxide from the air, make it's own power etc.

Now the boat in the OP is a submersible but it has really long endurance submersible and that is a major technological feat outside of a military. The OP sub is very close to a WW2 diesel boat which was also thechnicaly a submersible but they had huge endurance. so people called them submarines the true submarine did not come about untill the USS Nautilus SSN 571 went underway on nuclear power.

Here is a submarine that has the equivalant performance of the OP boat built by the US Navy as a training submarine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Marlin_(SST-2)

I am really impressed that it was done for 2 mil I would love to se what it used for submerged navigation (GPS does not work under water) contrary to popular belief radio waves do not penetrate water so it has to be somekind of gyro navigator. and those are not cheap a shitty one coule easly run you 1/2 mil.

[hoarder]

Personally, I think it looks like it was made from paper-mache.

:D
It looks like hand laid fiberglass to me.

[ShortJohnSilver]

I am really impressed that it was done for 2 mil I would love to se what it used for submerged navigation (GPS does not work under water) contrary to popular belief radio waves do not penetrate water so it has to be somekind of gyro navigator. and those are not cheap a shitty one coule easly run you 1/2 mil.


I am not an expert, but couldn't they use dead reckoning combined with some simple gyros, surfacing every few hours (or have a 10' antenna that is retractable, go near the surface, get a fix, go down) instead? I know there are gyros for stabilizing cameras that sell for under 10K; you have to wait for them to spin up of course.

[sirgonzo420]

Personally, I think it looks like it was made from paper-mache.

:D
It looks like hand laid fiberglass to me.


That's what I thought too.

It still reminded me of paper-mache though.

[mightymanx]

I am really impressed that it was done for 2 mil I would love to se what it used for submerged navigation (GPS does not work under water) contrary to popular belief radio waves do not penetrate water so it has to be somekind of gyro navigator. and those are not cheap a shitty one coule easly run you 1/2 mil.


I am not an expert, but couldn't they use dead reckoning combined with some simple gyros, surfacing every few hours (or have a 10' antenna that is retractable, go near the surface, get a fix, go down) instead? I know there are gyros for stabilizing cameras that sell for under 10K; you have to wait for them to spin up of course.


You can bob for fixes and that is how you reset the good submarine nav systems, but you also put yourself in danger every time you do from being run over or counter detected.
Submarines handle very poorly at periscope depth and can broach or sink out very easily Imagine controlling a blimp at a 5-foot altitude from the ground with a 1-foot margin of error.

The problem with DR is you never get a great read on what the currents are doing to you and it is a pain to get an accurate read of speed thus you exaggerate the problems inherent to DR plotting unlike an airplane that has a great read on speed so you can be hundreds of miles off over a short period time. Normally you DR cross check that position with the gyro onboard (this is why a quality gyro is paramount) then depending on your fix certainty and the need for precision you would go up and get a fix.

Also Gyros underwater are effected much greater by Schuler oscillations that gyros that aren’t

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schuler_tuning

And for the all the comments that it looks like a beat up piece of S@#$t .

All submarines take on the beat to crap wrinkled look due to the effects of the hull expanding and contracting sea pressure is 44 pounds per square inch per every hundred feet and that boat has a lot of square inches

[Quad]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OsZTJ5vfUs