Grey Havoc

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Some good news, along with a bit of background:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y36pTr09f3Y





https://scripps.ucsd.edu/ships/flip/history (Hasn't been updated with the latest developments yet)

https://newatlas.com/military/when-us-navy-flipped-flip-transformer-science-vessel/ (ditto)
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I remember reading about it over fifty years ago, I am surprised to learn it is still around.
 
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A long-lived vessel for certain! I too had assumed it had been scrapped years ago.
 
Completed in 1962:
It was berthed at the Nimitz Marine Facility pier (Scripps) in Point Loma until being towed away to be scrapped on August 4, 2023.
Scrapping didn´t proceed, it appears.
On October 23rd, 2024, DEEP, an organization working to expand access for ocean exploration, announced the purchase of FLIP and their plans to overhaul and modernize the platform for ocean research. It will also support the deployment of DEEP’s Sentinel habitats, enhancing their extended research network. FLIP was transported from Mexico to La Ciotat, France where it will undergo a 12-to-18 month refit.[16][2]
This bizarre-looking craft that more than once caused a false alarm about a ship sinking became an extremely valuable floating laboratory from its commissioning in 1962 until it was decommissioned in 2023.


That's where the story should have ended as FLIP was towed to Mexico to be broken up and converted into so many teaspoons, but that all changed recently when DEEP founder and CEO Kristen Tertoole learned of the scrapping and put together a team to secure the barge, telling them, "Save her. Don't come back without her."

Several months later, FLIP was secured by DEEP and saved from the cutting torch. According to the company, the vessel has been towed through the Panama Canal and across the Atlantic Ocean to the MB92 shipyard in La Ciotat, France, where it is undergoing renovation and modernization over the next 12 to 18 months.

"FLIP is an iconic research platform – anyone in the maritime research or engineering communities knows about her, and many have a war story or two," said Tertoole. "We're incredibly proud to confirm FLIP's arrival in European waters. FLIP is from a time of bold engineering and optimism for our future and our oceans, an ethos DEEP shares and seeks to embody. Our mission is perhaps equally bold: to make humans aquatic by enabling our species to live, work and thrive underwater. FLIP will play a key role in the DEEP fleet, providing a one-of-a-kind platform for ocean research and being capable of supporting DEEP's Sentinel habitat deployments as part of our extended research network. We look forward to announcing her relaunch in early 2026, and I'm thrilled to confirm that many oceanographic and research groups are already in contact to ensure access."
R/P FLIP (Floating Instrument Platform), a pioneering research vessel operated for more than fifty years by the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, was decommissioned in August 2023 and towed to Mexico to be scrapped.
Or so we thought.
Known for its unique design, this remarkable platform could “flip” from a horizontal position to a vertical one. The 355 ft (108 m) long vessel's ability to change orientation from horizontal to vertical gave it stability in even tempestuous seas, making it possible to study oceanographic phenomena like sound propagation, wave dynamics, and marine life in open water.
Originally commissioned in 1962, FLIP had played a crucial role in advancing scientific understanding of the ocean, particularly in acoustics and hydrodynamics, and its contributions to oceanography remain highly significant, having enabled decades of groundbreaking research in marine science.
The decommissioning in 2023 marked the end of an era for this iconic platform, which had become a symbol of innovative marine research.
But, unbeknownst to the world until now, this was not to be the end.
Word of FLIP's impending destruction had reached the founder of DEEP, the subsea design firm developing the next generation of underwater human habitats, and within 48 hours a team had been scrambled and was en route to Mexico to intercept FLIP before it was destroyed. "The direction from our founder was quite clear," says Giulio Maresca, FLIP's new Captain: "Save her. Don't come back without her."
Now, months later, the rescued platform has made its way from Mexico, through the Panama Canal and across the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, where over the next 12 – 18 months she will be refitted and modernised in France.
Kristen Tertoole, CEO of DEEP, said: “FLIP is an iconic research platform – anyone in the maritime research or engineering communities knows about her, and many have a war story or two. We're incredibly proud to confirm FLIP's arrival in European waters. FLIP is from a time of bold engineering and optimism for our future and our oceans, an ethos DEEP shares and seeks to embody. Our mission is perhaps equally bold: to make humans aquatic by enabling our species to live, work and thrive underwater. FLIP will play a key role in the DEEP fleet, providing a one-of-a-kind platform for ocean research and being capable of supporting DEEP's Sentinel habitat deployments as part of our extended research network. We look forward to announcing her relaunch in early 2026, and I'm thrilled to confirm that many oceanographic and research groups are already in contact to ensure access.”
FLIP's refit is to take place at MB92, a renowned shipyard with facilities in both Barcelona, Spain and La Ciotat, France. "MB92's reputation for cutting-edge technology, innovation, and a commitment to sustainability made it the obvious choice for this admittedly very unusual project," says Maresca.
MB92 Group Managing Director, Rob Papworth, said: “The complete modernisation of FLIP to further our understanding of the ocean is what’s in our DNA. MB92 is exceptionally proud to be involved in this historic project.”
Dr Tom Drake, Office of Naval Research, commented: “I’m delighted by DEEP's decision to revitalize and modernize the R/P FLIP, a unique research platform that has served the ONR exceptionally well for years. This modernization initiative will significantly expand her capabilities in ocean science, observation, and exploration, breathing new life into a vessel that has been vital to our mission. We look forward to working closely with DEEP to continue the U.S. Navy's proud tradition of excellence in the operation of FLIP.”
 
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