North Sea research platform

The NORDSEE research platform ( FPN ) was a German research station that was positioned northwest of Heligoland from 1974 to 1993 .

history

Research platform NORDSEE

It was developed in 1974/1975 for 35 million marks on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Research and Technology (BMFT). On June 8, 1975, the platform was placed on a tubular steel frame about 75 kilometers northwest of Heligoland over a water depth of 30 meters. The platform, measuring 26 meters by 26 meters and weighing 1500 tons, contained laboratories and accommodation for eight crew members and a maximum of 14 researchers . The platform had a helicopter deck through which personnel changes were regularly handled, while supplies and fuel were brought in by ship every two to three weeks. Three diesel generators were available for the power supply . An escape capsule was used for the safety of the crew . In order not to falsify the research results, special emphasis was placed on environmental compatibility and no wastewater discharged into the sea.

Research began in 1976. During 17 years of operation, research, development and testing was carried out in the areas of environmental, underwater, air conditioning and defense technology. Part of the tests were aimed at the construction itself, whereby the different loads on the platform from swell, climate and corrosion were recorded and examined.

The Federal Ministry of Defense contributed 30 percent of the costs to the FPN. The Federal Armed Forces Research Institute for Water-borne Sound and Geophysics researched underwater sound propagation. For this purpose, another leg was added to the FPN on the west side. Acoustic transmitting and receiving systems in the frequency band 500 Hz to 10 kHz were mounted on it in a bracket, which could be moved from between 5 m above the seabed to the surface and beyond. There was also a long acoustic antenna for the same frequency band on the sea floor at a distance of 10.4 km from the platform, which was hardwired to it.

The platform was dismantled in 1993 on the open sea.

Web links

• RF (1975) Research Platform North Sea (short description pdf 2 MB)
• Report of the Office of Naval Research Europe, 1992 (PDF; 1.6 MB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} report at ONR Europe (PDF; 1.6 MB)
2. ^ "21 men in the North Sea" , Die Zeit from July 11, 1975.