How Marine Salvage Airbags and Floating Cranes Work Together to Recover a Sunken Ship

When a ship sinks, the rescue team must act fast and use the right tools. One of the most useful tools today is the marine salvage airbag. These airbags work together with floating cranes to lift, stabilize, and bring a sunken vessel back to the surface. This method is now widely used in many salvage projects around the world because it is safe, flexible, and efficient.

In this article, we explain how marine salvage airbags work, why they matter, and how they were used in the famous Korean Sewol ferry recovery.

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Что такое морские спасательные подушки безопасности?

Marine salvage airbags are heavy-duty rubber airbags designed to provide strong buoyancy underwater. When divers attach these airbags to a sunken ship and fill them with air, each airbag pushes water away and creates upward force. This force is called плавучесть, and it helps reduce the ship’s effective weight in the water.

A marine salvage airbag usually comes with:

• multiple layers of strong rubber and synthetic fabric
• a safe inflation valve
• lifting belts for secure attachment
• high-pressure resistance

Because of these features, salvage airbags can work in deep water, low visibility, and tough marine environments.

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How Salvage Airbags Create Buoyancy

The air inside the bag takes up space and pushes surrounding water away. The more water it pushes, the more buoyancy it creates. A simple idea, but extremely powerful.

The buoyancy formula is:

Buoyancy = Water Density × Gravity × Volume of Air

So if the team adds more airbags or uses larger ones, the buoyancy increases. This is why a sunken ship can “feel lighter” underwater after airbags are installed.

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What Can Salvage Airbags Do?

salvage airbags can:

1. Stop a ship from sinking deeper
2. Lift part of the ship off the seabed
3. Stabilize a tilted ship
4. Support divers during underwater work
5. Work together with floating cranes for full recovery

While airbags provide floating force, they usually cannot lift the whole vessel alone. That job belongs to floating cranes. But airbags reduce the load on the crane, making the whole operation safer and easier.

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Real Case: NANHAI Marine Salvage Airbags Used in the Sewol Ferry Disaster

One of the most well-known applications of морские спасательные подушки безопасности was during the 2014 Sewol ferry sinking in South Korea. The 6,800-ton passenger ship sank quickly in difficult sea conditions, and rescuers needed to slow down the sinking to create time for divers.

Starting on April 18, the salvage team began attaching airbags around the wreck.
Several of these marine salvage airbags were produced by NANHAI, a well-known Chinese manufacturer in the salvage industry.

These airbags had:

• high lifting capacity (single airbags could reach 35 tons of buoyancy)
• strong layered rubber structure
• excellent durability in low-visibility, fast-current waters

The airbags helped stabilize the ship and prevented further sinking. They also allowed divers to work closer to the hull and helped prepare the ship for the later lifting operation using floating cranes.

This case shows how reliable salvage airbags are in large-scale international rescue operations.

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How Floating Cranes Complete the Job

After airbags reduce the ship’s underwater weight, floating cranes take over. These cranes can lift thousands of tons and are the main power behind bringing the wreck to the surface.

Typical steps include:

1. Divers check the ship’s angle, damage, and safe lifting points.
2. Airbags are placed and inflated to add buoyancy.
3. Strong lifting belts are installed under the hull.
4. Floating cranes slowly lift the ship off the seabed.
5. The ship is then sealed, pumped out, and towed to shore.

Using airbags first makes the crane work safer and helps avoid sudden pressure on damaged hull structures.

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Why Not Install Permanent Airbags on Ships?

Some people wonder:
“If airbags can save a ship, why not install them on ships from the start?”

In theory, possible. In reality, not practical.

Ships already rely on:

• water-tight compartments
• advanced stability design
• automatic closing doors

Large airbags are too heavy, need space, and cannot easily deploy underwater. That’s why морские спасательные подушки безопасности are used only during rescue and salvage work, not in daily operations.

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Заключительные размышления

Marine salvage airbags have become one of the most important tools in modern ship recovery. They are strong, flexible, reusable, and safe to operate. When combined with floating cranes, they create an efficient and reliable salvage system.

The Sewol ferry case proved how valuable this technology is. НАНХАЙ marine salvage airbags played a key role in stabilizing the wreck and supporting rescue operations. Today, these airbags are used in ports, offshore projects, emergency rescue, and underwater engineering all over the world.

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ЧАСТО ЗАДАВАЕМЫЕ ВОПРОСЫ

1. What are salvage airbags used for?

salvage airbags are used to add buoyancy to a sunken or damaged ship. They help lift, stabilize, or support the vessel during rescue or recovery work.

2. Can marine airbags lift a whole ship by themselves?

No. They can reduce the ship’s underwater weight, but large ships still need floating cranes to complete the full lifting process.

3. How do divers attach airbags to a sunken ship?

Divers place lifting belts around safe structural points on the hull, connect the airbags to these belts, and then inflate the airbags with compressed air.

4. Are marine airbags safe to use in deep water?

Yes. High-quality salvage airbags are designed with strong rubber layers and can work in low visibility, fast currents, and deep water conditions.

5. Were salvage airbags used in the Sewol ferry recovery?

Yes. The rescue team used several NANHAI marine salvage airbags to slow the sinking and stabilize the vessel before crane lifting.

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