海上“不倒翁”

The Thunder Child is a revolutionary search and rescue boat that is virtually impossible to capsize. Even when flipped upside down in the water， the vessel is able to right itself almost instantly.

“雷之子”是一艘具有革命性意义的搜救船，几乎不可能倾覆。即便在水里翻个底朝天，这种船几乎也能立刻再翻回来。

Developed by Irish company Safehaven Marine for use by the Irish Navy in high-pressure situations， the XSV-17 Thunder Child can reach speeds of up to 54 knots， fits a crew of up to 10 people， and is designed to absorb shocks from rough seas. But its most impressive feature is the ability to bounce back into an upright position in any situation， which makes it impossible to capsize.

这种船是由爱尔兰安全港船舶公司研发，供爱尔兰海军在高压环境下使用。XSV-17“雷之子”时速可达54海里，可容纳10人，能吸收汹涌的海浪带来的冲击。但是最让人印象深刻的功能是船在任何情况下都能翻转回直立位置，所以不可能倾覆。

“It is a combination of three factors： A very low center of gravity， the buoyancy of the cabin and the cabin must also be completely water tight，” Frank Kowalksi， managing director of Safehaven Marine， told MailOnline. “The area of the cabin must contain enough air to keep the vessel afloat and it is important no water gets into the cabin.”

安全港船舶公司的總经理弗兰克·科瓦尔克斯在接受每日邮报网站采访时说道：“保持船只直立需要满足3个条件：非常低的重心、船舱的浮力和船舱的水密性。船舱里必须有足量的空气来保持船只漂浮，而且绝对不能有水进入船舱。”

To ensure that the boat maintains its high buoyancy at all times， its air inlets close automatically.

为了确保船始终保持高浮力，船的进气口会自动关闭。

The low center of gravity not only makes the Thunder Child harder to flip over， but in the off chance that a strong wave does manage this feat， when underwater， the center of gravity shifts to the very top of the boat， making it extremely unstable and able to flip back to its normal position.

船的低重心不仅让“雷之子”不容易翻船，而且即使运气不好一个大浪把船打翻了，船在水下的重心也可以转移到船的顶部，让船变得非常不稳定，从而使船能够翻转回正常的位置。

To prove that describing the Thunder Child as impossible to capsize wasnt just a bombastic claim， the Irish company staged a demonstration where they used a crane to flip the boat over to 180 degrees while on water， not once， but twice. The first time the boat was empty， and the second time with a small crew. In both instances， it returned to its normal position almost instantly.

为了证明“雷之子”不会倾覆并非夸大其词，这家爱尔兰公司还做了一次演示，让起重机把水上的船180度大翻转，而且是两次。第一次船是空的，第二次有几个船员在上面。船两次几乎都是立刻回到了正常的位置。

Word Study

capsize /k?p'sa?z/ v. 倾覆

The sea got very rough and the boat capsized.

afloat /?'fl??t/ adj. 漂浮的

Somehow we kept the boat afloat.