Arctic Submarine Tanker System

Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. has developed conceptual designs of nuclear submarine tanker systems for transporting oil from the Arctic North Slope to the U.S. east coast, with or without transshipment at a Norwegian port. Submarines of about 420,000 tons submerged displacement with capacity for 2 million bbl of oil, propelled by 120,000 shp nuclear steam generators, would travel at 20 knots at a nominal depth of 700 ft within inbound and outbound ''flight corridors'' 200 ft high and 6 mi wide and 10 mi apart. Loading and unloading would be carried out at underwater docks at a depth of 500 ft. The submarines would avoid exposure to storms and to encounters with other ships. Economic evaluation indicates that the submarine tanker system is much less costly than pipeline systems and is competitive with a system of icebreaking tankers. Design data, operating factors, and risks are discussed.