A few years ago I threw it out there asking whether they could make one from plastic. Not long after we found out they already had. Unfortunately the plastic buoy built by DCNS got blown apart by a cyclone off Reunion Island.
We were never given any details for the reason it failed.
We do know that the buoys were in kit form, meaning that prefabricated panels were assembled on site. Apparently they were difficult to deploy because of high positive buoyancy, needing to be pulled below the surface.
However, that may not have been the reason for the catastrophic failure, it could well have been something else like the foundations or tether?
As for the composition of the buoys, I once asked would it be possible to build a buoy using 3D printing technology. That way they could use a wide variety of materials to construct devices of any shape they wanted.
After all, it is possible to build a house or a boat using 3D.
Add to My Watchlist
What is My Watchlist?