Reliability and Safety Considerations in the Design of the Submersible LEO I

LEO I is one of the newest submersibles produced by International Hydrodynamics Company Ltd. While still maintaining the wide range of capabilities which have made the PISCES submersibles so successful, LEO I has been designed with reliability and safety as primary concerns. Many of LEO´s reliability and safety features have been developed from over ten years of operations of the PISCES line of submersibles. Several new safety features are also included, such as; reduced floodable volume which eliminates the possibility of the submersible sinking if anything other than the personnel sphere floods; a highly reliable lead ballast system was developed; the pilot´s field of vision was increased through the use of a large spherical sector viewport.