Patent ID: 7412939

Claim:
A system for providing emergency buoyancy for a vessel, comprising: a plurality of flexible bags mounted within a plurality of respective compartments within said vessel, said flexible bags each having a compressed size and an expanded size; a controllable inflation apparatus coupled to each of the plurality of flexible bags for providing a quantity of gas to an interior volume of the flexible bags to configure the flexible bags to their expanded size; wherein said controllable inflation apparatus is controllable from a centralized damage control station located within the vessel to enable a user to individually remotely monitor and individually adjust inflation of all of the plurality of flexible bags at a single location to inflate at least one of the plurality of flexible bags independent from at least one other of the plurality of flexible bags in the event of damage to at least one of the plurality of respective compartments; and wherein when at least one of the plurality of flexible bags is configured to the expanded size, the bag increases the buoyancy of the vessel.