Patent ID: 8905678

Claim:
A method of transporting mined resources from underwater sources, the method comprising: transporting underground resources, wherein the natural resources comprise one or more of oil, natural gas, gas hydrate, or metallic and non-metallic materials produced offshore, from a point of production thereof to a point of loading thereof, or installing loading facilities in the point of production of the underground resources; loading and/or filling one or more lower elastic or rigid membrane compartments of a transporting means for the underground resource with a solid or liquid ballast on the water surface, wherein the transporting means is constructed of a flexible or a rigid body; submersing the transporting means to the point of loading for the underground resource by moving the transporting means along a guiding rail; filling one or more upper elastic membrane or rigid compartments of the transporting means with one or combination of the oil, gas, gas-hydrate, or gas obtained from gas-hydrate partially and additionally with the metallic or non-metallic materials, wherein the transporting means further comprises a gas generator for obtaining gas from the gas-hydrate and filling the submersed transporting means with the obtained gas partially or completely, such that the ballast is displaced during loading and positive buoyancy is imparted to the transporting means for lifting to the surface; and lifting the transporting means to a discharging point for the underground resource.