Patent ID: 7814856

Claim:
A deep water operations system comprising: a submersible vessel including a propulsion system for operating the vessel both on, and beneath, the surface of a body of water; the vessel also including buoyancy compensation for selectively positioning the vessel for operation at the surface or submerged beneath the surface to a depth sufficient to avoid surface wave and weather conditions; a surface power buoy deployable from the vessel at the water surface and connected to the vessel by a first umbilical cord, the power buoy including a propulsion system, radio frequency communication with the vessel, and a global positioning system (GPS) receiver; the power buoy for receiving GPS position signals and radio frequency signals and transmitting those signals to the vessel and receiving position control and radio frequency transmission signals from the vessel via the first umbilical cord; a remotely operated vehicle launch cage supported by the vessel by a second umbilical cord, the launch cage storing and deploying a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) within and from beneath the vessel, respectively, the ROV being remotely controlled from the vessel for deep water work and repair activities via the second umbilical cord.