The Thunder Child is a revolutionary search and rescue boat that is virtually impossible to capsize. Even when flipped upside down in the water， the vessel is able to right itself almost instantly.

“雷之子”是一艘具有革命性意義的搜救船，幾乎不可能傾覆。即便在水里翻個(gè)底朝天，這種船幾乎也能立刻再翻回來(lái)。

Developed by Irish company Safehaven Marine for use by the Irish Navy in high-pressure situations， the XSV-17 Thunder Child can reach speeds of up to 54 knots， fits a crew of up to 10 people， and is designed to absorb shocks from rough seas. But its most impressive feature is the ability to bounce back into an upright position in any situation， which makes it impossible to capsize.

這種船是由愛(ài)爾蘭安全港船舶公司研發(fā)，供愛(ài)爾蘭海軍在高壓環(huán)境下使用。XSV-17“雷之子”時(shí)速可達(dá)54海里，可容納10人，能吸收洶涌的海浪帶來(lái)的沖擊。但是最讓人印象深刻的功能是船在任何情況下都能翻轉(zhuǎn)回直立位置，所以不可能傾覆。

“It is a combination of three factors： A very low center of gravity， the buoyancy of the cabin and the cabin must also be completely water tight，” Frank Kowalksi， managing director of Safehaven Marine， told MailOnline. “The area of the cabin must contain enough air to keep the vessel afloat and it is important no water gets into the cabin.”

安全港船舶公司的總經(jīng)理弗蘭克·科瓦爾克斯在接受每日郵報(bào)網(wǎng)站采訪時(shí)說(shuō)道：“保持船只直立需要滿(mǎn)足3個(gè)條件：非常低的重心、船艙的浮力和船艙的水密性。船艙里必須有足量的空氣來(lái)保持船只漂浮，而且絕對(duì)不能有水進(jìn)入船艙。”

To ensure that the boat maintains its high buoyancy at all times， its air inlets close automatically.

為了確保船始終保持高浮力，船的進(jìn)氣口會(huì)自動(dòng)關(guān)閉。

The low center of gravity not only makes the Thunder Child harder to flip over， but in the off chance that a strong wave does manage this feat， when underwater， the center of gravity shifts to the very top of the boat， making it extremely unstable and able to flip back to its normal position.

船的低重心不僅讓“雷之子”不容易翻船，而且即使運(yùn)氣不好一個(gè)大浪把船打翻了，船在水下的重心也可以轉(zhuǎn)移到船的頂部，讓船變得非常不穩(wěn)定，從而使船能夠翻轉(zhuǎn)回正常的位置。

To prove that describing the Thunder Child as impossible to capsize wasnt just a bombastic claim， the Irish company staged a demonstration where they used a crane to flip the boat over to 180 degrees while on water， not once， but twice. The first time the boat was empty， and the second time with a small crew. In both instances， it returned to its normal position almost instantly.

為了證明“雷之子”不會(huì)傾覆并非夸大其詞，這家愛(ài)爾蘭公司還做了一次演示，讓起重機(jī)把水上的船180度大翻轉(zhuǎn)，而且是兩次。第一次船是空的，第二次有幾個(gè)船員在上面。船兩次幾乎都是立刻回到了正常的位置。

Word Study

capsize /k?p'sa?z/ v. 傾覆

The sea got very rough and the boat capsized.

afloat /?'fl??t/ adj. 漂浮的

Somehow we kept the boat afloat.