2020年经济学人 船只防污技术(1)

All Ships suffer from fouling¹: the build-up below the waterline of shellfish, seaweeds and other organisms.

所有船只都会遭遇污垢：堆积在水线以下的甲壳类动物、海藻以及其他生物体。

This causes drag, which slows the affected² craft and increases its fuel consumption.

这会造成阻力，降低了受影响船只的速度，增加了其耗油量。

Regular hull³ cleaning thus makes a considerable difference to the profitability of shipping⁴.

因此，定期的船体表面清洗对航运的盈利能力有相当大的影响。

It also results in a useful reduction in the amount of planet-warming carbon dioxide emitted by the world's merchant shipping--

它还有效地减少了全球商船所排放的导致全球变暖的二氧化碳总量——

an industry that many environmentalists think is notoriously dirty and which could therefore do with burnishing⁵ its green credentials⁶.

许多环保人士认为该行业是出了名的肮脏，该行业因此可以擦亮它的绿色证书了。

Roar Adland, a shipping economist⁷ at the Norwegian School of Economics, in Bergen,

卑尔根市挪威经济学院的海运经济学家Roar Adland表示，

says that a midsized oil tanker's fuel consumption (and also, consequently, its emission⁸ of carbon dioxide)

中型油轮的耗油量（同时，也会释放出二氧化碳）

drops by around 9% after its hull is cleaned at sea--something that happens, on average, once every six or seven months.

会在进行海面船体表面清洗后下降约9%——这种情况平均每六、七个月发生一次。

If the cleaning is done in a dry dock, which allows the process to be more thorough, that figure can be as much as17%.

如果是在干船坞进行清洗工作，那么这个过程会更加全面，该数字可达到17%。

At the moment, cleaning at sea is done by teams of divers⁹.

目前，海上清洁工作是由潜水队员团队完成。

In recent years, robots have sometimes been added to underwater cleaning crews, and have proved effective.

近些年，机器人有时会加入水下清洁团队，而且效果很好。

Jotun, a Norwegian coatings company, and Semcon, a Swedish engineering firm, propose, however, to go one step further.

但挪威涂料公司佐敦漆以及瑞典工程公司Semcon提议更进一步。

They want to replace the divers completely with a machine. That machine, moreover, would not merely defoul a ship's hull, but stop it fouling up in the first place.

他们希望用机器完全替代潜水员。此外，这台机器不仅能够清理船只的船体，还能在一开始就防止船体污垢。

HullSkater, as the consortium dub¹⁰ their invention, is a 200kg hull-crawling robot.

他们将自己的发明称为HullSkater，这是一个200公斤重的船体爬行机器人。

It will reside permanently¹¹ on-board ship, ready to be launched whenever the vessel¹² is stationary--

它将永久驻留在船上，在船只停航时，随时准备启动——

for example, when it is waiting in the roads outside a port for a berth¹³ to unload and load. To deploy¹⁴ the robot, it is first lowered overboard by a crane.

例如，当它在港口外等待泊位装卸货物时。要部署这个机器人，首先要用起重机将其吊到船外。

Its four magnetic wheels, each of which is fitted with a motor, then clamp it to the hull and it can start trundling around.

它的四个磁铁轮子上都装有一个发动机，然后将它固定在船体上，它就可以慢慢移动了。

After this, the ship's crew need do nothing. Wherever the vessel happens to be on the planet,

之后，船员什么都不需要做。无论船只在地球上的哪个地方，

the robot is piloted remotely by an operator on land, who may be half a world away, via a 4G phone connection.

该机器人都能由陆地上的一名操作人员操控，相隔半个地球之远的操作员也能通过4G手机连接进行远程操作。

Inspecting and cleaning a hull takes HullSkater between two and eight hours, depending on the size and design of the ship.

检查和清理船体需要花费HullSkater两到八小时的时间，这取决于船只的大小和设计。

The robot is fitted with special brushes that can probe the nooks and crannies of naval¹⁵ architecture--

这个机器人装有特殊的刷子，可以探测船只的各个角落和缝隙——

the areas around propellers¹⁶, for example--and its four cameras provide its operators with a detailed¹⁷ view of what is going on,

比如，螺旋桨周围的区域——并且其四个相机为操作人员提供了关于其工作进程的详细视角，

and also help to keep track of whereabouts on the hull the machine is.

同时也有助于追踪该机器人在船体上的位置。

The idea is to keep the hull permanently clean, by regularly removing from it the layers or slime-producing bacteria that are the first stage of the fouling process.

其目的是为了保持船体永久清洁，并通过定期清理表层或污垢细菌的方式来实现，这些是防污流程的第一阶段。

1 fouling   

n.（水管、枪筒等中的）污垢v.使污秽( foul的现在分词 )；弄脏；击球出界；（通常用废物）弄脏

参考例句：

• He was sent off for fouling the other team's goalkeeper. 他因对对方守门员犯规而被罚出场。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A basketball player is allowed five personal fouls before fouling out. 篮球运动员侵人犯规五次即被罚下场。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 hull   

n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳

参考例句：

• The outer surface of ship's hull is very hard.船体的外表面非常坚硬。
• The boat's hull has been staved in by the tremendous seas.小船壳让巨浪打穿了。

4 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

5 burnishing   

n.磨光，抛光，擦亮v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的现在分词 )；被擦亮，磨光

参考例句：

• Taps, reamers, drills, saws, milling cutters, burnishing tools, and so on, have all been successfully plated. 丝锥、铰刀、钻头、锯片、铣切刀具、磨光工具以及其它等等，所有这些方面的片镀都是很成功的。 来自辞典例句
• Pure white was obtained by entirely effacing burnishing the plate. 光白部份则把芒刺激完全磨去。 来自互联网

6 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

7 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

8 emission   

n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发

参考例句：

• Rigorous measures will be taken to reduce the total pollutant emission.采取严格有力措施，降低污染物排放总量。
• Finally,the way to effectively control particulate emission is pointed out.最后，指出有效降低颗粒排放的方向。

9 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

10 dub   

vt.（以某种称号）授予，给...起绰号，复制

参考例句：

• I intend to use simultaneous recording to dub this film.我打算采用同期录音的方法为这部影片配音。
• It was dubbed into Spanish for Mexican audiences.它被译制成西班牙语以方便墨西哥观众观看。

11 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

12 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

13 berth   

n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊

参考例句：

• She booked a berth on the train from London to Aberdeen.她订了一张由伦敦开往阿伯丁的火车卧铺票。
• They took up a berth near the harbor.他们在港口附近找了个位置下锚。

14 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

15 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

16 propellers   

n.螺旋桨，推进器( propeller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The water was thrashing and churning about under the propellers. 水在螺旋桨下面打旋、翻滚。 来自辞典例句
• The ship's propellers churned the waves to foam. 轮船的推进器将海浪搅出泡沫。 来自辞典例句

17 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。