alt Hacker NewsThe same problem with height would also be an issue for the underwater thing. Quick googling suggests a very large container ship might have a draft of 16-17m when fully loaded. Probably you want the catenary at 20m depth then. How does a small get their pantograph (or whatever you'd call it) down to that depth, and then move forwards without the pantograph sticking 20m down creating a huge amount of drag. Not to mention how do you make the connection between the pantograph and the catenary in the (conductive) sea water?
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Just looking at a couple problems:
> Probably you want the catenary at 20m depth then. How does a small get their pantograph (or whatever you'd call it) down to that depth,
Does the connection from the 'pantograph' to the boat need to be rigid? Use a cable? Maybe it's not for the smaller boats which can't handle a 20m (probably more like 40m for the angle and slack) cable, but also need less power and thus pollute less.
> and then move forwards without the pantograph sticking 20m down creating a huge amount of drag
Presumably, the catenary's route would be cleared of obstructions - maybe even on a frame elevated over the floor, maybe at relatively constant depth - or do I misunderstand? Would a 40m cable cause that much drag? Obviously the pantograph would have to be low friction and highly reliable.
Make the cable AC and the "pantograph" a (water tight) transformer that glides around the cable. I can't see any other way - DC is not going to work.