It's a Marina! It's a Mooring! No, It's a French Design (Video)

A French company named Seafloatech is making some waves in the marine engineering world with a new moorage system that allows multiple boats to tie-up to a large moored platform as if they were at a shoreside marina. The platform is held in place by what is described as a "pod," not a traditional chain-and-anchor system.

Here's how it was described recently by Ben Coxworth of New Atlas.

"The submerged base of the Pod is a large X-shaped steel structure, that sits flat on its back immediately adjacent to the seabed – it doesn't sit right against the sand, as it's held slightly above by a series of pilings. Connecting that base to the platform is a vertical piston-like structure, the two ends of which pivot 360 degrees relative to the top of the base and the underside of the platform.

"As waves and the tide move the platform up and down, back and forth, the shaft of the piston moves in and out of the main body accordingly. This keeps the platform in more or less the same place, while also keeping it from getting pulled underwater. Additionally, unlike an anchor chain, the "piston" eases the platform to a stop instead of jarringly halting it."

This concept leans toward the idea of a free-floating marina.

This is a detail of the pod anchoring system with it's piston shock absorber.