A remote controlled underwater drill

摘要

A method of drilling, suitable for drilling into a sea bed using a submersible drilling rig comprising a drill head located towards the end of a drill shaft and a retraction arrangement, comprises the steps of submerging the drilling rig after offloading it from a surface vessel 4000, locating the drilling rig at a suitable location on a particulate surface to be drilled, drilling a hole into the surface to be drilled with the drill head and drill shaft by fluidising the particulate surface, and remotely controlling the retraction arrangement from a surface vessel 4000 to retract the drill head and drill shaft from the hole.