The FLIP currently collects weather data worldwide, although its main area of operations is the west coast of the United States (Photo US Navy / Jhon F.Williams)

The ocean platform FLIP (Floating Instrument Platform) is one of the strangest and most versatile ships in the world... its surprising design causes its structure to literally sink into the sea and to remain vertical over the waters.

However, it is not a last-generation thing, since FLIP was designed in the 1960s by the University of California in order to carry out all kinds of oceanographic research... for more than fifty years, its team has conducted countless studies on the height of the waves, tides or water characteristics.

The hull of more than 100 meters long that once sunk in the water, it exercises as a layer anchor and stabilizer of the platform... its hull has several tanks that are being flooded successively until the ship is placed in a vertical position and appears to be nailed into the water... starring in a curious appearance.

Even though the ship remains floating all the time, its structure allows it to maintain stability even in hard conditions (US Navy / John F. Williams photos)

Their vertical positioning maneuver has a duration of about 30 minutes... throughout this time, the crew remain on deck subject to the safety rails... slowly along the movement to the verticality, what was soil becomes a wall and what was a wall becomes a floor or a ceiling.

In the interior, all the furniture of the ship is subject to the surfaces and has a system that allows it to rotate 90 degrees... other elements, such as bathroom washers, do not rotate but are duplicated: one for the horizontal position, and the other for the vertical position.