ELSS (Emergency Life Support Stores)

ELSS stands for Emergency Life Support Stores. The term covers standardized, pressure-resistant pods used in submarine rescue to carry essential consumables to a disabled submarine (DISSUB) and keep its crew alive until rescue vehicles arrive. Typical contents include food, water, medical supplies, oxygen candles and carbon-dioxide-scrubbing materials.

ELSS is also used for the hardware that receives the pods, such as capture systems and posting bags that fit a submarine's escape tower or hatches. ELSS equipment is not a rescue vehicle. It is a way to extend the time available for a rescue. In Canadian federal procurement, tender and contract titles expand the abbreviation as Emergency Life Support Stores, so that is the wording bid teams should search for on CanadaBuys.

What an ELSS pod is and how it is built

Manufacturers describe ELSS pods as cylindrical pressure vessels with removable end caps. Published specifications cover machined aluminum hulls in alloys such as 6082 and 5083, and one supplier uses a yellow Xylan coating to withstand deck handling in harsh marine conditions. The end cap carries a lifting handle and a pressure-equalizing valve, so the vessel is neither over- nor under-pressurized when opened.

One published pod specification gives a length of about 970 mm including the handle, an internal diameter of 300 to 350 mm, an in-air weight under 60 kg and a payload of 25 kg. It is certified to an operating depth of 610 metres of seawater and tested to 960 metres. Another supplier designs its pods to be nominally 10 kg negatively buoyant in seawater, so a swimmer, atmospheric diving suit, remotely operated vehicle (ROV) or rescue submersible can deliver them.

NATO standards behind ELSS equipment

ELSS equipment sits within NATO's submarine escape and rescue standards. ANEP/MNEP-85, titled Material Interoperability Requirements for Submarine Escape and Rescue, is the benchmark manufacturers cite. STANAG 1475 carries the same title, references ANEP/MNEP-85 and was published on 17 October 2014. It also points to STANAG 1390, the Submarine Search and Rescue Manual. One supplier states its ELSS pods are compliant with STANAG 1391 to fit the escape towers of NATO submarines.

Suppliers pair these military standards with civilian certification. One firm's pods are designed, manufactured and tested to ANEP/MNEP-85 and certified by Lloyd's Register under its rules for the classification of submersibles and the PD5500 specification for unfired fusion-welded pressure vessels. Standardization work across NATO is coordinated by the NATO Standardization Office, which also oversees NATOTerm, the NATO terminology database.

How ELSS is used on a disabled submarine

When a submarine is stranded on the seabed, ELSS containers are posted into its escape tower or hatches by a diver or ROV. A capture system fitted to the tower receives the pod. Supplier documentation describes a support ring assembly, capture net, rope anchor brackets and rope bags in marine-grade stainless steel, load-tested to receive a fully flooded pod. Once the pod is posted, the hatches are shut and the tower drained, and the pod is lowered into the submarine without flooding the tower.

Pod posting bags serve the same purpose and use a dual-redundant load path. The U.S. Navy's Undersea Rescue Command describes its Sibitzky ROV as able to assess, clear and replenish emergency life support stores, which is the first step in a disabled-submarine response. Rescue vehicles such as the Pressurized Rescue Module follow.

ELSS in Department of National Defence procurement

The Department of National Defence (DND) has bought ELSS equipment. CanadaBuys records a goods tender titled "ELSS PODS (EMERGENCY LIFE SUPPORT STORES)", opened on 22 February 2013 and closed on 4 April 2013. Contract data drawn from the CanadaBuys contract history lists OceanWorks International Corporation as supplier on DND contract W8483-137107/001/ML. It was awarded on 12 July 2013, amended on 10 June 2014 and valued at $526,391. The work covered Emergency Life Support Stores pod assemblies for Victoria-class submarine escape towers and torpedo tubes.

OceanWorks and Forum Energy Technologies both list ELSS pods in their submarine rescue portfolios, and JFD supplies pods and posting bags certified to ANEP/MNEP-85.

What ELSS means for a supplier bidding on Canadian contracts

• Search CanadaBuys for "Emergency Life Support Stores" as well as "ELSS", since titles spell out the full term.
• Expect requirements tied to submarine interface, such as Victoria-class escape towers and torpedo tubes, and to NATO standards such as ANEP/MNEP-85.
• Be ready to document pressure ratings, classification society certification and load testing of pods and capture hardware.
• Track amendments, because the 2013 contract was amended in 2014.