moon pool

See also: moonpool and moon-pool

English
WOTD – 25 June 2021

Etymology
A model of the Ceona Amazon, a construction and pipelaying marine vessel. The pipelaying equipment (in yellow) accesses the sea through a moon pool in the centre of the vessel.
A diving bell inside the moon pool of a diving support raft at the Solina Dam, Poland.

From moon +‎ pool, from the fact that, on some nights, moonlight can be seen reflected by the surface of the sea through the opening, making it resemble a swimming pool.[1][2]

Pronunciation

Noun

moon pool (plural moon pools)

  1. (nautical, chiefly oil industry) An opening in the base of the hull of a vessel (especially a marine drilling platform), which is used for lowering equipment into the sea below.

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Translations

References
  1. Douglas Rutherford [pseudonym; James Douglas Rutherford McConnell] (1981) chapter 2, in Porcupine Basin, London: Macmillan, →ISBN, page 30: “It was named moon-pool because on calm nights the water under a rig could reflect the moonlight and give the impression of a calm swimming pool.”
  2. “moon pool, n.” under “moon, n.1”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2021; “moon pool, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading
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