This paper attempts to introduce a unique water transport system by using
open-bottomed air tanks in a water transport vehicle and using horizontal
buoyancy instead of vertical buoyancy. This study explains how a certain amount
of horizontal buoyancy is generated by attaching open-bottomed air vessels to
commonly used small watercraft. In contrast to the fact that vehicles generally
require a lot of water for all water transport, this new mode of transport can
use a minimal amount of water, as appropriate for the weight, through a
sufficient literature survey. The proposed water–air–based vehicle integrates
open-bottomed air vessels with a hydrofoil system to generate horizontal
propulsion. A model analysis is conducted to explain how the horizontal buoyancy
force generated by the air vessels is related to the vertical buoyancy force,
and their values at different depths are tabulated. The vehicle model can
achieve a maximum speed of 1.5 m/s, handling 20–70 kg payload, highlighting
potential for sustainable water-based transport. At high pressure, a final
volume of 0.03 m3 produced 1 m/s in simulations versus 1.09 m/s
experimentally at 0.03 m3, while final volumes (0.02–0.01
m3) showed close agreement, confirming model reliability. The
simulation achieved a maximum velocity of 4 m/s at the highest compression level
with final volume of 0.01 m3. Due to the inability to use
high-pressure equipment, achieving higher compression levels (i.e., volumes as
low as 0.01 m3) was not possible; therefore, experimental tests were
only conducted at a final volume of 0.03 m3. These discoveries can be
considered important in water transport, where the horizontal buoyancy force
created by air vessel plays a key role, and this will pave the way for a great
improvement in future water transport methods. This system leverages hydrostatic
pressure differences as a renewable energy source, demonstrating that controlled
air–water interactions can efficiently propel and stabilize a hydrofoil
vehicle.