Air-bleed assembly for an underwater drilling assembly

An air-bleed assembly for use with an underwater drilling system, the air-bleed assembly comprising:

• an input tube fluidically couplable to a drill cavity;
• and
• a head assembly, comprising:
• a frame comprising an upper vent;
• a first float;
• an internal cavity fluidically coupled to the input tube and the upper vent;
• and
• a shuttle movable within the internal cavity such that air pressure is configured to push the shuttle away from the upper vent to automatically unseal and escape through the upper vent.

A method for automatically bleeding air from a drill cavity of an underwater drilling assembly, wherein the underwater drilling assembly comprises a frame, a drill assembly mounted to the frame, and a flange assembly through which a hole is drilled by the drill assembly into a ship skin, wherein the drill cavity is defined in the flange assembly, the method comprising:

• attaching the underwater drilling assembly to the ship skin;
• drilling the hole in the ship skin through the flange assembly;
• bleeding air within the drill cavity through an automatic air-bleed valve assembly comprising an external float, an internal chamber, a shuttle movable within the internal chamber to seal and unseal a top plate of the automatic air-bleed valve assembly upon generating an air pressure greater than a fluid pressure applied to the shuttle within the internal chamber;
• and
• sealing the flange assembly.