초록 ▼

An offshore apparatus and method for oil operations at a deep water well site wherein a lower hull includes a pontoon portion providing a large water plane area and also includes an upwardly facing body opening, an upper hull is fabricated within said body opening in fully telescoped relation therew

An offshore apparatus and method for oil operations at a deep water well site wherein a lower hull includes a pontoon portion providing a large water plane area and also includes an upwardly facing body opening, an upper hull is fabricated within said body opening in fully telescoped relation therewith, said upper hull and lower hull being vertically relatively movable, and a deck carried by the upper hull. The pontoon portion has suffient displacement to support the apparatus in towing draft mode. The lower hull and upper hull include floodable compartments for selective ballasting and deballasting to raise and lower the hulls relative to each other in order to submerge the apparatus under stable conditions and to change the draft from towing mode to operating mode in which the hulls are in extended nontelescopic relation at a selected draft. Support lines interconnecting the lower hull and deck are selectively tensioned to aid in the transition from towing draft to operating draft. Interengagable stop shoulders are provided between the upper and lower hulls and at operating draft may be secured to assist in maintaining the extended nontelescopic relation thereof. Guides for relative vertical motion of the upper and lower hulls are provided at the outer surface of the upper hull and the stop shoulder of the lower hull. The support lines may later serve as anchor lines.

대표청구항 ▼

An apparatus for offshore operations, comprising in combination: an upper hull and a deck carried thereby; a lower hull having an upwardly facing body opening to receive said upper hull for relative vertical movement between closed telescopic relation and extended non-telescopic relation; said lower

An apparatus for offshore operations, comprising in combination: an upper hull and a deck carried thereby; a lower hull having an upwardly facing body opening to receive said upper hull for relative vertical movement between closed telescopic relation and extended non-telescopic relation; said lower hull including pontoon means to support said upper and lower hulls and said deck during transit and to provide sufficient water plane moment of inertia for stability during transit; tension line means connecting said deck and said lower hull; guide means on said upper and lower hulls for said relative vertical movement; stop means on said upper hull engageable with stop means on said lower hull for limiting extended relation of said upper and lower hulls; and means for selectively ballasting said upper and lower hulls and said pontoon means for controlling relative positions of said hulls and of the centers of buoyancy and gravity of the apparatus during transit, installation, and operations.