Transportation of floating structures by using newly built heavy lifting semi vessel HYSY278

Abstract

Transportation of floating structures for long distance has always been associated with the use of heavy semi transport vessel. The requirements of this type of vessel are always special, and its availability is limited. To prepare for the future development of the South China Sea deepwater projects, COOEC has recently built a heavy lift transport vessel — Hai Yang Shi You 278 (HYSY278). This semi-submersible vessel has displacement capacity of 50k DWT, and a breath of 42 m. Understanding the vessel’s applicability and preparing its use for future deepwater projects are becoming imminent need. This paper reviews the critical issues associated with the floating structure transportation and performs detailed analysis of two designed floating structures during transportation. The newly built COOEC transportation vessel HYSY278 will be used to dry transport the floating structures from COOEC fabrication yard in Qingdao to the oil field in the South China Sea. The entire process will start with load-out/float-off the floating structures from the construction sites, offload the platform from the vessel if needed, dry transport floating structures through a long distance, and finally offload the platform. Both hydrodynamic and structural analyses are performed to evaluate transport vessel and floating structures. Critical issues associated with the transportation and offloading of platform from the vessel will be studied in detail. Detailed study is performed to evaluate the response of the system during this phase and additional work needed to make the vessel feasible for use of this purpose. The results demonstrate that with proper modifications, HYSY278 can effectively be used for transporting structures with proper arrangement and well-prepared operation. The procedure and details are presented on the basis of study results. Special attentions associated with future use will also be discussed based on the results from analysis.