Disconnectable Mooring System for Ice Class Floaters

Designs for offshore structures that will be deployed in arctic regions have to consider ice forces, which can be the governing design load. In shallow-water areas (< ∼100 m), fixed bottom caisson designs and artificial islands usually offer the best solutions. In deeper water, however, moored floating systems such as the ship-shaped Floating Production Unit (FPU), the Spar and the Single Column Floater (SCF™) are practical solutions. Even in shallower water where earthquakes are a threat, a moored floater can be a better option because of its ability to avoid seismic effects of the quake due to its suspension in the water above the sea floor. It is estimated that about 30% of the remaining oil and gas reserves lie in the arctic regions of the world. Special care has to be taken to design offshore platforms to survive these extreme arctic environments. Along with severe environmental conditions, there is a possibility of icebergs and multi-year ice sheets as well. A practical solution is to remove the floating structure in case of the expected loads on the structure exceed the maximum design loads. The platform can be brought back to location after the extreme environmental condition has passed. This paper describes a design for a disconnectable mooring system that comprises of external fairleads, submerged chain locker boxes and diverter units along with quick release mechanism and a single handling winch for each group of lines. The system works in tandem with the rig’s ROV and an anchor handling tugboat when connecting the system, while disconnection is automatic without any external assistance other than an emergency release signal. The paper provides the rationale for selecting this configuration based on its strength, redundancy requirements, quick disconnectable ability, without interfering with normal operation and presents a range of applications for this design.