Introduction to Offshore

Structural Engineering

1. Introduction
The structural engineering profession plays an
important role in design of offshore platforms for
production of hydrocarbons oil & gas. Rapid
developments have taken place the last fifty
years since the first fixed offshore platform was
installed in more than 30meters (100ft) water
depth in the Gulf of Mexico. Today more than
9,000 fixed platforms have been installed world
wide in water-depths up to 400m (Bullwinckle
Jacket in Gulf of Mexico) and has reached
installation weight of more than 650,000 metric
tones (Troll A GBS in the North Sea). Floating
production
platforms
are
taking
field
developments into deeper waters with several
installations in more than 2000m water depth
(Gulf of Mexico). In South-East Asia the first
deep water TLP platform was installed at West
Seno field in Indonesia in 1,000m water depth,
while the first deep water platform in Malaysian
waters is planned for installation in 2007, in
water depth of 1,330m (Kikeh Spar).

1) PerIvar Lokstad, Senior Structural Engineer,

Civil Engineer (Norwegian Institute of
Technology), Technip Geoproduction (M)
Sdn Bhd
2) Khairudin Ahmad, Senior Structural
Engineer, B.Sc., M.Eng. (Cornell, USA),
Technip Geoproduction (M) Sdn Bhd

Synopsis
The main purpose of Offshore Platforms is to
support facilities required for Oil & Gas Drilling,
Production and Export. This paper provides an
introduction to Offshore Structural Engineering
through references to both fixed and floating
platform concepts, main design requirements
and the way temporary phases, marine
environment and soil conditions at site affect
design.
Modern platform structural design is based on
detailed knowledge of design procedures,
international codes and standards reflecting the
latest developments within research and
experience. This in addition to classical theories,
extensive use of sophisticated computer
programs and creativity as frontiers are
continuously moved. Unique challenges for
offshore platforms are mainly from:
Designing to resist forces from natural
phenomena (waves, current, hydrostatic
pressure, wind and earthquake), corrosion
caused by the marine environment,
Designing for fatigue caused by the cyclic
nature of wind and waves for a duration of
25 to 50 years,
Designing the topside (offshore plant) within
extremely confined spaces,
Designing to maximize completion at
construction site and to minimize offshore
construction work,
Designing for temporary phases
(construction, loading out, sea transport and
offshore installation).

Initial field development phase includes seismic

survey and exploration drilling using either jackup rigs for water depth up to around 100m, or
MODU (Mobile Offshore Drilling Units) which
are jack-ups, semi submersibles and drill ships
for deeper water depths. To assess if further
developments are technically and commercial
viable, decisions that affect structural design
must be made on:
Selection of platform concept (fixed or
floating platform),
Extent of processing to be done offshore
(none, partial or full),
Type of drilling facilities (MODU, tender
assisted or platform rig),
Staffed or un-staffed,
Export of oil & gas (riser, shuttle-tanker,
power-plant, re-injection).

Notations
1) FPSO
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)

GBS
LMU
MT
MODU
SSCV

7) TLP

Floating Production Storage

and Offloading
Gravity Base Structure
Leg Mating Unit
Metric Tones
Mobile Offshore Drilling Units
Semi Submersible Crane
Vessel
Tension Leg Platform

Figure 1 Fixed Platform, Malaysia Water.

Figure-1 shows a typical offshore fixed platform

topside supported by a jacket (sub-structure).

engineering technology, are mainly self-installed

and prove low maintenance costs. The GBS
structure uses gravity combined with suction
established between the base and the seabed
soil to remain stable under loading from waves,
wind and current.

The jacket itself is usually a tower like braced

tubular structure that has two main functions;
firstly to support for the production facility
(topside) to keep it stable and clear of the wave
crests, and secondly to provide lateral supports
and protect well conductors and pipelines.

Compliant towers are slender and non-battered

jacket structures connected to the seabed by
means of piles and optional guy lines. The
platform fundamental natural period around 30
seconds, is about twice the storm wave period
ensuring the required compliancy or deamplification in response to wave loading. This
contrary to traditional fixed platform types that
are having an upper practical limit of around 5 to
6 seconds only for the fundamental natural
period to avoid excessive dynamic amplification
and fatigue from wave loading.

The main functions of typical platform topside

are:
(a) drilling and well control,
(b) separation of oil, gas and byproducts (water,
sand, wax),
(c) support for pumps and compressors
required for export of the produced
products,
(d) power generation and
(e) staff accommodation.
Platforms crew access can be by boat that
requires a boat landing connected to the jacket
at sea level, by helicopter that requires a
helicopter landing deck or bridge linked to
nearby platform. For material handling, a fixed
platform crane is required for lifting to and from
supply boats.

2. Platform Types
Fixed platforms are mainly found for relative
shallow waters, with installations up to around
400m water depth for jackets, 300m for GBS
and 600m for Compliant Towers (see below for
description of GBS and Compliant Towers).
Floating platforms are utilized when water depth
is
rendering
fixed
platform
concepts
uneconomical
or
technically
unfeasible.
Maximum water depth possible with present
technologies is around 3000m for floating
platforms.

Figure 2 Jack-up (TPG500, ELGIN), North Sea. Technip.

Jack-ups (Figure-2) are self-elevated platforms

that have been in use since 1955 mainly for
drilling in water depths generally less than
100m. In recent years, this platform type has
been introduced also as a permanent production
facility either by converting existing platforms or
new builds. Jack-up platforms are usually
having three or four vertical legs that support the
platform using special footings (spud cans) or
one large single mat. This platform type is
mobile as legs can be elevated allowing the
platform to relocate to new location (selfinstalled).

In addition to water depth, the main drivers for

selection of platform type are topside weight,
soil conditions, weather limits, chosen export
method (local storage or through pipelines),
selection of dry or wet trees (main valves),
availability and capability of fabrication yard, and
available barges/vessels for transport and
offshore installation.
2.1 Fixed Platform
More than 90% of offshore platforms around the
world are supported by steel framed structures
(Jackets). These platforms are typically
anchored to the ocean floor using steel piles to
carry both lateral and vertical loads and are
fabricated from tubular sections (Figure-1).
Several concrete Gravity Base Structure
platforms (GBS) have been installed mainly in
the North Sea, and provide advantages through
oil storage capacity, utilizing traditional civil
2

2.2 Floating Platforms

Figure 3 Semi-Submersible (EDP). Technip.

Semi-submersible production platforms (Figure3) are moored to the seabed using platform
inertia and catenary mooring lines (or slack
mooring) to restrict extreme lateral motions
during a storm. The hull form is derived from a
traditional drilling semi. By taking advantage of
being a stationary platform, a ring pontoon
configuration can be utilized to accommodate
higher deck loading. Most commonly four or six
columns are connecting the pontoons to the
deck structure. Due to large heave motions, the
key factor is the seabed well completion (wet
tree) driving up costs, compared to on-platform
well completion (dry tree).

Figure 5 TLP. Atlantia Offshore Limited.

A Tension Leg Platform (TLP) is using a hull

shape similar to semi-submersibles but is
moored using vertical tubular tendons
connected to bottom of columns and anchored
to the seabed. For larger platforms, either three
or four columns are connecting the pontoons to
the deck structure, while for a smaller or
medium size platform a single column can be
used as shown in Figure-5. The TLP is designed
so that the tendons always stays in tension also
during a storm condition resulting in very small
vertical and angular motions with the advantage
that wellhead can be utilized, similar to a fixed
or a compliant tower platform. For lateral
motions, the main resistance to wave loading is
through inertia similar to semi-submersibles and
FPSO.

Figure 4 FPSO (AKPO). Technip.

Floating Production Storage and Offloading

(FPSO) (Figure-4) are ship-shaped vessels
(mono-hulls) similar to trading tankers. The main
advantage of FPSO is storage capacity at
locations having none or limited possibility for
connection to export pipelines. Similar to semis
the FPSO is connected to seabed using slack
mooring and can only utilize wet tree due to
large heave motions.

For steel platforms utilizing large diameter

tubular structures (typically Jackets), design
procedures were originally developed by the oil
industry in the Gulf of Mexico. The American
Petroleum Institute (API) Recommended
Practice (RP) 2A was first issued in the late
1960s, and has been updated regularly to reflect
improvements in knowledge and technology.
The current trend is towards international
standardization mainly through the International
Standards Organization (ISO) incorporating
upgraded design procedures compared to latest
edition of API. The principal ISO standard for
both fixed and floating offshore platforms is ISO
19900 (Petroleum and natural gas industries).
Governmental regulations also require that
recognized bodies certify primary aspects of the
structural design with the consequence that
structural design also must comply with design
procedures issued by relevant classification
body. The major certification bodies are
American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), Det
Norske Veritas (DnV), Lloyds Register of
Shipping, Bureau Veritas and Germanisher
Lloyds.
Insurance companies covering temporary
phases also require the structural integrity to be
reviewed and accepted by Warranty Surveyors
with the possibility that additional requirements
must be considered in design.

Figure 6 Truss Spar platform. Technip

The Spar platform (Figure-6) is essentially a

deep draft cylinder with rigid risers protected
inside the central part of the cylinder. The Spar
is gaining very small motions from having a
small water plane area and large mass with the
advantage that taut steel catenary moorings can
be utilized for all water depths.

4. Design Loads
For offshore platforms, it is essential to
estimate, report and monitor platform weight
(mass) with high accuracy throughout design
and construction process, as operations during
temporary phases and in-service conditions are
usually sensitive even to small changes in
weight and centre of gravity. Particularly for
topside structures weighing is usually required
prior to load out using jacks and load cells that
can provide weighing inaccuracy less than 1%.
Thorough weight estimation and reporting will
typically achieve weights within 3% of the actual
weighing results.

Depending of required functionalities, topside

(or deck) structures can be found having
footprints more than 100x100m and total weight
in excess of 50,000MT with structural steel
usually making up around 50% of the total
weight. For substructures, the structural building
materials usually make up around 90-95% of the
total weight.

3. Design Criteria
For a specific platform project, structural design
has to comply with specific offshore structural
design procedures (codes), local governmental
regulations
and
developer
(owner)
specifications.
Design
procedures
are
necessary to provide acceptable standard of
safety by defining minimum requirements for the
structural design during pre-service phases
(construction, load out, sea transportation and
installation), in-service and during eventual
removal. These procedures will also serve as
guidelines and technical reference documents in
contractual matters.

4.1 Gravity Loads

For structural design, the gravity loads, both
permanent and variable loads need to be
estimated. Permanent loads can best be
described as loads that will not vary in
magnitude, position or direction during the time
period considered. Examples are:
(a) Topside dead weight (structural steel,
equipments, piping and buildings),
(b) Sub-structure dead weight (structural steel,
anodes and timber mud-mats),
(c) Hydrostatic pressure and
4

(d)

Permanent ballast.

accidental loading typically caused by

hydrocarbon jet and pool fires, hydrocarbon gas
explosion (blast), dropped objects, helicopter
crash, boat impacts and accidental flooding of
compartments. Magnitude and extent of
accidental loads is normally determined from
risk analyses based on annual exceedance
-4
probability of typically 10 per installation.

Variable loads originates from normal operation

of the platform and vary in magnitude and
direction during the period considered.
Examples are:
(a) Liquids in equipments, tanks and piping,
(b) Drilling and crane operations,
(c) Crew and helicopter and
(d) Variable ballast.

5. Computer Modelling and Analyses

4.2 Environmental Loads
The global response of most types of platforms
can be determined from a linear elastic finite
element analysis (FEA) model of the platform
and it is usually sufficient to use a relative
coarse mesh made from 2-noded beam
elements to describe the three-dimensional
geometry of the platform. Of main interest is to
extract internal member forces and moments to
confirm structural integrity against code
requirements.

A major challenge in structural design of

offshore platforms is to consider the oftendominating effect of the environmental loading
imposed on the platform by natural phenomena
like wind, waves, current and earthquake. In
some regions even snow, ice build-up and
icebergs must be considered. Waves and tidal
variations will also cause loading effects from
changes in hydrostatic pressure and buoyancy.
Marine growth and possible seabed subsidence
will also cause increase in loadings for both
fixed and heave compensated platforms.

The main criteria that usually can be confirmed

using automatic computer program procedures
are (a) check for acceptable stress level, (b)
check for global and local instability (buckling) of
members, (c) check for buckling of plates,
stiffeners and stiffened panels and (d) check for
punching shear of tubular connections. In
addition, check for unusual connection
configurations, lifting joints or other local design
features usually must be verified through
manual procedures or FEA using shell or
volume elements.

For platform in-service condition, the magnitude

of environmental loads is determined from
statistical analyses setting annual probability of
-2
exceedance typically equal to 10 . For a storm
wave condition, this is equal to a wave that in
average will be exceeded every hundred year
(100year wave). When theoretical predictions of
environmental loads are subjected to significant
uncertainties, hydrodynamic model tests, wind
model tests or observations from existing
structures can be used to support theoretical
predictions.

Displacements and vibrations must be extracted

and verified against given limits, and support
reactions must be extracted and verified against
required foundation capacity or used in
foundation design. For temporary phases
support reactions are of importance to (a)
confirm capacities of temporary support
structures during construction, (b) verification of
skid ways, (c) design of barge grillage and sea
fastening and (d) verification of transport barge
local strength.

During temporary phases, the magnitude of

environmental loads is usually limited by
operational requirements. Too strict limitations
on wave conditions for a sea transport may
cause unnecessary delays and cost increase if
weather routing is necessary to satisfy the wave
criteria.
4.3 Deformation

Although floating platform (TLP and semisubmersibles) in the early phases of a

development can be analyzed effectively using
beam models, relative coarse mesh plate/shell
element models are more commonly used for
final global design. For floating platforms, all
hydrodynamic loading effects onto the floating
body and at interfaces (mooring, risers, tethers)
are calculated using Naval Architectural
programs and transferred to the structural
software. As the body to be analyzed is floating,
only soft springs are provided to restrain against
rigid body movements. This is causing negligible
dummy reactions as the combined loads are
having zero load balance at any time step.

Loads originating from deformations imposed on

the structure by foundation settlements, during
fabrication, during in-service and from
temperature changes must be assessed and
considered in the design. Deflections will also
be imposed during load out, sea transport and
lifting and may cause extra offshore work if
piping must be disconnected from equipment
flanges to avoid overstress during temporary
phases.
4.4 Accidental Loads
Another common design requirement for
offshore platforms is the ability to sustain
5

Locations of particular interest can have refined

modeling to determine load pattern in the case
of complicated geometry and discontinuities.
Typical examples are interface between pile
sleeves and legs for jackets and interface
between pontoons and columns for TLP, semisubmersibles and Spars.

examples are (1) Global response of a jack-up

platform considering non-linear geometry (PDelta) effects, (2) Accidental fire scenario
considering non-linear material properties
(Figure-7) and (3) Accidental boat impact
scenario
considering
non-linear
material
properties.
To simulate boundary conditions for fixed
platforms it is common to model the non-linear
interaction between piles and the soil to
consider that soil stiffness vary with deflection
level for both axial and lateral loading. Data
must be site specific to provide reliable results.
Particular care must be taken in modeling the
relative thin layers near seabed as the lateral
soil stiffness change rapidly. This is significant
for bending moments imposed on the piles at
seabed level.
Offshore platforms are susceptible to fatigue
failure during the platform design life due to the
cumulative effect of cyclic loads induced by wind
and waves. Wind fatigue is of major importance
for flare and vent structures typically attached to
the topside, while fatigue from waves need to be
considered for both fixed and floating platforms
substructures and topsides.

Figure 7 Plastic utilization from a topside fire analysis scenario.

Static analysis is appropriate when dynamic

behavior is negligible, while Quasi-static
analysis is sufficient when dynamic effects can
be assumed small and uniform throughout the
platform so that a static analysis in combination
of a small dynamic correction factor is
satisfactory.

6. Foundation design
Essential for foundation design is availability of
reliable and site-specific soil investigation data
that consider type and size of platform,
foundation method, uniformity of soil, type of soil
deposits and seabed conditions. The soil
investigation must also consider requirements
applicable for temporary stability during platform
installation.

Dynamic behavior is likely to be of importance if

the fundamental natural period is relative close
to the period of excitation. Fixed platforms with
fundamental natural periods greater than 2.5-3
seconds are usually sensitive to dynamic effects
from wave loads, and the practical upper limit
for the fundamental natural period is around 5
seconds. To determine the platform dynamic
sensitivity a natural vibration analysis must be
carried out based on a linear elastic model
modified by converting static loads into a mass
model and by linearization of the pile-soil
interaction. If a fixed platform is proven dynamic
sensitive, linear dynamic analysis are usually
carried out for in-service storm wave and fatigue
conditions.

Platform foundation design must consider

necessary requirements to carry static, cyclic
and transient loads without failure, excessive
deformations or vibrations. To ensure loaddeflection compatibility between the platform
structure and the foundation/soil system, it is
necessary to perform an integrated analysis
taking into account the non-linear properties of
the soil, or alternatively the linearized soil
response for a specified load level.
The most common type of foundation for fixed
offshore steel platforms are open-ended steel
piles driven into the seabed using impact
hammers. For problem soils such as carbonate
materials resulting in very low friction resistance,
pile capacity may benefit significantly from
installation by drilling and grouting method.
Open-ended steel piles can have diameter more
than 2m and penetration depth in excess of
100m. The piles can be driven either through
the jacket main legs using a hammer operating
above sea level, or underwater driving through

Dynamic analysis may also be required to prove

sufficiently small vibration amplitudes during
operation for rotating equipments, particularly if
un-balanced forces and moments as in the case
of reciprocating machinery.
Non-linear analysis may be required in order to
simulate non-linear effects from loading,
geometry or material properties. Common
6

pile sleeves connected to the jacket legs at seafloor level. The underwater sleeves can be
grouped in clusters around the jacket legs either
as vertically sleeves or as inclined sleeves. The
latter arrangement will provide a stiffer
foundation due to increased base at the bottom
of the piles at the cost of added steel weight and
more complicated pile driving.

load out, selected transport barge depth, quay

water-depth and tidal variations.

Design pile shear loads are determined from

platform maximum base shear (BS), while
design axial loads are determined from platform
overturning moment (OTM) combined with dead
weight and operational loads like drilling. Base
shear is determined mainly from environmental
loads like waves, current, wind and earthquake.
Due to large OTM, piles commonly must be
designed for uplift forces as well.
Pile penetration depth is calculated from
maximum axial force in the pile balanced with
resistance from pile skin friction and tip
resistance. Soil for the upper strata near seabed
can be very soft with the implication that
maximum pile moments caused by platform
base shear can be located typically more than
5-10 times pile diameter below sea floor, and
will be the controlling factor for pile wall
thickness around seabed level. Pile design must
also consider maximum stresses during piling
operation and possible fatigue from both pile
driving and platform in-service.

Figure 8 Lifting of jacket structure section at fabrication site.

Fixed platform jacket structures can be built in

different ways depending of size and weight.
Smaller jackets can be built standing vertical,
while larger jackets are assembled on their side.
Complete panels can be built on the ground and
rolled up by lifting. Figure-8 shows section rollup
for a 6,500MT float-over jacket for Malaysian
waters.
Dry-docks are used for both topsides and
substructures. A topside structure can be
fabricated inside a dry dock supported onto
temporary supports allowing for transfer
(mating) onto a barge before load out. For a
concrete gravity base structure (GBS), the
bottom part of the substructure can be
fabricated inside the dry-dock and completion of
the fabrication outside the dry-dock (in sheltered
waters) allowing for completion of very large
structures.

7. Fabrication
The main goal with onshore fabrication of
offshore platforms is to complete as much work
as possible on land under conditions that are far
more productive, produce higher quality and
involve less risk than offshore works. Some of
the principles that are followed to reduce
offshore work are (a) Fabricate as large
components as possible, (b) Simplification and
reduction of number of Offshore (Hook-up)
interfaces.

Structural design must consider loads and

support conditions that are imposed during
fabrication and assembly. Of particular
importance is to consider effects from jacks
used during assembly of sections as these
mechanically imposed forces will be built in
permanently. Foundation settlements must be
monitored to avoid building in permanent
deflections and to prevent overstress of either
the structure or the foundation.

In order to reduce fabrication lead times it is

important that design consider (a) Concurrent
fabrication of subassemblies, (b) Simplify
platform configuration and use standardized
details, (c) Optimization of welding and
inspection, and (d) Reduce number of material
grades and sizes.
Offshore platforms are usually fabricated at sites
with easy access to sea or river for loading out
the structure after completion of fabrication. Sea
access is also essential for receiving
construction materials, equipments and prefabricated sub-assemblies completed at other
sites. Of major importance for larger structures
is setting out fabrication supports locations and
height to accommodate chosen arrangement for

8. Load Out and Transportation

After completion of fabrication of the structure, a
load out operation will take place to move the
structure from fabrication site onto a transport
barge or a self-propelled vessel (ship) for
transport to offshore site.

8.1 Load Out

operation. Local undulations in the ground,

sloping ramps or small changes in barge draft
will not cause additional loading into the
structure. Trailers have been used for load out
of topsides structures up to around 11,000MT.

Figure 9 Skidded Load Out of 17,000MT topside for Malaysian waters.

The by far most common method for all size of

structures is skidding the structure along two (or
more) skid-ways connected with the barge skid
beams. The structure is supported onto skidshoes (or launch runners) resting on the skid
beams during fabrication, and pulled by
hydraulic strand-jacks anchored at the end of
each skid-way on the barge. To achieve low
friction, top of skid beams is usually steel plate
covered with teflon, while bottom of the skid
shoe is covered by timber or teflon. While
continuous skidding can show friction as low as
5-8%, the entire system must be designed for
break-off friction as high as 20-25% using
hydraulic break-off jacks to assist. The most
critical phase is when the skid-shoes are
entering the barge, as increase of loading onto
the barge from the skid shoes will reduce the
barge freeboard, which eventually must be
compensated by de-ballasting. Temporarily the
skid shoe may drop as much as 25-50mm when
entering the barge and this scenario must be
considered in structural design. Figure-9 shows
a skidded load out of a 17,000 MT float-over
topside for Malaysian waters. The topside is
skidded along two parallel skid ways onto a 42m
wide launch barge.

Figure 10 Trailer Load Out of 3,500MT topside.

Lifting is a common load out method utilizing

yard cranes, mobile/crawler cranes or barge
cranes for smaller structures. Occasionally also
offshore crane vessels can be used for load out,
sea transport and offshore installation if proven
economical. Lifting arrangements vary with
available equipments and type of structure.
Spreader beams are often used to minimize
lateral load components into the structure or due
to limitations in sling arrangement.
For large fixed platforms or floating platforms,
inshore mating of topside and hull structure is
often required. Typically for semi-submersibles
and TLP, the hull structure will be fabricated at
location different from the topside and will arrive
towed as free floating or on a heavy lift vessel
(ship). At the same time, the topside will be
loaded out on a barge. The hull structure will be
put in a ballast condition with top of columns
only a few meter above water level, and the
barge with the topside on top will be positioned
between the columns and ballasted for contact
and full load transfer onto the hull columns.

An alternative system in use is skid-shoes

supporting the structure onto vertical jacks for
load control, and eventually equipped with
individual hydraulic jacks for pulling of each
skid-shoe instead of strand-jacks. The vertical
jacks will automatically change stroke to keep
support reactions constant during the entire load
out operation.

After completion of the load out operation onto

the barge, the structure will be secured for the
sea transport by adding sea fastening. Only
forces caused by barge motions need to be
considered as the sea-fastening is welded in
after barge is ballasted to sailing condition.

While skidding can achieve speed of typical 510meters/hour, much faster operation can be
achieved using self-propelled trailers with the
speed limited by barge ballast capacity (Figure10). Trailers also provide load control as
hydraulic jacks as each axle are changing
stroke to keep loading constant during the entire
8

emphasized that early selection and booking of

transport barge or ship is critical due to limited
worldwide availability for transport of larger
topsides or substructures.

8.2 Transportation

9. Offshore Installation
Offshore installation phase is critical due to the
marine operational costs and risks involved.
Lifting is the most common method for smaller
and medium size platform topsides and
substructures. Crane vessels can be of monohull type with a single crane or a semi
submersible crane vessel (SSCV) equipped with
two cranes. For practical purposes, SSCV
utilizing tandem lifts are currently limited to only
two vessels world-wide capable to lift
approximately 11,000MT as proven for topside
structures in the North sea. For lifts in this
range, sling diameter is around 350-400mm with
safe braking loads of around 2,500MT, and
arranged as double-double slings connected to
pad ears using pins and sheaves. Design load
for a single pad ear can typically be around
7,000MT. A number of jackets in the North Sea
in the range of 7,000MT have been directly lifted
and upended (when required) using SSCV.
Direct lifting is beneficial for structural weight as
additional buoyancy tanks are not required,
which is often the case if the jacket must be
upended while floating in the water. Mobilization
costs are a major hindrance for the large SSCV
to be considered for instance in Asia and AsiaPacific region where the currently operating liftvessels are having maximum capacity of
approximately 3,000MT.

Figure 11 Jacket on transportation barge, Malaysian Water.

For sea transport, the most common method is

a flat top barge that needs additional tugboats to
pull the barge. Tow speed is limited to maximum
5-6knots. Flat top barges are usually required if
longitudinal load out or longitudinal offshore
launch is essential (Figure-11). If longer sea
transport duration and ballast flexibility is
important a self-propelled vessels (ships) can be
used. Speed of 12-14knots can easily be
achieved and motions can be reduced through
flexible tank arrangements using double bottom
and deck tanks and option for weather routing
due to advantages in operability compared to a
flat top barge.
During sea transport on a barge or ship, motions
caused by waves and wind can cause the barge
to roll more than 15 and pitch more than 5.
The consequence is that the platform often must
be to be designed for lateral dynamic loads in
excess of 0.5 times gravity acceleration (g) and
vertical dynamic loads in excess of 0.3g causing
significant amount of material to be added for
sea fastening to secure the cargo.

For jackets, it is common to launch the

substructure conventionally from the stern of the
barge using tilt beams to reduce reaction into
the jacket structure. In the case of compliant
towers, the structure can also be side launched
to avoid large bending of the structure. The
launch operation requires the barge to be
ballasted with a trim up to 5 at the stern.
Hydraulic skid units along the barge skid ways
will then push the jacket and initiate the

For floating platforms, the final transport to site

is usually by wet tow using tugboats. It must be

Figure 12 Launch of jacket in Malaysian waters.

launching motion. Jackets are usually launched

with the top of the platform first into the water.
Alternatively, a reverse launch operation will put
the jacket bottom first into the water (Figure-12).
After launching the platform will be free-floating
in the water, or eventually self-upend to up-right
position if this is planned for by free flooding
specific compartments. Due to water depth
limitations, the launching operation may take
place away from the actual platform site with the
consequence that the structure must be towed
free floating to the actual location. At the actual
site, the jacket must be upended to upright
position by controlled flooding of compartments,
by crane hook assistance or by combination of
both until final position is reached at seabed
level. In the case of a self upended jacket,
flooding is only required to set platform at the
final location.

For relative shallow water depths, a selfinstalled platform or jack-up platform can take
away the requirement for a heavy lift vessel.
The platform can be transported on a barge or
towed to the site, and installed by lowering
platform legs down to seabed. The legs can be
supported using spud-cans or large tanks that
can be flooded and act as gravity foundation.

A launched jacket usually requires separate

buoyancy tanks to ensure sufficient clearance to
seabed during the launching operation and
additional steelwork (launch truss) is required to
support the jacket onto the skid ways and
launch runners. Combined this add significant
temporary weight to the jacket compared to a lift
installed platform.

Figure 12 Topside installation, floatover method, Malaysian Water.

Offshore installation of topsides using float-over

method (Figure-12) have been done for topsides
weights up to 17,000MT, and even larger
topsides of 25,000MT are under construction
planned for offshore float-over installation. The
topside will be transported to site on a flat-top
barge (or self propelled heavy lift vessel) and
installed by lowering (de-ballasting) the barge
until complete load transfer of the topside weight
from the barge to the substructure that can be a
fixed platform (jacket, gravity base structure) or
a floating platform (Spar) in which case two
barges will be required. To achieve a smooth
load transfer, leg-mating units (LMU) can be
located inside either jacket or topside legs and
these units will absorb impact loads at mating
interface induced by barge motions. LMU are
usually made up of rubber designed to
compress under impact and load transfer. For
fixed platforms, hydraulic jacks can be used in
addition to de-ballasting mainly to increase the
speed, hence reduce the risk for large swell
induced motions during critical phase. For
floating platforms, jacks cannot be used
effectively as the platform will loose freeboard
that can only be compensated by de-ballasting
of the floating platform itself.

Before piling operation take place the jacket

submerged weight is usually supported by mud
mats made from either steel plates or timber
and located at jacket seabed level to ensure
stability for overturning or sliding when exposed
to waves, current, wind and eventual weights
from piles and hammer during pile installation.
Skirts can be added to the mud mats to
penetrate into the upper soil layer to provide
additional stability before the piles are installed.
To reduce amount of materials only to be used
for a short temporary phase, a number of piles
can be stabbed after set-down of the jacket.
These piles will self-penetrate into the soil from
self-weight and provide additional sliding
resistance and some overturning resistance if
inclined.
Pile installation itself is the most time-consuming
installation job and is heavily relying on
inevitable uncertainties in soil data. This phase
is also critical for jacket stability as any weight of
piles and eventual hammer weight adding
weight to the jacket can be the governing case
for platform stability until the piles are able to
secure the platform. Pile drivability can be
simulated in advance using special computer
program considering the passage of stress
wave down the pile (wave equation theory) for
an idealized model of the entire hammer-pilesoil system. After driving the piles to target
penetration, top of the piles will be fixed to the
jacket by either welding or grouting.

Due to possible limitations in float-over slot

depth for jackets, the entire topside supported
on the LMU may have to be lowered to achieve
contact with the substructure after removal of
the barge. If this is the case the LMUs can
temporarily be supported onto a thick sand layer
inside the (jacket) legs, and the sand will later
be drained out simultaneously for all legs until

10

the topside is lowered down to achieve 100%

load transfer to the jacket legs.

References
[1]
American
Petroleum
Institute
Recommended Practice (2A-WSD) for Planning,
Designing, and Constructing Fixed Offshore
Platforms Working Stress Design.
[2] ISO 19 902 Petroleum and Natural gas
Industries Fixed Steel Offshore Structures.
[3] NORSOK Standard N-001 Structural
Design.
[4] NORSOK Standard N-003 Actions and
Action Effects.
[5] NORSOK Standard N-004 Design of Steel
Structures.
[6] Edited by A. Almar-Naess, Tapir, Fatigue
Handbook, Offshore Steel Structures, 1985.
[7] N. P. D. Barltrop and A. J.Adams, Dynamics
of fixed marine structures, ButterworthHeinemann Ltd, The Marine Technology
Directorate Ltd 1991.
[8] Det Norske Veritas Rules for Planning and
Execution of Marine Operations.

11