Proceedings of the ASME 2010 29th International Conference on Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering

OMAE2010
June 6-11, 2010, Shanghai, China

OMAE2010-20888

AN INNOVATIVE SYNTHETIC MOORING SOLUTION FOR AN OCTAGONAL FPSO IN

SHALLOW WATERS

Mo Fan Da Li
CNOOC RC CNOOC RC
Beijing, China Beijing, China

Tuanjie Liu Alex Ran Wei Ye

Ocean Dynamics LLC Ocean Dynamics LLC Ocean Dynamics LLC
Houston, Texas, USA Houston, Texas, USA Houston, Texas, USA

ABSTRACT shaped configuration, as well as other innovative non-ship

An octagonal FPSO has been proposed for marginal oil
and gas development in shallow waters. A shuttle tanker will be
deployed near the FPSO during offloading operations. This
new concept simplifies the design and manufacturing
processes, yet maintains full production, storage, and
offloading functions of a conventional ship-shaped FPSO.
However, design of the mooring system for this floating unit
imposes technical challenges due to: 1) high environmental
loads expected on this unit, 2) large dynamic offsets of the unit
in shallow waters, and 3) inadequate performance of catenary
mooring systems in shallow waters. Thus, development of a
viable station keeping solution becomes a key issue to the new
concept FPSO design.
In this paper, an innovative mooring system is designed to
meet the challenges. The FPSO mooring system consists of pile
anchors, bridle chains, anchorage buoys, and polyester ropes.
Nine mooring lines are grouped into three bundles which
evenly spread around the FPSO. The shuttle tanker is attached
to the FPSO with a nylon rope hawser at the bow and secured
to pre-installed anchorage buoys at the stern with two other
nylon ropes. Analyses have been performed for the FPSO
mooring system. It is concluded that the proposed mooring
system is fully functional and effective.
shaped concepts, have broken the tradition of tanker
conversions [1].
The new octagonal FPSO concept was proposed by
CNOOC RC to exploit oil and gas resources from marginal
reservoirs in shallow waters. Ocean Dynamics, LLC. has
designed a synthetic mooring system for this new concept of
floating unit. Synthetic moorings have become more
commonplace since the first permanent use of polyester
moorings in the GoM for BP’s Mad Dog truss spar [2]. Prior to
use in the GoM, synthetic ropes were used offshore Brazil on
P-27 semisubmersible in 1998 [3]. Most of the existing synthetic
mooring applications are located in deep waters where mooring
system weight is a big concern. However, overall mooring
system stiffness, in other words, the resilience to the platform
motions, poses increasing technical challenges for activities in
shallower waters. In this paper, the design and analysis of a
spread mooring system composed of synthetic ropes and
anchorage buoys will be introduced. The mooring system has
been checked for strength and bottom clearance criteria. Time
domain quasi-static method has been used in the mooring
analysis for line strength check. Fully dynamic analyses of the
most loaded lines are performed to assess the dynamic effects
on the mooring line tensions.

1. INTRODUCTION 2. FPSO HULL AND MOORING SYSTEM

An FPSO for marginal field can provide the capability to
store produced oil and gas for offloading to a shuttle tanker or
export through a pipeline. Ship-shaped FPSOs, many of them
conversions, still dominate the FPU category, whereas new
builds and novel configurations are becoming more common in
the recent years. Among others, round hull design, barge
DESCRIPTION
The octagonal FPSO concept was designed by CNOOC
RC for developments in 40 m waters offshore China. The
platform consists of a 60 x 60 m hull, 66 x 66 m main deck,
and the facilities and living quarter on the main deck. The hull
displacement at the fully loaded draft is 49,000 tonnes and the

1 Copyright © 2010 by ASME

ballasted displacement is about 20,000 tonnes. Two heave
skirts located at the lower hull were designed to provide
additional hydrodynamic damping for motions in the vertical
dimension. Studies done by Cozijn, et al. (2005) indicates that
such skirts provide significant damping effects for heave, roll
and pitch motions for deepwater calm buoy which shares
similar geometry with the octagonal FPSO.
Figure 2-1 shows the side view of the Octagonal FPSO
unit. The main particulars of the vessel are specified in Table
2-1.
end buoy, pile chain, and driven pile. The chain is 120 mm in
diameter, and the polyester rope has a nominal diameter of 200
mm. The minimum breaking load (MBL) of the chain and rope
is approximately 1267 MT. The mid-rope buoys and pile-end
buoys are used to keep the polyester rope off the seabed in
slack conditions. The pile-end buoy is required to provide a net
buoyancy of 30 MT, while the mid-rope buoy provides a net
buoyancy of 3 MT.
The arrangement of nine polyester mooring lines is
presented in the drawings in Figure 2-2 and Figure 2-3.
Properties of the mooring components are presented in Table
2-2. Table 2-3 shows the mooring line azimuth angle and
pretension.

Figure 2-1: Profile view of octagonal FPSO

Table 2-1: Particulars of the FPSO

Parameters Unit FPSO
Main Deck Dimension m 66 x 66
Hull Dimension m 60 x 60
Hull Depth m 28
Fully loaded m 16 Figure 2-2: FPSO mooring system, top view
Draft
Ballasted m 6.5
Fully loaded t ~49,000
Displacement
Ballasted t ~20,000
Fully loaded m 15.2
KG overall
Ballasted m 20.5
Roll/Pitch Radii Fully loaded m 19.58
of Gyration Ballasted m 17.57
Yaw Radii of Fully loaded m 26.7
Gyration Ballasted m 26.7

The mooring system designed for the octagonal FPSO has Figure 2-3: FPSO mooring system, side view
nine mooring lines which are grouped into three bundles. The
three bundles of mooring lines are evenly distributed around
the FPSO hull. Three mooring lines within each bundle are
separated by five (5) degrees in azimuth. Each mooring line
consists of platform chain, polyester ropes, mid-rope buoy, pile

2 Copyright © 2010 by ASME

 Table 2-2: Mooring line properties
Platform Chain Polyester Rope Pile Chain Mid-rope Pile-end
Buoy Buoy
Type R4 Studless Parallel Laid R4 Studless Foam with Foam with
& Jacketed steel frame steel frame
Nominal Diameter 120 mm 200 mm 120 mm 1500 mm 3400 mm
Length1 40.0 m 500 m x 2 ~40.0 m
Weight in air 288 kg/m 30 kg/m 288 kg/m 0.7 MT 6.8 MT
Weight in water 250 kg/m 7.9 kg/m 250 kg/m -3 MT -30 MT
Breaking Strength 1267 MT 1270 MT 1267 MT - -
EA 115000 MT Vary 115000 MT - -

Table 2-3: Mooring line orientation and pretension Table 3-2: Design environments
Mooring Mooring Azimuth Angle Pretension Extreme Operating
Group line # (degree)* (MT) (Design) Environment
1 55 75 Return period 100-yr 1-yr
1 2 60 75 1-hr mean @ 10m 38.7 m/s 22.8 m/s
3 65 75 Wind 1-min mean @
4 175 75 46.4 m/s 27.4 m/s
10m
2 5 180 75 Significant wave
6 185 75 8.8 m 4.6 m
height
7 295 75 Maximum wave
3 8 300 75 14.5 m 7.7 m
Waves height
9 305 75 Zero upcrossing
Note: * Measured counter-clockwise from bow 8.6 s 6.6 s
wave period
Peak wave period 11.8 s 8.7 s
Surface speed 1.82 m/s 1.08 m/s
3. DESIGN SAFETY FACTORS AND Current Middle 1.40 m/s 0.78 m/s
ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS Bottom speed 1.07 m/s 0.56 m/s
3.1 Safety Factors
The design safety factors as specified in API RP 2SK and
2SM for the mooring system are presented in Table 3-1. 4. METHODOLOGY
Frequency domain radiation/diffraction program was used
Table 3-1: Mooring line design safety factors for the wave force, added mass and damping coefficient
calculations. Time-domain quasi-static method and fully
Safety Factor
dynamic method were used in the analysis to predict the
Intact One line Damaged maximum mooring tension and the vessel motions in the design
Quasi-static method 2.00 1.43 environments. Marine analysis program MOSES, developed by
Dynamic method 1.67 1.25 Ultramarine, was used for the quasi-static analysis. Six-degree-
of-freedom finite element program Flexcom was used for the
fully dynamic mooring tension analysis. The analyses
methodology is described in the following sections.
3.2 Design Environments
The extreme environment for mooring strength design is 4.1 Frequency Domain Analysis
100-year return storm, as shown in Table 3-2. A 1-year return Potential theory and panel method are used to predict the
condition is the limiting environment for offloading of the hydrodynamic interactions between the waves and the FPSO
shuttle tanker. For the analysis it is conservatively assumed that and shuttle tanker in frequency domain. The hydrodynamic
the wind, wave and current are co-linear (travel in the same coefficients obtained from the analysis include added mass,
direction) and omni-directional (the same in all directions). wave damping, first order wave forces and second order mean
drift forces on the vessel. Those coefficients will later be used
to generate wave load time series in the times domain analysis.
RAO (response amplitude operator) of the vessel were also
computed, which is used to investigate the motion
characteristics of the vessel but not used in time domain.

3 Copyright © 2010 by ASME

 Figure 4-1 shows the mesh applied for the frequency
domain analysis in WAMIT. A total of 100 wave periods,
ranging from 3 second to 30 second to cover the range of
period where wave energy exist, were used in the analysis. A
total of 13 wave headings were selected in the analysis.
Figure 4-1: Panel model of the octagonal FPSO
3 2
1 Due to the nonlinear and visco-elastic characteristic of the
Y
4
5 
X lines.
6
9 mooring line and the wave forces on the line, which may affect
7 8
Figure 4-2: MOSES coordinate system and environmental
headings
4.2 Time Domain Quasi-Static Analysis
The mooring strength and motion analyses of the mooring
system were performed based on the time domain quasi-static
analysis method using MOSES. In the analysis, the wave
forces, including linear wave force and second order slow
drifting wave force (using Newman’s Approximation), wind
force and current force were generated at each time step and
the motions of the vessel was calculated for that time step.
Added mass and wave damping were also considered in the
time domain by using the convolution integral. Wind force was
calculated based on API guidelines, which means the shape of
the structure, the variation of wind speed at different elevation,
and the wind energy distribution (spectrum) were all taken into
account. The current force on the vessel was calculated using
Morison’s Equation.
Each simulation is performed for three-hour duration with
a time step of 0.5 second, excluding 1200 seconds ramp time
(to avoid numerical transient motions). Considering the
symmetry of the FPSO hull and the mooring configuration, 9
environmental headings—0 (head sea), 30, 55, 65, 90, 120,
150, 175 and 180 degrees were analyzed for the extreme
conditions.
Statistical maximum values were calculated based on the
calculated time series of motions and tensions. For each load
case, ten 3 hour simulations each based on different realization
of the random wave train were carried out. The simulations
were conducted using two different polyester rope stiffnesses
for the purpose of predicting vessel motions and mooring
strength, respectively. In one line damaged cases, the
environmental heading which induces the maximum intact
mooring line tension were identified first, then for that heading
the second most loaded line was assumed to be damaged. This
is a conservative method because it usually generates the
highest tension in the most loaded lines.
polyester ropes, the following two kinds of axial stiffness of the
polyester lines were used in the analysis.
 A post-installation stiffness of 14 x MBL for the polyester
line. This value was used in predicting the motions of the
vessel.
 A storm stiffness of 28 x MBL for the polyester line. This
value was used in predicting the tensions in the mooring
4.3 Time Domain Fully Dynamic Analysis
In the quasi-static analysis, for each mooring line the
tension was calculated using centenary theory based on the
fairlead and anchor positions, assuming the line is in
equilibrium statically. This means that the dynamics of the
the tension of the line and the vessel motions, are not
considered. In order to assess the dynamic effects of the
mooring system, fully dynamic analyses taking into account the
inertia and hydrodynamic loads on the mooring lines were
performed using Flexcom for the most critical cases.
Finite element (FE) model of the mooring system was
created using Flexcom-3D. The motion time histories of the
fairleads calculated by MOSES were used as input data for the
dynamic simulations. Identical wave components were used in
both Flexcom and MOSES in order to generate exactly the
same wave time traces in the two analyses. The maximum
mooring tensions at the fairleads and under the buoy were
obtained to verify whether the design criteria specified were
met.
4 Copyright © 2010 by ASME
5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
This section discusses the mooring line tensions of the
polyester mooring system in 100-year
year return environments. The
results presented in this paper are the average of the maximum
values from analyses based on 10 different realizations of
random wave series in order to achieve most probable
responses in extreme events.
5.1 Frequency Domain Analysis Results for FPSO at
Fully Loaded Draft
The following figures show the motion RAO
RAOs calculated in
frequency domain for the FPSO fully loaded condition.

It can be observed that the heave natural period of the

vessel is about 14 seconds. The roll and pitch natural frequency
is about 19 seconds. The natural periods are longer than the
wave peak period, which is less than 12 seconds for the
extreme conditions. Therefore, no significant resonance is
expected for the fully loaded FPSO.
Figure 5-3:: Motion RAO, pitch, FPSO fully loaded
5.2 Frequency Domain Analysis Results for FPSO at
Ballasted Draft
The following figures show the motion RAOs of the vessel
calculated in frequency domain for the FPSO in ballasted
condition.

It can be observed that the heave natural period of the

vessel is about 10 seconds. The roll and pitch natural frequency
is about 15 seconds. The heave natural period is in the near
proximity of the peak wave energy spectrum, and thus, may
cause resonance in heave motions. When resonant response
occurs, the heave damping is critical in determining their
response amplitudes. The damping effects that come from the
vortex shedding at the heave skirts and the FPSO bottom were
included in the motion RAO calculation.
calculation In the time domain
analyses the damping effects were introduced by modeling the
bottom and heave skirts with Morison discs distributed
distrib on the
bottom of the FPSO. It should be noted that for both fully
Figure 5-1:: Motion RAO, heave, FPSO fully loaded
loaded. loaded and ballasted drafts, the roll and pitch RAOs have a
minimum at about 10 seconds, where the peak period for 100-
yr waves resides. It can be concluded from the result that this
concept design is optimized for reduction of platform roll and
pitch motions.

Figure 5-2:: Motion RAO, roll, FPSO fully loaded

Figure 5-4: Motion RAO, heave, FPSO ballasted

5 Copyright © 2010 by ASME

 condition, where the maximum tensions occur. In the analyses
the secondly loaded line in each group, line
li #2 for fully loaded
condition and #4 4 for ballasted condition, were assumed
damaged. The maximum tensions in the damage conditions are
summarized in the following table. It can be seen that the
minimum safety factors meet the design criteria damaged
conditions.

Figure 5-5:: Motion RAO, roll, FPSO ballasted

Figure 5-7:: Maximum polyester mooring tensions in FPSO

loaded condition

Figure 5-6:: Motion RAO, pitch, FPSO ballasted

5.3 Polyester Mooring Tension in Intact Conditions

For the polyester mooring system, the calculated
maximum intact mooring line tensions in the 100100-year extreme
environments are shown in Figure 5-7 and Figure 5-8 for the
loaded and ballasted conditions, respectively.

The overall maximum tension for the intact condition is Figure 5-8:: Maximum polyester mooring tensions in FPSO
716.9 MT. It gives a corresponding minimum safety factor of ballasted condition
1.77, which satisfies the design criteria for intact conditions. It
can be seen that the maximum tension occurs at the 180 180-degree
wave heading when the environmental loads are in line with Table 5-1: maximum mooring tension in 100-year
100 storm -
mooring line #5 in ballasted condition. The octagonal FPSO damaged
has a nearly axis-symmetrical
symmetrical hull hence the environmental Loaded Ballasted
loads from all directions are nearly at the same level. The
Environment
maximum mooring line tension occurs when the environments 65 180
heading (deg)
are in line with one of the mooring line bundle when almost all
the loads are taken by this bundle. Damaged line 2 4
Most loaded line 3 5
5.4 Polyester Mooring Tension in One Line Damaged Maximum tension
Condition 728.8 852.2
(MT)
For the polyester mooring system, based on the results of Min. safety factor 1.74 1.49
the intact mooring condition,
ion, the analysis for one line damaged Allowable safety
condition is performed for 65 degree heading in the FPSO 1.25
factor
loaded condition and 180 degree heading in the ballasted

6 Copyright © 2010 by ASME

5.5 Fully Dynamic Analysis of Mooring Tension
In order to investigate dynamic effects from the mooring
line and buoy to the mooring tension calculations, the most
critical load case was identified and reevaluated using fully
dynamic analysis method. According to the quasi-static line
tension results presented before, the minimum safety factor of
1.77 occurs on line #5 for 180 degree heading when the tanker
is ballasted and the mooring in system intact condition, which
is considered most critical load case.
The results in Figure 5-9 show that the maximum tension
from fully dynamic analysis is 727.4 MT, compared to the
value of 716.9 MT from quasi-static analysis. The minimum
safety factor from fully dynamic analysis is 1.75, compared to
1.77 in quasi-static analysis. The allowable minimum safety
factor is 1.67, according to API RP 2SK. Therefore, the design
criteria for line tension are satisfied.
According to the comparison, the difference between fully
dynamic and quasi-static mooring tension is minimal for this
FPSO mooring system. This agrees with our previous project
experiences that the dynamic effects are very small for
polyester mooring due to the fact that the rope is relatively light
and stretchable (compared with chain or steel wire rope), and
the effect of line dynamics is very small thus can be ignored in
the design.
on to the drum of the winch. The buoy is connected to the pile
through the anchor chain prior to the installation. Storage and
installation of anchor piles (driven pile) may be handled by
another vessel. During the driving of anchor pile, the operation
will paused when the pile padeye is half way in the water, and
the buoy will be lifted and lowered into the water with the
flooding valves open. The buoy will be flooded and descended
to the sea bed. Then the pile driving will be resumed. After the
installation of the pile is completed, the buoy will be
deballasted and rise up to about 1 m under water. The AHV will
approach the pile, pick up the loose end of the chain above the
buoy and connect it to the polyester rope. After the installation
of pile is completed, the polyester rope will be spooled off the
winch and into the water from the stern of AHV, while the
AHV is moving towards the FPSO. After the whole rope
segment is spooled off the winch, the on-board end of the rope
will be held by the grip device called “Chinese figure”,
allowing the end of the rope (thimble) to be connected to the
platform chain. Continue paying out the rope and chain into
water until the AHV reach the FPSO. Then transfer the free end
of the platform chain to the FPSO through a messenger wire on
board of the FPSO. Pull in the wire until the chain reaches the
chain jack. Then use the chain jack to tension up the line.
Figure 6-1 and Figure 6-2 illustrate two selected stages of the
whole installation procedures.

Elem. no. 215; End node

800
700
600
Effective Tension (MT)
500
400
300
200

Figure 6-1: Mooring line installation procedure, step 7

100
0

5250 5350 5450 5550 5650

TIME (s)

Figure 5-9: Fully dynamic result for polyester mooring tension

in FPSO ballasted condition

5.6 Maximum Anchor Load

The maximum anchor load is calculated using Flexcom.
The maximum anchor load is 858.2 MT when the most loaded
mooring line reaches 852.2 MT at the fairlead in damaged
Figure 6-2: Mooring line installation procedure, step 8
condition.

6. MOORING SYSTEM INSTALLATION

PROCEDURES
7. CONCLUSIONS
It can be concluded from the results that the new concept
It is assumed that the installation will be carried out using
of octagonal FPSO platform is feasible for operations in
a conventional anchor handing vessel (AHV) equipped with a
shallow waters conditions as discussed in this paper. The hull
drum winch, stern roll, chain jaws, etc,. The anchor piles
sizing and unique design of heave skirts effectively reduces the
(driven) may be either pre-installed or installed at the same
platform motions in the vertical dimensions.
time with the mooring lines. The platform chain, polyester
ropes, buoys will be stored on the AHV prior to the installation.
It is also proved that the application of synthetic ropes for
The polyester rope will be spooled from the transportation reel
the mooring system is successful. The mooring line strength

7 Copyright © 2010 by ASME

has been checked using the 100-year extreme environment for
maximum tension and bottom clearance. Safety factors
specified in API 2SK and 2SM were used to check the mooring
strength. Wind and current loads were calculated base on API
guidelines. For the polyester mooring system, the calculated
minimum tension safety factors are 1.75 and 1.49 in the intact
and the one line damaged conditions, respectively. The
mooring system meets the design criteria for both intact and
one line damaged conditions.

8. REFERENCES

1. Craig D. Bloomer (2009), “Agbami Project: People and

Partnership Delivering a World Scale Field Development”,
OTC20249
2. Petruska, David, Geyer, Jeff, Macon, Rick, Craig, Michael,
Ran, Alex, and Schultz, Neil (2004), “Polyester mooring for
the Mad Dog spar—design issues and other considerations,”
Ocean Engineering, November 2004.
3. Ma, W, Huang, K, Lee, MY, and Albuquerque, S (1999),
“On the Design and Installation of an Innovative Deepwater
Taut-Leg Mooring System”, OTC 10780.
4. Cozijn, H, Uittenbogaard, R, and ter Brake, E (2005),
“Heave, Roll and Pitch Damping of a Deepwater CALM
Buoy with a Skirt”, Proceeding of the 15th (2005)
International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference.

8 Copyright © 2010 by ASME