JPS5940674B2 - One-point mooring/load handling device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a one-point mooring system for ocean-going vessels, especially tankers, in which fluid cargo handling equipment is integrated with the mooring system.

Embodiments of the invention contemplate connecting one or more fluid transfer conduits directly between the mooring platform and the vessel.

As the use of petroleum and petroleum products increases around the world, a wave of demand for petroleum is occurring.

The relatively small number of regions where petroleum and petroleum products are produced compared to the regions in which they are used has created a requirement for the transportation of large volumes of petroleum, and the means of transportation have become increasingly complex.

In order to transport large amounts of oil, so-called supertankers, ie, 200,000-ton to 300,000-ton tankers, have been developed and built, and 500,000-ton tankers are also planned.

Such tankers are capable of transporting large amounts of oil, but their unusual size poses serious problems.

For example, the waters of these tankers were so deep that the conventional mooring facilities found in many ports could not accommodate them.

This fact was especially true even in the few producing regions of the world.

In order to solve this problem, we have made it possible to moor and unload such supertankers far from ports and at sea in sufficiently deep water, that is, at a considerable distance from coastal facilities. Point mooring concepts have been developed.

According to this single point mooring device, the bow of the ship is normally moored to one point, such as a buoy or a tower.

Using this mooring method, the ship can freely rotate around the mooring point under the influence of wind, waves and currents.

In the case of such mooring, it is necessary to provide a device that releases torsional stress transmitted to the mooring device due to the movement of the ship.

Furthermore, such moorings also require provision of equipment for transporting cargo between the ship and the shore.

The present invention provides an integrated one-point mooring cargo handling system that eliminates the problems of mooring systems as described above.

The single point mooring device of the invention has an integral cargo handling facility and is used on ocean-going ships, particularly tankers, the device having a mooring buoy at or near the sea surface. , this mooring buoy is held against buoyancy by an anchor leg that is anchored to a mooring base fixed to the seabed and maintained in tension.

A device is also provided for freely rotating the buoy relative to the mooring base about a vertical axis passing through the center of the mooring base.

As an integral part of this single point mooring system, cargo handling facilities are provided for transferring cargo from ship to ship.

This cargo handling facility typically consists of one or more conduits used to transfer cargo between the shore and the mooring platform and one or more conduits used to transfer cargo between the mooring platform and the ship.
It consists of a book or more conduits.

Furthermore, the mooring platform has a bumper rail arrangement for protecting the conduit used for transporting the cargo from damage, and the conduit has a bumper rail arrangement for cooperating with this bumper rail arrangement.

A major advantage of this configuration of the invention is that it avoids tangling between the conduit or hose and the mooring leg or buoy, and avoids the need to thread the hose through the mooring buoy.

Furthermore, there is no risk of damage as the conduit for transferring the cargo cannot pivot downwardly beyond a predetermined limit and therefore does not come into contact with the mooring base.

The invention will be more easily understood by referring to the accompanying drawings.

Like numbers are used in the figures to represent like parts.

FIG.
An example of a one-point anchor leg type mooring device is shown.

The device also includes a mooring base 22 fixed to the seabed,
In the center of this mooring base 22, there is a force transmitting member, a return 1.
A fluid swivel housing 24 having a rigid cargo load supporting solid shaft 25 is attached.

Typically, a mooring buoy 18 with conventional fenders is connected via an anchor chain or cable 20 and a chain swivel 21 to an eye 42 formed in the top of a solid load-bearing shaft 25. has been done.

During assembly of the device, the anchor chain 20 is pretensioned by a manually adjustable tensioning shaft 43 fixed to the buoy 18.

As a result, the buoy 18 is pulled downward and exhibits a slight freeboard condition even on calm sea without waves.

The tanker is moored to the buoy by means of a mooring eye 34 installed on the buoy, preferably by a suitable mooring line secured between the bow of the tanker and the buoy.

An underwater pipeline or cargo conduit 16 transports the cargo between the shore and the buoy and is connected to the fluid swivel housing 24 of the mooring platform 22, as shown in dotted lines in FIG. is connected to.

The fluid swivel housing 24 has a solid shaft 2 for supporting a load.
It is attached to a swivel joint 15 so that it can continuously rotate around the shaft 5.

Load transfer hose arm 44 is rotatably attached to fluid swivel housing 24 by swivel joint 27 .

The two cargo hoses 45 are connected to the ends of the hose arms 44 and rise gradually to the sea surface so as to float above the sea surface on the sides of the tanker.

The foregoing apparatus further includes a suitable sprayer 46 pivotally mounted to a fluid swivel housing 24 attached to the mooring base of the buoy, such that the fluid swivel housing 24 and the hose arm 44 are attached to the buoy 18. ensure that it rotates with the

A further sprayer 47 is provided approximately midway between the ends of the torsion chain 31 to maintain the torsion chain 31 in a spaced relationship from the centrally located anchor chain 20 of the buoy.

A bumper 48 is provided on the underside of the hose arm 44 to prevent the hose arm 44 from pivoting downwardly beyond a predetermined limit.

Annular bumper rail 4 attached to mooring base 22
9 is arranged so that if the hose arm rotates downward for some reason, the bumper 48 will come into contact with the rail 49, so that the hose arm will not come into contact with the base and damage the hose. do it like this.

From the above explanation, the anchor leg and the tension cable allow the basic structure of the device to be
It will be understood that it is separated from the vertical axis.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view of one anchor leg type one-point mooring and cargo handling device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a swivel housing portion. 18... Mooring buoy, 20... Anchor chain,
22...Mooring base, 21...Chain swivel, 24...Fluid swivel housing, 25...Solid shaft for supporting cargo load , 27・
... Swivel joint, 44 ... Hose arm.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A mooring base fixed to the seabed and connected to the base by a tensioned anchor leg of a predetermined length so as to be maintained at or near the sea surface against buoyancy. The buoy has a mooring buoy that carries the mooring load (
b) The one anchor leg is designed to be rotatably supported, and the one anchor leg receives the entire mooring load in the axial direction during operation, and the load is fixed to the base so as not to rotate. an anchor chain having a supporting rigid shaft; an anchor chain having an anchor chain swivel; a fluid cargo swivel mounted coaxially with and rotatably about and in sealing relationship with said rigid shaft, an apparatus; a fluid transfer conduit connected to the fluid cargo swivel device for transferring the cargo from the vessel through the swivel device and the platform, the platform configured to prevent damage to the fluid transfer conduit; having a cooperating bumper rail arrangement, the fluid transfer conduit comprising:
One-point mooring and fluid cargo handling device for a tanker, characterized in that it has a bumper device.