Santa Fe International Corporation

Charles N Springett

Stanley T Uyeda

E John Radu

Dan Abramovich

Yoram Goren

Peter W Braddick

Roger A Greenland

Robert O Hinton

A different approach to tender assisted drilling which has the flexibility to be used with multiple jack-up rigs, and nearly any type of fixed offshore production platform. A skid base includes distinct capping beam feet and skid-off feet, the former adjustable to capping beam spacing and the latter restricted to support of the skid base upon cantilever beams. A special swivel mechanism and sliding mounting in the capping beam feet, and a vertical jack in the aft skid-off feet, enable the skid base to be transferred to the fixed platform simply by aligning them over the capping beams and depressurizing the skid-off feet. Thus, walking mechanisms may be swivelled and oriented upon the capping beams, notwithstanding relative movement between the jack-up rig and the platform. The skid base is simply walked across from the cantilever beams to the platform. The drill floor package is installed onto the skid base by raising and locking the cantilever beams into alignment with the skid base, while the skid base remains in a floating condition upon the fixed platform, and by skidding the drill floor package atop the skid base. The skid base may then be uncoupled from the cantilever and aligned with the platform using the walking and swivel mechanisms and the sliding mountings of the capping beam feet. Longitudinal and transverse movement abilities of the drill floor permit tender-assist drilling upon a variety of precise locations of the platform, and is readily supported from the jack-up rig with the aid of modular piping.

Method and apparatus for skid-off drilling

A self propelled reel pipelaying ship, having forward, midship, and stern sections, and baseline, tank top, and main deck levels, comprising substantially longitudinal outer hull members and port and starboard side inner longitudinal bulkheads, each extending substantially the length of the ship, the hull members and bulkheads extending from the baseline to the main deck level in the forward and stern sections and, in the midship section, substantially above the main deck level, substantially horizontal transverse midship structural members extending between the top portions of the raised midship sections of the outer hull members and inner longitudinal bulkheads, intermediate substantially horizontal transverse members extending between the outer hull members and inner longitudinal bulkheads and vertically spaced between the tank top and midship structural members wherein the midship portions of the outer hull members and inner longitudinal bulkheads, the transverse midship structural members and the intermediate transverse members together comprise a reel support structure, and means for rotatably mounting a pipe-carrying reel to the reel support structure such that the load of the reel is distributed downwardly and outwardly, both longitudinally and transversely through the ship to maintain the stress on primary structural members of the ship within allowable stress limits for the materials used in the construction of said primary structural members.

Self propelled dynamically positioned reel pipe laying ship

The pipelaying barge comprises a pair of laterally spaced, elongated hulls having a plurality of upstanding columns spaced therealong supporting a working platform in spaced relation above the hulls and on which platform is carried a pipe section assembly line and one or more cranes movable longitudinally along the platform and capable of servicing the pipe section assembly line. The hulls have ballast compartments to submerge the hulls and portions of the stabilizing columns to a high draft condition with the mean waterline at a necessary and desirable locus intermediate the height of the stabilizing columns. A transition segment is connected to the stern of the barge for support of the 'air length' segment of the pipeline between the stern of the barge and the point of entry of the pipeline into the water and preferably also supporting a short segment of pipeline in the water as the pipeline is payed out from the barge. To lay pipe, the pipelayer barge is disposed in the high draft condition and ballasted to provide a preset angle of trim. The attitude of the barge in trim about the pitch axis when in high draft pipelaying condition is maintained within an angle not in excess of plus or minus one-half degree of the preset trim to avoid introducing undesirable pipe stresses due to change in the attitude of the barge in trim about the pitch axis caused by longitudinal movement of one or more cranes; further, change in trim angle exceeding plus or minus one-half degree is offset by ballast correction correlated to longitudinal location and movement of the crane to maintain the barge trim within plus or minus one-half degree of the preset trim angle whereby pipelaying and crane operations can be performed simultaneously without interruption.

Column stabilized semisubmersible pipelaying barge

Growing community of inventors

Santa Ana, CA, United States of America

Charles N Springett