Other

Friede & Goldman, Ltd.

Eugene E Begnaud

Calvin Vinal Norton

William Thomas Bennett, Jr

Bruce Malcolm

A cantilever beam of a jack-up unit is provided with constant force restraining members mounted on a deck of a jack-up unit forward from conventional hold-down cantilever beam clamp. A modified cantilever beam end plate engages a first end of constant force restraining member, which may be a hydraulic cylinder, with the second end of the hydraulic cylinder secured to movable padeye, which is releasably secured to the deck of the jack-up unit. If desired a fixed foundation may be secured to the deck to reinforce the area of attachment of a padeye to the deck. To allow extension of the cantilever beam even farther to a drill well, an extension member may be attached to the end plate between a free end of the end plate and the hydraulic cylinders.

Active hold down system for jack-up drilling unit

The invention relates to a semi-submersible vessel designed to operate in harsh environment. The vessel has a twin-hull pontoon structure that supports four corner caissons extending vertically from the pontoons above an operational draft of the vessel. A pair of slender parallel horizontal braces connects each pair of opposing caissons, the braces extending in a general plane perpendicular to longitudinal axes of the pontoons. One of the pair of braces is secured between the forward columns and another of the pair of braces is secured between the aft columns. The braces reduce spreading and torque-induced forces acting on the columns, while not substantially increasing water plane area of the vessel. Each brace has an internal &ldquo;redundancy&rdquo; feature, being divided into two independent watertight compartments to continue providing buoyancy to the structure if one of the compartments is breached. Station keeping is accomplished with a full dynamically positioned system consisting of a plurality of thruster assemblies mounted on the starboard and port sides of the pontoon hull.

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New Orleans, LA, United States of America

Eugene E Begnaud