Amtel Corporation

George M Pomonik

Martin B Jansen

A system which can be set up in emergencies to moor an offloading vessel and transfer oil between it and a seabed pipeline, as to remove oil from a grounded tanker or to deliver fuel to the shore under hostile or emergency conditions. The system includes a barge containing a fluid swivel as well as a mooring buoy and buoy-holding chain. The barge can be towed to a desired location and pipes and hoses connected to the fluid swivel, and the barge then can be sunk to the seabed. Upon sinking, the barge is already connected to the seabed pipeline and to hoses that extend from the barge to the sea surface to connect to an offloading vessel, as well as being connected through a chain to a buoy floating at the sea surface which has a hawser for mooring the vessel. A vessel can be utilized to tow out the seabed pipeline, to facilitate installation of the pipeline as to enable connection of the pipeline to the fluid swivel on the barge prior to sinking the barge.

Rapidly installable mooring and cargo transfer system

A mooring system is provided, of the type that includes several chains extending in loose curves from a mooring buoy at the sea surface to spaced anchor locations at the seabed, which enables the buoy to deflect sidewardly by a further distance and to absorb more energy during such deflection than heretofor, particularly in shallow water mooring. The system includes an anchoring device which holds the lower end of a chain at a level raised high above the sea floor when the chain is pulled taut, while allowing the lower end portion of the chain to lie at a lower level such as at the sea floor when the chain is loose. One system includes an arm having an inner end pivotally mounted near the sea floor and an outer end connected to the lower end of the chain, so that tension in the chain pivots up the outer end of the arm to thereby raise the lower end of the chain.

Raised anchor point catenary mooring system

A single anchor leg mooring (SALM) installation which enables replacement of a product distribution unit (PDU) without removal of the upper buoyancy structure, including a plurality of arms that can extend around the PDU to connect the buoyancy structure lying above the PDU with a lower structure that lies below the PDU and extends to the sea floor. The transference of oil or other cargo can continue during the replacement of a malfunctioning PDU, by providing a pair of PDUs and a pair of valves for bypassing one of them which is to be removed.

Easily removable fluid swivel for SALM buoy installation

An arrangement for connecting an underwater product distribution unit (PDU) to a hose that extends up to a ship, which is simple in construction and yet which enables the hose structure to apply considerable torque to rotate the outer portion of the PDU to follow the ship as it drifts about the PDU. The coupling includes a rigid pipe extending largely perpendicular to the vertical axis of the PDU, with an outer end of the pipe connected to a hose leading to the ship and an inner end of the pipe pivotally connected to the rotatable portion of the PDU in a joint that permits the pipe to pivot up and down.

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Van Nuys, CA, United States of America

George M Pomonik