Amtel Corporation

John Vitale

James M Kentosh

Robert D Karl

William R Reid

A mooring and cargo transfer terminal is described, of the type which includes a buoy held at a predetermined height above the seabed as by a single anchor leg, to moor a ship which can drift in rotation about the buoy while a floating hose structure carries fluid to or from the ship, wherein the terminal is constructed to protect the buoy end of the floating hose structure from wave action, while facilitating maintenance of the fluid swivel which connects a nonrotating conduit extending up from the seabed to a rotating conduit connected to the floating hose structure. The fluid swivel is mounted at the top of the buoy for easy maintenance, and a rotating pipe connected to the rotating portion of the swivel extends therefrom and downwardly to an underwater depth below the troughs of waves, so that the buoy end of the floating hose structure is always below the waves.

Mooring terminal with top mounted fluid swivel

A mooring attachment for substantially permanently connecting a buoy and a storage-process vessel, wherein the mooring attachment is of smaller weight but as great a level of reliability as prior art attachments. The attachment includes a mooring arm having opposite ends coupled respectively to the buoy and vessel in pivot joints that hold them a distance apart but without restraining the vessel against yaw movement, and a pair of stop devices on either side of the mooring arm for preventing extreme yawing of the vessel. The stop devices can be formed by a pair of chains, each chain extending from an opposite side of the vessel to the buoy end of the arm, and each chain extending in a loose catenary when the vessel is in a center position but being pulled tight when the vessel yaws by a predetermined angle which is more than 10.degree., to prevent jackknifing of the vessel.

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Los Angeles, CA, United States of America

John Vitale