Marinex International, Inc.

Metro Machine Corporation

Dorob International Ltd.

Metro Machinc Corp.

Robert D Goldbach

Edmund G Tornay

Joseph Cuneo

Richard A Goldbach

Frank E McConnell

Charles A Garland

Neil M Miller

Joseph J Cuneo

A semi-submersible floating transfer station for unloading liquid natural gas (LNG) from, or charging LNG to an oceangoing vessel. The station comprises at least one and preferably two or more pontoons that include outboard sections comprising LNG tanks and a depressed center section, said sections forming a U-shaped channel into which an oceangoing vessel may enter for discharging or loading. The station includes pumping and piping means for transferring LNG and ballast-deballast system for accommodating the depth of the center section to the draft of the vessel as it is unloaded or charged. Pontoon can be uncoupled for individual transport to a drydock.

Liquid natural gas transfer station

Liquid cargo tank and support system suitable for liquified natural gas, LNG, for LNG cargo ships includes a semi-membrane tank having vertical walls constructed of a series of curved plates and a girder support system that permits access to the tank exterior.

Liquefied natural gas tank and containment system

In a modularly constructed longitudinal midbody of a double-hulled tanker, each module is provided, along the vessel centerline, with a prefabricated subassembly including a keel portion of the double hull structure, and a pipe tunnel containing virtually all equipment, piping and nonstructural components required to be installed below the vessel's upper deck to serve the cargo tanks and ballast tanks within the respective module. Each subassembly extends throughout the length of the respective module and respective of its features are connectable at the module ends with the comparable features of adjoining modules. The subassembly may serve as the base for a longitudinal bulkhead.

Tank vessel subassembly for equipment, piping and other nonstructural

A double-hull tanker having one or more cargo tanks is structured so as to have compartments surrounding each cargo tank in the form of between inner and outer hulls, and possibly between cargo tanks. These surrounding compartments are normally empty when the tanker is carrying a cargo of oil, or a similar largely water immiscible, lighter-than-water flowable liquid cargo. The volume of the cargo tank or tanks above a level equal to 111 percent of the assigned draft (Vc) of the vessel, is less than the volume of that cargo tank's surrounding compartments below that same level (Va). Because the hydrostatic equilibrium level for typical specific gravity ranges of crude oil and seawater is at least 111 percent of a vessel's maximum allowable operating draft, the compartments provide sufficient volume to contain all oil which might leak from a cargo tank during grounding damage.

Apparatus and method for accommodating leaked oil within a double-hulled

In a double-layered vessel wall construction, which has two transversally spaced longitudinal wall layers, and wall layer-connecting plates, each of which has one longitudinal edge weldingly joined in a plate edge-to-plate edge joint in one of the longitudinal wall layers, and an opposite longitudinal edge weldingly joined in a plate edge-to-plate edge joint in the other of the longitudinal wall layers, so as to divide space enclosed by the wall construction into a plurality of cells that are typically closed at opposite ends by transverse bulkheads, cell-to-cell access openings are longitudinally staggered and located near cell ends. Accordingly, forced air ventilation can sweep through virtually all of the space enclosed within the wall construction, and a worker who falls while climbing from one cell to another via an access hole can fall no further than the vertical extent of the two cells which are interconnected by that access opening.

Double-layered vessel wall construction with longitudinally staggered

A subcomponent for a subassembly of a module of a longitudinal midbody for a double-walled vessel hull is fabricated by welding an edge of a rib to an intermediate location on a face of a hull plate. A plurality of such subcomponents are alternately arranged and positioned in a fixture so as to dispose a free longitudinal edge of a rib plate in juxtaposition with adjoining longitudinal edges of two outer hull plates, or with adjoining longitudinal edges of two inner hull plates. At each of these sites, the three adjoining edges are welded together, thereby fabricating subcomponents into subassemblies. By preference, the hull plates are flat.

Double-walled vessel hull construction utilizing t-shaped subcomponents

Each longitudinally successive module of a longitudinally midbody for a tanker (which is preferably a double-walled tanker), is provided with a longitudinal vertical double-walled bulkhead extending between the top and bottom walls of the module. This longitudinal bulkhead may be provided on the longitudinal centerline of a tanker midbody constructed in accordance with the teachings of Cuneo et al., Ser. No. 07/532,329 and/or Goldbach et al. Ser. No. 07/678,802. Reinforcing structure for the longitudinal bulkhead is enclosed between the transversally opposite walls thereof. Within the longitudinal bulkhead, compartments may be provided for carrying fuel oil and/or cargo tanker slops and/or water ballast. The transversally opposite walls are fabricated of steel plates welded at adjacent edges. Inner plates transversally interconnect the walls at the joints between wall plates. The wall plates may be curved, which is preferred, or flat.

Double-hulled vessel construction having vertical double-walled

The parallel midbody for the hull of a tanker is fabricated of modules, each made of double-walled longitudinal subassemblies welded to one another and to a bulkhead. The subassemblies are made of outer cylindrically curved plates welded edge to edge, and inner cylindrically curved plates welded edge to edge. Longitudinal rib plates are extended between and are welded into joints between curved plates in the inner and outer hulls. The curved plates are convex towards the exterior of the vessel. At respective transitions between the bottom and sides, the inner and outer hulls have bilge radii which approximate in size the radii of curvature of others of the plates including ones both adjacent to and remote from the bottom-to-side transitions. A fixture for facilitating welding of the T-joints of the subassemblies is provided. The subassemblies and modules are fabricated in an up-ended orientation. Each successively completed module is tilted-over and joined to the growing midbody with the aid of a variable buoyancy barge and a caisson pontoon.

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Millford, PA, United States of America

Robert D Goldbach