CENTRE FOR OFFSHORE FOUNDATION SYSTEMS

Introduction to

Offshore Structures
Part I

Hodjat Shiri
BSc Civil Eng., MSc Geotech Eng. , PhD (curnt.) Offshore Geotech.

Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems (COFS)

July 2009
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Modern Offshore Structure

Piled-Jacket

TLP

Semi-Sub
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Offshore Structures are not limited to Platforms

• Vessels and Tankers
• Sub-Marines & ROVs
• Pipelines
• Sub-sea manifolds
• Bridges
• Wind Turbines
• Artificial Islands
• Ports and Jetties
• …
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“Oil Rocks”
The world’s first offshore oil platform built near Baku in Soviet Union, 1949

The first oil platform in the world is the Oil Rocks (Neft Daşları),
built near BAKU in Azerbaijan of Rusiia. Building on the platform
began in 1949, with Tankers transporting Oil from the first Well to
Baku in 1951. The Oil Rocks lies 45–50 km (about 25 nm)
offshore on the CASPIAN SEA.

The most unique feature of the Oil Rocks is that it is actually a

functional city with a population of about 5000. The Oil Rocks is
a city on the sea, with over 200 km of streets built on piles of dirt
and landfill. Most of the inhabitants work on shifts;
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“Thames Sea Forts”

The World’s predecessors of modern offshore oil platforms,
having been pre-constructed in a very short time, during World War II , they were then floated to their location and
placed on the shallow bottom of the Thames estuary

Installation sequence
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“Maunsell Sea Forts”

The World’s first modern offshore platform

The Maunsell Sea Forts were small fortified

towers built in the Thames and Mersey estuaries
during the second world war to help defend the
United Kingdom. They take their name from their
designer Guy Maunsell . They were
decommissioned in the late 1950s and were
used for other activities
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Offshore Structures:
• Fixed Structures [ Piled-Jackets, Jackup Rigs, GBS…]
• Floating Structures [ Spar, TLP, FPSO, SemiSub,…]
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Water Depth
• Shallow waters, D < (300~400 m)
• Intermediate Waters, (800~1000 m) > D > (300~400 m)
• Deep Waters, D > 1000 m

324 m
381 m
Eiffel, Paris,1889

Empire State, NY, 1931

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Shallow Water Offshore Complex

Wellhead
Living Quarter PLF
Connection
Bridges PLF

Topside Production PLF

Wellhead
PLF

Flare
Jacket
JackUp Rig
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Jacket Based Platforms

Topside

Jacket
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Platform Compartments

Pedestal Crane

Flare
HeliDeck

Control Unit
Top Deck
Mezzanine Deck Utilities
Cellar Deck

Conductor Pipes

Boat landing
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Construction Milestones
• Engineering, Feasibility Study, Conceptual Design, FEED, Basic, Detailed, Shop, Field
• Procurement: heart of Job
• Fabrication, Steel Cutting, Fitting, Welding, Erection, Piping, E&I, Safety, Painting…
• Pre-commissioning, mechanical, E&I, Safety,…
• Load out & Sea-fastening, Yard Preparation, Barge preparation, Grillage
Installation, Barge Mooring, Ballasting, Load Transfer, Sea-fastening, Parking…
• Transportation, Pilot Transition, Towing, Field Entering, Positioning…
• Installation, Barge Approach, Mooring, Sea-Fastening Cut, Lifting or Launching,
Stabbing, Welding…
• Hook up, Ship Loosed Items, Caisson, Risers,…
• Commissioning
• Start up
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Load Out & Transportation

Pilotage

Open Sea Towing

Load out
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Offshore Installation
• Heavy Lifting by Derrick Crane Barges
• Floatover by Launch Barges

Topside Lifting

Topside Floatover

Jacket lifting
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Heavy lifting Derrick Crane Barges

• Revolving Crane Barges

• Shearlegs

Shearleg Jacket Revolving Crane

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Platforms Structural Engineering

Main Categories :

• Fabrication Erection Analysis

• Load-out Analysis
• Transportation Analysis
• Installation Analysis
• In-Place Analysis

In-place Analysis / Environmental Loads

• Wind
• Wave
• Current
• Earthquake
• Ice & Snow
• Temperature Variations
• Marine Growth
• Tides
• Seafloor Movements
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Platforms Structural Engineering

Design Rules & Codes

• Eurocode 8: "Structures in Seismic Regions - Design", CEN (in preparation).

• API-RP2A, "Recommended Practice for Planning, Designing and Constructing Fixed Offshore Platforms", American
Petroleum Institute, Washington, D.C., 18th ed., 1989.

• OCS, "Requirements for Verifying the Structural Integrity of OCS Platforms"., United States Geologic Survey, National
Centre, Reston, Virginia, 1980.

• DNV, "Rules for the Design, Construction and Inspection of Offshore Structures", Det Norske Veritas, Oslo, 1977 (with
corrections 1982).

• NPD, "Regulation for Structural Design of Load-bearing Structures Intended for Exploitation of Petroleum Resources",
Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, 1985.

• BS6235, "Code of Practice for Fixed Offshore Structures", British Standards Institution, London, 1982.

• DOE-OG, "Offshore Installation: Guidance on Design and Construction", U.K., Dept. of Energy, London 1985.

• Eurocode 1: "Basis of Design and Actions on Structures", CEN (in preparation).

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End of Part One

Thank You