The offshore supply vessel came into being in 1954 to meet the demands of a rapidly growing offshore oil industry. The authors give a brief history of this development and present the arrangement and profile of atypical supply vessel as well as a complete table of characteristics on a number of vessels. It is shown how the demand to carry large quantities of cargo on deck resulted in a somewhat unique hull form. Two particular areas of design are stressed, stability and powering. The question of stability is gone into in detail, including development of the current USCG stability criteria. The difficulty in estimating power requirements for the low speed length ratios associated with supply vessels is brought out. Data for estimating power requirements is presented. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official view of the American Marine Corp. or the USCG. INTRODUCTION When the first offshore oil well was drilled in the Gulf of Mexico at the end of World War II, the need for delivery of supplies such as drill pipe casings; drilling mud; cement, etc., brought forward a new type vessel--- offshore supply vessel. Among the first offshore supply vessels were the war surplus LCT's, primarily because they were readily available. They were adequate for the early offshore drilling sites close to shore. When new vessels were built, they were designed closely to the LCT's with the pilot house aft. Then in 1954, a new type of supply vessel came into being which was to set the pattern for the offshore supply vessels that were to come. These vessels had all of the crew quarters forward leaving a large deck area aft for carriage of deck cargo. Connection between the forward quarters and the engine room aft was through a passage under deck. During the last 15 years, because of the rapid worldwide development of offshore oil fields, we have seen not only bigger, faster and more seaworthy supply vessels built, but have also witnessed the use of these vessels in many different roles. Offshore supply vessels have been used as seismographic exploration vessels, oceanographic research ships, tenders for deep diving submarines, telephone cable laying vessels, container ships, anchor handle vessels and seagoing tugs. This paper, however, will limit discussions only to the vessels that carry supplies. It is the intention of this paper to provide designers and operators with a better understanding of the stability characteristics of offshore supply vessels, and to contribute some information concerning preliminary design structural design, and powering requirements, all of which have been lacking in this fast growing field. ON THE PROPORTIONS AND ARRANGEMENT The characteristics of 20 offshore supply vessels are given in Table 1. For quick reference, the average values of some of the particulars are plotted on Fig. 1.
The offshore supply vessel came into being in 1954 to meet the demands of a rapidly growing offshore oil industry. The authors give a brief history of this development and present the arrangement and profile of a typical supply vessel as well as a complete table of characteristics on a number of vessels. It is shown how the demand to carry large quantities of cargo on deck resulted in a hull form that is unique in some respects. Two particular areas of design are stressed: stability and powering. The question of stability is examined in detail, including development of the current U. S. Coast Guard stability criteria. The difficulty in estimating power requirements for the low speed/length ratios associated with supply vessels is discussed. Data for estimating power requirements are presented.
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