Loadout To Installation Of The Muchison Jacket

Abstract

At 25500 tonnes, the heaviest ever barge launched steel jacket for Conoco North Sea was successfully installed in the Murchison field last August after transfer from the fabrication yard in Scotland. The technology involved in manoeuvring a large barge launched jacket from the fabrication yard to the installation site has only been put to the test preViously for jackets smaller than Murchison. Outlined here are some of the features, as seen by the consulting engineers responsible for the design, in taking the jacket through loadout from the fabrication yard, transportation to the site, launch and upending. The predicted behaviour from analytical methods and model tests are compared with the behaviour actually observed during installation.