OTC 19073

Float-Overs Offshore West Africa

C. Tribout, D. Emery, P. Weber /TECHNIP and R. Kaper/DOCKWISE

Copyright 2007, Offshore Technology Conference

This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2007 Offshore Technology Conference held in
• when heavy lift derrick barges are not readily available
Houston, Texas, U.S.A., 30 April–3 May 2007. resulting in prohibitive mobilization cost,
• when an integrated deck would be too heavy for the
This paper was selected for presentation by an OTC Program Committee following review of
information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as
presented, have not been reviewed by the Offshore Technology Conference and are subject to
correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any
available derrick barge.
position of the Offshore Technology Conference, its officers, or members. Papers presented at
OTC are subject to publication review by Sponsor Society Committees of the Offshore The technology combines ballasting and jacking to improve
Technology Conference. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this
paper for commercial purposes without the written consent of the Offshore Technology the stability of the heavy transport vessel during the
Conference is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not
more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous
transportation phase and uses jacking to provide a quick, and
acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper was presented. Write Librarian, OTC, P.O. therefore safe, transfer of the integrated deck weight onto the
Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435.
pre-installed jacket in order to avoid high dynamic impact
loads.
Abstract
As the topsides are fully completed and tested onshore, this
concept also enables significant cost savings compared to a
Major oil and gas field developments in remote areas on the multi-module lifted topsides in transportation and installation
continental shelf with less benign environmental conditions by minimizing the installation time, offshore hook-up and by
require an efficient method of delivery and installation of the eliminating the need for heavy lift derrick barge.
production topsides. West Africa is one of those areas with its
severe swell conditions and location far away from the major The method also integrates the operations of weighing, load
fabrication yards. out and if necessary, topside supports during the construction
phase.
Technip has developed a special technology, called the
UNIDECK® concept, which enables topsides float-over This technology, for which Technip acts as an installation
installation in these swell conditions, even during the normally contractor, has been implemented in West Africa with the
restricted season for installation from October to April each COB-P1 production platform (9,500 tonne), the Amenam
year. Kpono AMP1 (11,000 tonne) and AMP2 (9,600 tonne)
platforms for TOTAL and the East Area Project GN
This paper gives an overview of the technical aspects involved compression platform (18,000 tonne) for EXXONMOBIL.
in combining the UNIDECK® system with a transport vessel
for the transportation and subsequent installation of two recent In each case, in order to minimize the cost of the operation,
float-over deck installation operations offshore Nigeria. the design of the platform arrangement and the installation
method have been adapted to the particular project in terms of
layout, topside weight, environmental conditions and final
Introduction: The UNIDECK® concept elevation of the deck.

Due to the long swell period conditions in West Africa, Detailed Engineering
conventional float-over by ballasting is too slow and thus, not The activities normally included at the engineering stage
advisable because it causes excessive impacts between the are:
topside and the jacket. Technip has therefore developed a
special technology, called the UNIDECK® concept, which • structural engineering,
enables a very short installation time in these swell conditions • detailed engineering of the operation,
(typically Hs=1.5 m in period of 10 seconds or Hs=1.2 m in
period of 14 seconds), thereby ensuring a safe installation • vessel preparations engineering,
operation and limiting the risk of weather downtime. • specification of the installation equipment,
The method is applicable to three main categories:
• transportation engineering,
• in shallow water where there is not sufficient draft for
• procedures for the installation operation,
derrick barge to enter the site,
• supervision/assistance during the operation.
2 OTC 19073

1. Structural design
Critical to this phase is the interface between the
topside/jacket structural designs and their interaction with the
vessel strength analysis. Therefore, this requires an integrated
study (structural and naval architecture) with a complete
model incorporating the topside/jacket rigidity and the
stiffness of the various components (hawsers, jacking system,
fenders…).
Of major importance is the design of the support on vessel for
all of the operations:
• for the load out; to include for vessel trim and list with
consequential distortion of deck,
• for the transportation; to include for dynamic effects and
vessel-to-deck distortion,
• for the deck elevation/lowering by jacking; to design a
guiding system to cope with the horizontal loads (dynamic
and impact load at time of mating).
The topside support substructure (see Figure 1) concept
developed by Technip is unique and integrates support for the
construction, weighing, load out, sea fastening, transportation
and the offshore installation phases.
On the transport vessel, the grillage design allows distribution
of the static and dynamic loads of the topsides to the different
locations of the vessel’s structural hard points. In addition, the
grillage has been designed to optimize the ratio between
topsides weight and vessel strength. Fig. 1: Typical substructure with the cylinder jacks
elevated, GN Compression Platform.
Both the 8 substructures and the grillage (see Figure 2) have
been designed for use on multiple installations and use on a
modular concept for simple adaptation to a particular project.

Fig. 2: Typical arrangement substructures and grillage of

2 rows only out of 4, GN Compression Platform
OTC 19073 3

The sea fastening (see Figure 3) of the topsides has been the lines remain stiff enough to keep a good control of the
designed taking into account the various steps of the vessel’s position and to maintain the second order motions of
operations for a sequential and quick installation or removal the vessel to a low level.
(within 4 hours when a suitable weather window is
The fairleads, sheaves and bollards are designed and sized to
forecasted):
satisfy all possible configurations during entrance, mating and
• partial installation for marine operations at quay just after withdrawal of the vessel.
the load out; additional sea fastening for vessel stand-by at
2.2 Fenders inside the jacket (see Figure 4):
yard under harsh conditions (if any), e.g. typhoons; final
installation prior sail away, Fenders also called jacket leg protectors are provided to
absorb vessel impacts on the jacket. The fenders are fitted with
• partial sea fastening removal when vessel is in stand-by a steel shield to ensure good contact on the vessel own fender
location facing the jacket; final removal prior entrance into (half pipe) and to allow vessel level change during mating.
jacket,
A small gap of about 0.2 to 0.3 m between the vessel hull and
• self releasing (no particular handling required, only the shield is used.
oxycutting) and easy re-installation in case of necessity.

Fig. 3: Typical topsides sea fastening, GN Compression

Platform Fig. 4: Fenders, AMP1 Production Platform

The capacity of the fender is defined in accordance with vessel

2. Design of equipment motions, impact energy and vessel hull strength.

2.1 Mooring system on the vessel: A system of guides and fenders on the stern of the vessel
ensure the guidance and protection during the critical phase of
The mooring consists of a combination of equipment that is
the beginning of vessel entrance into jacket.
sized to suit the vessel motion characteristics, the jacket
rigidity and the environment conditions of the site.
2.3 Transition piece and guide cones:
The mooring lines connected to the jacket use a winch with
wire rope and a nylon tail to adjust the line stiffness. On top of each jacket leg (or pile) is installed a transition
piece. This is composed of a guide cone to facilitate the
The selected line stiffness avoids having resonance with wave
offshore installation and a thick reinforcement.
periods (i.e. the degradation of the vessel motions) and also
The guide cones (see Figure 5) are designed at an angle of 45°
avoids having high dynamic peak loads in the lines. However,
4 OTC 19073

and fitted at their base with a cylindrical part 50 to 100 mm in The mobile piece composed of the funnel and guide pipe,
height to provide the final accurate centering. allows the cone on the jacket to be caught even with some
vessel motion/eccentricity and ensure the stability of the unit
The thick part of transition piece accepts the relatively high
to avoid buckling or collapse.
concentrated impact loads at the steel-to-steel contact without
risk of local deformation.
Finite element analysis is performed to check the local
strength of the transition piece.

Fig. 6: Typical leg mating unit

Fig. 5: Typical guide cone with leg mating unit
3. Ballasting/deballasting system:
2.4 Leg mating units (see Figure 6): The vessel used for the AMP1 and East Area projects
(Dockwise’s M/V Mighty Servant 3 and Black Marlin
One key element of a float-over installation is the system respectively) included a powerful integrated ballasting system
located at the interface between the jacket and the deck. This with suitable characteristics to perform float-over operations,
is generally called leg mating unit (LMU) or shock absorber. i.e.:
The leg mating units perform 4 main functions during the • large flow rate (available on existing vessel),
mating phase:
• versatility,
• centering of deck legs during first phase of lowering,
• redundancy,
• reducing the vessel/deck motions during lowering,
• centralised remote control.
• reducing the impact load between deck and jacket,
The ballasting system combines the speed of powerful pumps
• providing final accurate positioning (rigid guide) of the with gravity filling through direct sea valves for lowering the
deck legs onto the jacket pile. topsides onto the jacket. This results in a short duration of the
The system developed for the Amenam and East Area projects mating operation, from starting reduction of clearance prior to
has the following main characteristics: stabbing cone engagement to start of vessel withdrawal after
the mating. For the AMP1 platform float-over installation, this
• the system provides softness in both vertical and horizontal duration was 4.5 hours (on rising tide) and 2.5 hours for East
directions to absorb energy, Area Project (on falling tide).
• the stiffness is adjusted so that the deck and jacket legs For the overall control of the ballasting and jacking systems, it
come in contact when about 50% of deck weight is has only been necessary to add a computer link between the
transferred, vessel’s bridge and the jacking control room in order to ensure
• the system is fully integrated within the deck leg with the coordination/synchronization between the ballasting
lateral guidance by soft pad, jacking operations.

• the elastic components, horizontal pads and vertical

rings are made of polyurethane,
• the stability of the unit is ensured by a central pipe.
OTC 19073 5

4. Jacking system: • 16 hydraulic cylinder jacks assembled 2 by 2 in 8 sub-

structures,
Technip owns two sets of packages:
• 16 hydraulic blocks equipped with proportional valves
• one set used for the installation of the COB-P1 production
(calibrated at factory) for the positioning control of the
platform (9,500 tonne), the Amenam Kpono AMP1 (11,000
deck,
tonne) and AMP2 (9,600 tonne) platforms with a total
lifting capacity of about 14,000 tonne using an operating • 1 main cabinet located in the control room, equipped with a
pressure of 280 bars, redundant Programmable Logic Controller (P.L.C.) and
linked to the supervisory computers by a redundant
• one set used for the GN platform installation with a total
network,
lifting capacity of about 22,500 tonne using an operating
pressure of 280 bars. • 3 supervisory computers allowing access to the process
The jacking system has the following features: control and synoptic control screens.
The hydraulic system is designed for:
• the jacking operation is fully reversible,
• a slow jacking or lowering at nominal speed of 60 mm/min,
• high reliability and redundancy of all major components,
• a variable fast lowering up to a speed of 1,800 mm/min,
• the jacking operation can be continued in case of failure of
one jack or hydraulic power unit, • a synchronization of all the lifting axes in a window of less
than 10 mm in normal automatic mode (if one axis is
• capability to allow rapid ram retraction prior to barge
outside the window the operation is stopped) to control and
removal,
minimize the dynamic stress inside the topside structure.
• capability to continue lowering with damage to hydraulic The automatic mode is used for the weighing, the load out
pipes/connections or electrical failure, operations and the installation on site (initialization, slow
movements, normal lowering, rod extension for ballasting,
• capability to achieve lowering in case of a total electrical and automatic cylinder return modes).
failure.
The jacking system (see Figure 7) is composed of:
• 4 hydraulic power units (H.P.U.) each having redundant
high-pressure pumps for the elevation and redundant low-
pressure boosting pumps for the fast lowering. Each H.P.U.
is equipped with a local control cabinet,

Fig. 7: Typical jacking system arrangement between 2

substructures of the same row, AMP1 Production
Platform
6 OTC 19073

To ensure a safe operation even in case of any failure or longitudinally (see Figure 8) onto the Mighty Servant 3.
dysfunction, the system has been developed by incorporating
many redundancies (electrical, hydraulic, control system) and
2 possible degraded control modes (manual and ultimate) have
been foreseen:
• the manual mode, which can be operated from 2 locations:
- the control room allowing slow movements through
the servo valves rack (loss of the P.L.C.s and the
supervisory computers) and fast speed lowering of
the deck without the position synchronization of the
axes in case of complete loss of the control system.
- the H.P.U. control cabinet allowing slow
movements per pair of axis in case of complete loss
of the control room.
• the ultimate mode in case of loss of control system and
power, which can be operated locally near the manifold
blocks allowing lowering of the deck.

Operations with the Unideck® and transport vessel

1. Weighing operations at yard
The first operation performed with the jacking system is the
weighing of the topside, typically about 4 months prior the
scheduled load out date. During this step, the entire deck is
supported by the jacks and the actual weight and the location
of the centre of gravity are measured.
A second weighing of the topside is performed as well as a Fig. 8: AMP1 Production Platform longitudinal load out
test of the jacking system at high lowering speed over their
full 1.8 m stroke, just few days before the load out operation. In mid September 2005, a similar load out operation was
successfully performed for the GN Compression Platform
2. Load out operation topside, which was transversally (see Figure 9) skidded onto
the Black Marlin.
Upon mobilization at the yard, the vessel is specifically
outfitted for the load out and the float-over operations by
incorporating the following equipment:
• grillage,
• auxiliary power generation to feed the hydraulic units of
the jacking system including redundant generators and
electrical distribution system,
• partial mooring winches and anchoring/mooring equipment
(sheaves, fairleads, bollards…).

During the load out operation, the topside is supported by the

jacking system allowing precise monitoring of loads and
control per support in order to compensate for vessel trim and
differential settlement. The topside is pulled along the skid
way onto the vessel by strand jacks connected on the
substructures. To limit the friction during the skidding, low
Fig. 9: GN Compression Platform transversal load out
friction pads are integrated at an early stage below the
substructures. An average speed of progress between 7 to 10 m/hour was
This delicate operation is achieved by continuously adjusting obtained over a total distance of 90 meters.
the vessel ballast to keep it level at the interface with the quay.
More recently in July 2006, Technip also performed a
In January 2003, the load out operation of the AMP1 topside longitudinal load out for the AMP2 deck onto a submersible
was successfully performed by skidding the platform barge.
OTC 19073 7

Fig. 10: Black Marlin vessel general arrangement

4. Float-over operation
The preparation of the vessel (see Figure 10) before the sail On November, 8th 2005, Technip set a record in West Africa
away is completed by installing the following:
with the float-over installation of the GN Compression
• topside/substructures sea fastening, Platform deck (18,000 tonne) offshore Nigeria.
• remaining mooring winches and anchoring/mooring To achieve this success, the whole operation was monitored
equipment (sheaves, fairleads, bollards…) installation and from a control room with information relayed from the vessel
testing, and the jacking equipment, and knowledge of the
• lighting, environmental conditions. The information included:

• electrical connection of auxiliary power generation to the • vessel configuration: draught, heel angle and overall centre
jacking system and final jacking system testing, of gravity,

• safety access, wire guards and muster points, • all basic data relative to the operation of the hydraulic
system: pressure, flow rates, etc…
• walkways and work platforms, as required,
• jacks extension and loads at each support,
• video camera system.
• environmental conditions (wave, wind and current by
reading of a rider buoy) and the weather forecast for the
The Black Marlin vessel left the South Korean yard less than coming hours (12 to 36 hours depending on the operation
15 days after the load out operations of the GN topside. stage),
• video camera to visualize the legs during the mating
3. Transportation operation,
The topsides, supported on the substructures, are transported • display of tensions in the mooring lines,
from the fabrication yard to the installation site on the heavy
transport vessel. The transport is quick and safe with a high • vessel motions by gyrocompass.
degree of flexibility in weather routing. An average speed of
12 – 13 knots was achieved for the entire trip from South This information was assessed for the decision-making at each
Korea/Middle East to Nigeria via Cape of Good Hope, step of the installation operation.
including a port call for boarding of the installation key
personnel.
8 OTC 19073

A good communications system is also vital to the success of

such a complex operation being achieved in a limited duration:
• U.H.F. and V.H.F. radio communication with all involved
personnel on the vessel and the assisting tugs,
• satellite link to obtain additional simulations and updates of
the forecast from a weather forecasting company, the
model being calibrated with actual measurements from the
site starting about 1 week before vessel arrival.

Contingency procedures have been developed to cope with

any abnormal situations that may arise.
The operational steps of the GN deck installation are described
hereafter.

4.1 Vessel docking: Fig. 12: Vessel before entrance

The offshore installation started by manoeuvring and mooring By using winches on the deck, the vessel was moved into the
the Black Marlin vessel outside the jacket using a combination jacket that was protected by 8 soft rubber arch fenders located
of 4 anchoring lines connected to anchors pre-tested at 80 tons at each pile.
(see Figure 11). Once the stern of the vessel reached the 2nd row of the jacket,
the 2 ‘bow longitudinal mooring lines’ attached to the first
row of piles were connected to the vessel and the deck was
elevated 1,750 mm.
When the vessel stern reached the last row of the jacket, the 2
‘stern longitudinal crossed mooring lines’ were uncrossed
using winches on the vessel deck. At the final position, the
vessel was moored inside the jacket by the 4 longitudinal lines
and 4 transversal lines were added to the external piles. This
ensured accurate positioning of the deck legs over the jacket
legs.
These 8 mooring lines were designed to keep the vessel’s
natural period away from the wave periods and short enough
to avoid slow drift effects. This was obtained by adding a
stretcher (stiffness 100 tons/m) in each of the mooring lines.
The maximum allowed loads in these lines were 90 tons.
Fig. 11: Vessel moored outside the jacket The total displacement of the vessel being about 100,000
tonne, the amount of energy due to the vessel motions was
Then, the 2 ‘stern longitudinal crossed mooring lines’ were
substantial but the compliant UNIDECK® system allowed
connected from the stern of the vessel to the furthest piles of
control and such energy to be handled without any large
the jacket, to allow an accurate control of the vessel’s stern impact forces.
while entering into the 1st row of the jacket (see Figure 12).

4.2 Contact between the topsides and the jacket:

By ballasting the vessel, the topsides legs engage into the
jacket legs, but a sufficient residual gap of around 700 mm
was left to avoid any hard impact (see Figure 13). The vertical
maximum motion of the deck legs was -/+ 600 mm with about
400 mm horizontally compared to 1,000 mm allowed for by
the design of the stabbing cones.
During the ballasting operation, a real time tide measurement
was used to adjust the ballast plan.
OTC 19073 9

controlling the ballasting configuration including tide effect,

along with adjustment of the jacking system.
The vessel’s hogging, due to the COG shifting after load
transfer, was compensated for by a differential extension
between the jack rods. The jacks were designed to take the
dynamic load variations induced by the waves, wind and
current effects.

4.5 Transfer of 4,200 tonne remaining load and vessel

separation:
When the required ballast had been added and the jacks were
extended again to the required stroke, they were retracted a
second time to quickly transfer 100% of the deck load to the
jacket and to create a sufficient separation gap between the
Fig. 13: Vessel centered into the slot vessel and the deck to prevent any risk of further impact
during vessel removal.
4.3 Jacking until transfer of 50% of the load:
The installation of the topsides onto the jacket was performed
by the retraction of the jack rods within approximately one 4.6 Removal of the vessel:
minute over the complete stroke of the jacks (1.8 m). The The vessel’s draft was adjusted, to a minimum under keel
down-wards motion has two effects: clearance above the jacket’s cross bracing of 1,500 mm, while
• It closes the residual gap, maintaining a safe freeboard of at least 1.0 m. The vessel was
retrieved from jacket with the assistance of tugs and the 2 bow
• It transfers part of the deck load onto the jacket and, as a mooring lines to leave the deck installed on the jacket (see
consequence, the vessel moves upwards as the load on its Figure 14).
deck is reduced.
At the beginning of the stroke the legs were centred by the
entry cones and shock absorbers installed in the deck legs, and
the topsides and the jacket legs came into contact on the shock
absorbers.
The retraction of the jack rods continued under the effect of
the vessel’s buoyancy until the end of the stroke. This resulted
in the transfer of about 50% of the topsides weight to the
jacket legs, which completely stopped the vessel motions in
waves. At this stage, the shock absorbers were at maximum
compression and the topside and jacket legs came into steel on
steel contact.
During the quick (i.e. normal) downward stroke, stopping
must be avoided. This step is considered as the practical no-
return point (although the operation remains theoretically
reversible) as it gets the topsides supported by the jacket in a
safe configuration. Fig. 14: GN topside after vessel removal
At this stage, the vessel, the jacket and the topsides behave as
a single body. Improvement
To facilitate the installation of topsides with a weight in a
4.4 Continuation of load transfer: range of 10,000 tonne to 20,000 tonne (or higher if a new
jacking package is used), Technip has recently developed an
After the 1st jacking down, ballasting the vessel continued. To anti-surge system to limit the vessel motions during float-over
prevent any relative motion between the vessel and the installation.
topside, the jacks were progressively extended and an
additional 20% of the deck load was progressively transferred The vessel anti-surge control system comprises of hydraulic
onto the jacket while keeping a minimum load applied onto systems located on the vessel grillage associated with 8 nylon
the vessel. The transfer of loads onto the jacket, along with hawsers linked to the jacket legs.
control of the location of the COG were performed by
10 OTC 19073

The concept is based on jacks resisting the vessel’s • associated with a self propelled vessel, it allows a shorter
longitudinal motions with a constant load. transportation time to the installation site compared to
tug-barge combination due to higher transit speed and less
The efficiency of the anti-surge system has been recently
weather sensitivity, and reduces the accelerations due to
proven during the AMP2 (Amenam Kpono Phase 2 Project)
lower motion response than barge transportation,
platform installation in West Africa, where it was used for the
first time. • the method considerably reduces the integration, pre-
During this operation, only 50% of the anti-surge system was commissioning and offshore commissioning work by full
used and the surge movements were reduced by a factor of onshore completion and commissioning of the deck
three (see Figure 15). compared to a multi-module lifted topsides,
• it reduces the cost of the installation compare to a heavy
lift derrick barge installation.

Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank our Clients EXXONMOBIL
and TOTAL and the management of TECHNIP and
DOCKWISE for granting the permission to publish this paper.
The authors also express their special appreciation to their
colleagues for the support and advice they have provided.

References
1. J.H. Sigrist and J.C. Naudin, Technip:
” Experience in Float-over Integrated Deck-
Design and Installation”, paper OTC 8121,
presented at the Offshore Technology
Conference, held in Houston Texas, 6-9 May
1996.
2. J.H. Sigrist, P.A. Thomas and J.C. Naudin,
Fig. 15: Vessel motions Technip: ” Experience in Float-over Integrated
Deck-Flexibility of the concept”, paper OTC
8616, presented at the Offshore Technology
Conclusion Conference, held in Houston Texas, 1998
The UNIDECK® method is well proven technology and
presents a large number of advantages that reduce the
integration and commissioning schedule and cost of a Topside
Platform Development Project.
These advantages can be summarised as follows:
• it allows topsides installation in shallow water where
there is not sufficient draft for derrick barge to enter the
site,
• this method enables topside installation when an
integrated deck would be too heavy for existing derrick
barge,
• the substructures of the Unideck® concept, based on a
modular arrangement, include supports for the topsides
construction, load out and sea fastening for the
transportation,
• the jacking operation is fully reversible,
• a jacking system with a high level of redundancy is used
to perform the various operations including weighing,
load out and offshore installation,