• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.39-52
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• 2014

Floatover technology has been widely used in offshore installation, which has many substantial advantages compared with the traditional derrick barge. During the topside offloading of a twin-barge floatover installation, the transport barge is side by side moored between two floatover barges. In this paper, the twin-barge model with the connecting hawsers and pneumatic fenders is established. Coupled dynamic analysis is carried out to investigate the motions of the barges under wind, wave and current environments. Particular attention is paid to the effects on system responses with different frictional performance of fender, axial stiffness of the hawsers and environmental conditions. The research results can be used for optimizing the parameters of the system and reducing the risk of topside offloading.

• International Journal of Ocean System Engineering
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.198-204
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• 2011

Recently, several problems have occurred in the space, infra-structure, and facility of the contiguity of existing harbors due to the trend of enlarged container vessels. In this regard, the Mobile Harbor has been proposed conceptually in this study as an effective solution for these problems. The concept is that of a transfer loader that transfers containers from a large container ship to the harbor on land, and is a catamaran type floating barge. The catamaran-type vessel is well known for its advantage in maneuverability, resistance, and effectiveness for working on board. For the safe and effective operation of the two floating bodies (a container ship and the mobile harbor in the near sea detached from the quay), robot arms, novel crane systems, and pneumatic fenders are specially devised with an additional mooring facility or DP (dynamic positioning) system. In this study, this concept is to be verified through comparison and simulation studies under various environmental conditions. It is shown that the proposed concept is in general feasible but there are several areas for further investigation and improvement.