Arrival of the Front Runner Spar on the heavy-lift barge Zhong Ren 3

Project Summary

The 12,100 t Murphy Exploration & Production Company Front Runner Spar hull was transported from Jebel Ali to the U.S. Gulf by the semi-submersible heavy-lift barge Zhong Ren 3. This barge is a converted tanker. Because of the total length of the Spar hull, 2 stern extensions were welded to the barge stern to support the Spar's overhanging soft tank. The Spar was loaded onto the barge, by skidding it on over the stern. The barge’s buoyancy casings were (temporary) relocated to provide an unobstructed cargo deck. The contractor provided large amounts of engineering studies, covering the load-out and transportation of the Spar hull, including structural analyses of the barge and the Spar, detailed procedures, stability and motion response calculations, float-off calculations, etc.

Scope of Work

The project scope included:

• Determine the design environmental criteria for the tow, based on the anticipated departure date;

• Reviewing all engineering documents and procedures;

• Recommendations for the optimum ballast condition of the barge during the tow;

• Independent stability and motion response calculations;

• Calculation of the barge hull girder deflection in hogging and sagging conditions;

• Independent strength analysis of the barge deck subject to high point loads during load-out and transport;

• Independent stability analysis for the critical phases of the offloading.

Acknowledgement

Photograph courtesy of Matthews-Daniel Company.