Self-contained mooring system for a drill ship
AssigneeGlobal Marine, Inc.
InventorRussell B. Thornburg
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A mooring system for a drill ship has an annular cell mounted in the bottom of the hull concentrically around the moon pool. A plurality of annular cable drums are rotatable within the cell, the drums and the cell being rotatable about a common vertical axis. Anchor cables wound on the respective drums are directed by sheaves through the bottom of the cell through an opening in the bottom of the hull to anchors on the ocean floor for anchoring the vessel over a drill site. The drums are individually driven to adjust the associated cable, while the entire cell together with the drums is rotated within the hull to change the heading of the vessel relative to the anchors.
Claims9
A mooring system for a drill ship comprising:
- a hull having a chamber opening to the sea through the bottom of the hull, an annular structure mounted in the chamber, means rotatably supporting the annular structure from the hull for rotation about a vertical axis, a plurality of coaxially aligned rotatable drums having their axes of revolution coaxial with a common vertical axis, means rotatably supporting the drums from the annular structure for independent rotation of each of the drums about said common vertical axis, drive means supported by the annular structure for rotating the drums individually, anchor cables wound on the respective drums, and cable guide means supported on the annular structure and rotatable therewith for guiding the respective cables from the drums through the opening in the bottom of the hull.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.