Mobile sea barge and plateform

A mobile barge having both surface-floating and bottom-resting modes of operation and comprising:

• a lower hull having sufficient buoyancy to permit said barge to have a surface floating mode and having a bottom surface adapted for providing gravity-forced contacting support from the sea floor when said barge is in said bottom-resting mode;
• an upper hull containing equipment for conducting barge operating functions;
• support means comprising a single central column for supporting said upper hull from said lower hull, with said upper and lower hulls fixed to upper and lower end portions of said upport means, respectively, to maintain a fixed separation between said upper and lower hulls;
• and
• control means for providing motive force to enable movement of said stabilizing hull with respect to said upper hull and for transmitting force from said stabilizing hull to the remainder of said barge, with said stabilizing hull continuously movable vertically between said upper and lower hulls to position and maintain said stabilizing hull at the water line for various depths of submergence of said lower hull and to position said stabilizing hull out of the water while said lower hull is in the bottom-resting mode;
• with said control means comprised of a plurality of jacking legs connected between said upper hull and said stabilizing hull and a motive means for moving said legs relative to said upper hull, and with said stabilizing hull having an outer edge, with said edge having a sloped surface for positioning adjacent the waterline for engaging ice floes for failing floes in flexure;
• and
• with said control means adapted for providing motive force for moving said stabilizing hull downward to provide controlled downward pressure on ice located between said stabilizing hull and said bottom hull while said barge is maintained in the bottom-resting mode.

A method of failing ice features about a mobile barge having a unitary lower hull provided with sufficient buoyancy to permit the barge to have a surface-floating mode, a support member extending above the lower hull, an upper hull positioned at the top portion of the support member, and a stabilizing hull arranged about the support member, which stabilizing hull is adapted for controlled movement between a position adjacent to the top portion of the lower hull and a position adjacent to the bottom portion of the upper hull, and having a control means for moving the stabilizing hull relative to the upper hull, including the steps of:

• lowering the lower hull onto the sea floor while simultaneously submerging portions of said support member and maintaining said stabilizing hull partly submerged;
• raising the stabilizing hull above ice adjacent the barge;
• and
• lowering the stabilizing hull applying downward pressure on ice between the stabilizing hull and the lower hull.