Copper protected fairings

A fairing system for protecting a marine riser from drag and vortex induced vibration, said fairing system comprising:

• a plurality of non-corrosive fairing shrouds rotatably mounted about the cylindrical marine element and defining an annular region between the exterior of the cylindrical marine element and the inside of the fairing shroud, said fairing shrouds further grouped into axially arranged series;
• a plurality of thrust collars fixedly connected to the cylindrical marine element such that the thrust collars axially contain axially arranged series of fairing shrouds between load shoulders presented on the thrust collars;
• and
• a first plurality of copper rings mounted on the load shoulders adjacent the fairing shrouds but not in direct contact with the riser;
• a plurality of free floating buoyant collars, each disposed between adjacent fairing shrouds within a series, the buoyant collars comprising:
• a buoyant element surrounding the cylindrical marine element;
• axial facing load shoulders presented at the ends of the buoyant element;
• and
• a second plurality of floating copper rings isolated from direct contact with the riser, each mounted on an axial facing load shoulder, immediately adjacent the fairing shroud;
• and
• a plurality of copper bars isolated from direct contact with the riser mounted longitudinally inside the fairing shrouds at a flared region leading to the tail flange of the fairing shrouds.