LNG tanker offloading in shallow water

An offshore offloading system for offloading liquid LNG from a tanker that lies in a shallow sea, and passing the LNG through a regas unit to create warmed gaseous hydrocarbons and passing the warmed hydrocarbons through a gas conduit arrangement to an onshore station comprising:

• a floating structure that is coupled to said tanker to receive said liquid LNG therefrom;
• a mooring tower lying in said sea, said tower having a lower end mounted at a fixed position on the sea floor and having an upper end extending above the sea surface;
• a yoke having a proximal end that is rotatable about a primarily vertical axis on the tower upper end, and having a distal end coupled to said floating structure;
• said regas unit lies on said floating structure, and said tower is devoid of regas equipment;
• an energized injection unit that consumes power and that pressurizes said warmed gas sufficiently that the warmed gas flows through said conduit arrangement to said onshore station without pressure boosting along the way;
• said injection unit lies on said floating structure, and said tower is devoid of an energized injection unit that boosts the pressure of the warmed gas.

A method for transferring hydrocarbons that have been cooled for transport in a non-gaseous form, from a tanker that lies in a shallow region of a sea, to an onshore station, comprising:

• mooring a floating structure to a tower having a lower end fixed to the sea floor in said shallow region, so the floating structure can move about a vertical axis extending through the tower, connecting the tanker to the floating structure, and weathervaning the combination of said floating structure and tanker about said tower;
• transferring said hydrocarbons from the tanker to the floating structure, passing the hydrocarbons through a fluid swivel at the top of said tower, and passing the hydrocarbons down along said tower to the sea floor and from there to said onshore station, including heating the hydrocarbons to create warmed hydrocarbon gas and pressurizing the warmed gas;
• said steps of heating the hydrocarbons and pressurizing the warmed gas occurring before the hydrocarbons reach said fluid swivel on the top of said tower;
• said step of passing the hydrocarbons down along said tower to the sea floor and from there to said onshore station, includes passing hydrocarbons that have passed along the tower to the sea floor, to an underground cavern for storage therein, and then to said onshore station for distribution.