This paper describes the design, construction, deployment and retrieval of a unique. Rapid Deployment Single Anchor Leg Mooring system (here in after designated RA,-DE SAIM?). The RA,-DE SAIM ? (patent pending) is an adaptation of commercial SAlMs for military use which offers significant advantages for commercial oil field applications especially for extended well testing. in water depths up to 500 feet (152 m).
The system is totally self-contained, can be towed at high speed and deployed and recovered with minimal personnel and equipment.
The fast and efficient transfer of POL products (petroleum, oil, lubrication) from a tanker to the shore has been a continuing problem for the armed forces. Petroleum products have been delivered by floating 55 gallon drums ashore, by towing large rubber bladders and by conventional multiple buoy mooring systems. A CAIM buoy has also been tried but was not suitable for rapid deployment due to the manpower, equipment and time required for installation.
The RA,-DE SAIM? (Fig. 1), in conjunction with a flexible pipeline, provides a means to deliver large quantities of fuel to shore-based operations. It can be towed into the deployment area or transported and launched from the deck of a tanker and be installed and ready for operations in less than 24 hours using only Navy warping tugs (SWLIT?S) floating work vessels.
In a similar manner, a RA,-DE SAIM? can be utilized to moor and load a floating production vessel for short to medium well testing or 1–2 well production in remote areas.
During the RA,-DE SAIM operational demonstration, the RA,-DE SAIM ? was towed at speeds in excess of 10 knots using a single 1600 H.P. tug boat and was installed in the Gulf of Mexico in 150 feet (46 m) water depth in five (5) hours using only a supply boat with four point spread mooring, a small tug boat and two divers. Subsequently, the system was fully recovered in twenty-four hours using the same floating equipment.
The RA,-DE SAIM ? is designed to moor tankers up to 70,000 DWT in water depths from 35 feet (11 m) to 200 feet (61 m) and includes piping, swivels and hose systems for transfer of petroleum products between the sea bed and the tanker's manifold. Alternate designs, as described elsewhere in this paper, can service the needs of the petroleum industry.
The technology involved has been developed by SOFEC through numerous SAIM installations since 1973. The basic SAIM concept, developed by Exxon Research and Engineering during the late 1960'S, provides a constantly tensioned cylindrical buoy which is connected to a mooring base on the sea floor by means of a single anchor leg. The buoy provides a mooring point for the tanker which, moored by its bow lines only, may swing freely (weathervane) about the buoy. Thus, the vessel may orient itself "head-on" into the prevailing seas and remain safely moored in very rough weather conditions.
