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Demand for crew transfers to the drilling and production platforms now exploring Santos Basin in Brazil is ever rising. To save on expensive helicopter transport SSP Offshore, together with Austal Ltd, have developed a new concept where an SSP designed round floater will act as a helicopter base and hotel ‘HUB’. Dimitri van Heel, d.v.heel@marin.nl


Pioneering ‘HUB’ design tested on bridge simulator


omnidirectional shape and station keeping will allow the HUB to anticipate its tunnel position based on the environmental condi- tions by allowing the HUB to rotate.


Research showed that the trimaran was well suited for the job. This vessel is capable of a high-speed approach - in which vessel mo- tions are effectively damped - and it can also slow down quickly, ensuring that the final low-speed approach is made within the shelter of the HUB. Simulations also provided valuable insight into how to optimally design the fender system inside the tunnel.


Transport to the HUB will be executed by an Austal trimaran crew boat. The fast crew boat docks inside the round floater through a protected tunnel inside the hull. Weather- tight doors on the wave-ward side of the unit allow the tunnel to be closed. In June, the HUB design was tested on MARIN’s bridge simulator in the relevant Santos Basin conditions.


In close cooperation with Austal, a reliable and accurate manoeuvring model of the trimaran was developed. Results of an envi- ronmental study executed by the Offshore


16 report


Department allowed MARIN to create the most realistic conditions, including complex wind, wave and current effects in and around the HUB. Another interesting aspect was modelling the movable fenders, which guide the vessel into the tunnel.


Through an intensive learning process optimum entry procedures were developed. A major finding is that the HUB can accom- modate the boat’s safe entry under the harshest environmental conditions foreseen in the Santos Basin. The HUB’s design facilitates a large operating window as the


A week of simulation exercises during the conceptual design phase with experts from SSP, Austal and MARIN was a great expe- rience in which many lessons were learned. It proved to be a great way of experiencing and verifying a completely new design - using and improving it along the way.


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