UMS - MARIN's special underwater eye

For areas with an overall benign environment but with occasional extreme conditions, disconnectable turret buoy systems are a good option to moor FPSOs and this is also the case for deep water. BHP Billiton decided to use this system for their Stybarrow FPSO which is offshore Australia, in a water depth of more than 850 m. The job was awarded to MODEC and FMC Technologies Floating Systems Inc. (formerly FMC SOFEC). The tests were carried out at MARIN. The mooring and riser system is supported by a 'spider'buoy, which remains at a depth of approximately 30 m below the waves when disconnected.