First single buoy mooring system designed for North Sea is launched

摘要

The first single buoy mooring system to be specially designed for use in the exposed waters of the North Sea has been launched in Norway. The Shell designed system is now undergoing tests in Stavanger fjord. It is to be used in the Shell/Esso Auk oil field in British waters. The Exposed Location Single Buoy Mooring (ELSBM) is unique. Shell engineers have taken the widely used concept of the conventional single buoy mooring and re-designed it to cope with the problem of loading oil in the deep waters of the North Sea. It incorporates a number of new technical features and includes a helideck.