ABSTRACT

This chapter describes the design development of an offshore barge suitable for the transportation of heavy modules, loaded by skidding, and the launching of a jacket. The barge was designed and built by Cochin Shipyard for the National Petroleum Construction Company. The structure of the barge was analysed using a global Finite Element Model which identified high stress areas. The design of the barge was designed for an expected useful life of 25–30 years. To maintain the global strength of the barge the effective area of the stiffeners was added to the plates by increasing their thickness to ensure the cross-sectional area was maintained. The loads applied to the barge consisted of the hydrostatic pressure, the self-weight of the barge, the barge payload and the ballast weight. The use of local models allowed areas of the barge to be examined in significantly more detail than had the model been analysed using the global model exclusively.