ABSTRACT
The designs of offshore structures have been governed by many factors such as the required deck space, deck facilities to be provided and the associated loads, number of wells to be drilled, etc., along with the meteorological and oceanographic loads imposed by the environment, in which these structures have to operate. One should know well enough the environmental conditions the structure will face so that the design loads the structure has to resist can be specified within a certain probability of exceedance. The loads for which an offshore structure must be designed can be classified into the following categories: (i) permanent (dead) loads; (ii) operating (live) loads; (iii) environmental loads including earthquakes; (iv) construction and installation loads; and (v) accidental loads.
