The present invention relates to a method for operating a drilling vessel adapted to run large diameters surface casing joints having a diameter of over 20 inch (51 cm) and a length of 30-50 feet (9-15 meters), and build a surface casing string. According to the invention three or more surface casing joints are interconnected into pre-assembled surface casing stands having a length of over 100 feet (30 meters). These surface casing stands are substantially horizontally stored and transferred by a casing stand handling system to a surface casing string handling capacity hoisting device, which subsequently lowers the surface casing string.

An impact attenuating device (100) that may be employed to catch falling objects, such as drill pipe, that are suspended in or above the mousehole (90) in a drilling floor includes an elongate housing (200) with first and second ends, an internal chamber, and a housing base spaced-apart from the first housing end. An attenuator base (130) is included in the housing, spaced-apart from the first housing end. At least one stack (160) of impact attenuating media is positioned in the chamber between the first housing end and the attenuator base (130), the stack (160) comprising a plurality of resilient members (162).

A system, including one or more supports. The system also includes a movable platform slidingly coupled to the one or more supports and configured to be selectively moved towards a drill floor and away from the drill floor. The system further includes a roughneck disposed on the movable platform and configured to make up or break out a threaded joint between a first tubular segment and a second tubular segment, wherein the roughneck is configured to be selectively movable along the movable platform from a first position disposed adjacent to the one or more supports and a second position disposed adjacent to the first tubular segment and the second tubular segment.

Techniques and systems to store and deploy a lift frame of an offshore vessel. A device may include a member arm comprising a locking feature configured to couple the member arm to a lift frame of the offshore vessel. The device may also include a base configured to be coupled to a drill floor of the offshore vessel, wherein the base comprises a joint configured to allow for rotation of the member arm and the lift frame from a storage position having a first angle between the member arm and the drill floor and a deployment position having a second angle between the member arm and the drill floor.

An offshore drilling vessel includes a floating hull subjected to heave motion. The hull includes a moonpool and a drilling tower near the moonpool. A drilling tubulars storage rack is provided for storage of drilling tubulars. The vessel includes a heave motion compensation support that is adapted to support a slip device while performing heave compensation motion relative to the heaving motion of the vessel. A racking device is provided with a heave motion synchronization system that is adapted to bring a tubular retrieved from the storage rack in heave motion into a vertical motion that is synchronous with the heave compensation motion of the string slip device. The racking device includes vertical rails and at least two separate motion arm assemblies mounted on said vertical rails. Each separate motion arm assembly includes its own vertical drive which is electrically connected to the heave motion synchronization system.

An offshore drilling vessel including a hull having a moonpool, a bow and a stern, an accommodation topside having crew quarters and a bridge, said accommodation topside being arranged on the hull at the bow, a main deck between the accommodation topside and the stern of the vessel, wherein a front main deck portion of the main deck extends forward of the moonpool and a rear main deck portion of the main deck extends rearward of the moonpool, a firing line hoist system mounted on the hull at said moonpool, including a drilling structure, a hoisting device supported by the drilling structure and having a load attachment device displaceable along a firing line, the hoisting device including one or more cables and one or more associated winches to manipulate the position of the load attachment device relative to the drilling structure, one or more pivotal burner booms, each burner boom having an inner portion pivotally mounted at a lateral side of the hull and an outer portion supporting a burner, the burner boom being pivotable between a storage position generally parallel to the side of the hull and an operative position wherein the boom is directed away from the hull, the burner boom in the storage position being lower than the level of the main deck.

The present invention relates to a method for riser string handling on an offshore drilling vessel (1), the offshore drilling vessel comprising a multiple firing line hoist system, a riser tensioner system (50) arranged in the second firing line, and a suspended riser transfer device (60). The method comprising the steps of lowering a riser string in the first firing line, and simultaneously assembling and preparing a riser tensioner system in the second firing line, wherein the riser hang-off assembly displaces the riser string, leaving the top end of the riser string exposed, from the first firing line to the second firing line to be connected to the riser tensioner system.

A method for assembly of a riser string onboard a vessel that is adapted to perform subsea wellbore related operations involving said riser string, said riser string being configured to extend between a subsea wellbore and the vessel in a wellbore related operation, wherein the vessel including a hull, a riser storage adapted to store therein, in horizontal orientation, multiple pre-assembled riser stands and/or multiple individual riser stand, a deck structure having an elongated transfer opening above said riser storage, a transfer elevator, wherein multiple pre-assembled riser stands, each being pre-assembled from multiple riser sections connected end-to-end and each having a length of at least 150 ft. (45.72 m), and/or multiple individual riser sections each having a length of at least 150 ft. (45.72 m), are stored, in said horizontal orientation, in the riser storage, wherein the method comprises a riser transfer step wherein the transfer elevator is operated so as to raise a single one of said pre-assembled riser stands and/or individual riser sections in the horizontal position thereof from the riser storage, through the transfer opening, to a position above the deck structure.

A monohull offshore drilling vessel includes a hull having a moonpool; a multiple firing line hoist system mounted on the hull at the moonpool and including a mast having a top side and a base connected to the hull, wherein the mast has a hollow construction with a first side and an opposed second side; a first hoisting device having load attachment means displaceable along a first firing line extending on the outside of and adjacent to the first side of the mast; a second hoisting device having load attachment means displaceable along a second firing line, which on the outside of and adjacent to the second side of the mast; wherein the first and second hoisting devices each include cable(s) and associated winch(es), the winches disposed in the hollow construction of the mast, to manipulate the position of each of the load attachment devices relative to the mast.

The invention relates to underwater drilling for procuring and analyzing ground samples of a bed of a body of water. An underwater drilling device placed onto a bed of the body of water. By a drill drive a drill rod composed of at least one tubular drill rod element is drilled into the bed of the body of water in a first drilling step, wherein a drill core is received in a receiving part in the tubular drill rod element. The receiving part with the drill core is deposited in a storage place of a storage area on the base frame. Subsequently, one further drilling step is carried out with a further drill rod element. By means of sensor means at least one physical and/or chemical property of the drill core is determined. data on the storage place of the drill core in the second storage area.