A lifting apparatus comprises: a base part, a lifting rope, a sheave assembly, a first rotatably mounted sheave, around which the rope passes and from which the rope extends downwardly to a load, a second rotatably mounted sheave and a drive for moving the sheave assembly. The sheave assembly is mounted for pivotal movement relative to the base part about an axis of pivoting spaced from the axis of rotation of the first sheave and coincident with the axis of rotation of the second sheave. During movement of the load relative to the base part, the first sheave is moved by the drive to compensate for that relative movement, the movement of the first sheave being such that the vertical component of the movement of the first sheave relative to the load is less than the vertical component of the movement of the base part relative to the load.

A watercraft assembly is provided. The watercraft assembly includes a fuselage extracted from a used aircraft, wherein the fuselage has a base that is configured to be disposed above a waterbody. The watercraft assembly further include a plurality of coupling members coupled to the base of the fuselage. The plurality of coupling members is equally distributed on opposing sides of the fuselage and each coupling member includes a staircase that is aligned towards a first axis, which is perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the fuselage. The watercraft assembly further include a plurality of side vessels coupled to the plurality of coupling members. Each side vessel of the plurality of side vessels may be configured to be disposed on the waterbody and bear a weight of the fuselage above the waterbody, via the plurality of coupling members.

A watercraft assembly is provided. The watercraft assembly includes a fuselage extracted from a used aircraft, wherein the fuselage has a base that is configured to be disposed above a waterbody. The watercraft assembly further include a plurality of coupling members coupled to the base of the fuselage. The plurality of coupling members is equally distributed on opposing sides of the fuselage and each coupling member includes a staircase that is aligned towards a first axis, which is perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the fuselage. The watercraft assembly further include a plurality of side vessels coupled to the plurality of coupling members. Each side vessel of the plurality of side vessels may be configured to be disposed on the waterbody and bear a weight of the fuselage above the waterbody, via the plurality of coupling members.

Systems and methods provide for offloading liquefied gas, e.g. LNG, from a cargo vessel offshore and regasifying the offloaded gas. In example systems, a floating storage unit is moored to the seabed offshore; first tubing offloads liquefied gas from the cargo vessel to the storage unit; a jack-up platform is positioned offshore in proximity to the floating storage unit, the jack-up platform comprising legs which are arranged to be supported on the seabed and a hull which is arranged to be jacked up along the legs to a position above the sea surface; a regasification facility is provided on the jack-up platform; second tubing extends between the storage unit and the regasification facility of the jack-up platform for transferring liquified gas from the cargo vessel to the regasification facility for regasification of the liquified gas; and third tubing communicates regasified gas away from the regasification facility, e.g. to shore.

Systems and methods provide for offloading liquefied gas, e.g. LNG, from a cargo vessel offshore and regasifying the offloaded gas. In example systems, a floating storage unit is moored to the seabed offshore; first tubing offloads liquefied gas from the cargo vessel to the storage unit; a jack-up platform is positioned offshore in proximity to the floating storage unit, the jack-up platform comprising legs which are arranged to be supported on the seabed and a hull which is arranged to be jacked up along the legs to a position above the sea surface; a regasification facility is provided on the jack-up platform; second tubing extends between the storage unit and the regasification facility of the jack-up platform for transferring liquified gas from the cargo vessel to the regasification facility for regasification of the liquified gas; and third tubing communicates regasified gas away from the regasification facility, e.g. to shore.

A marine seismic data acquisition system and method of conducting a marine seismic survey are disclosed. The system incorporates one or more surface vessels, and a plurality of autonomous nodes for acquiring seismic data at one or more seabed locations. Each node comprises a USBL, SSBL or SBL transducer and USBL, SSBL or SBL acoustic modem. A first acoustic positioning system is operable between one of the surface vessels and the nodes, the first acoustic positioning system being a USBL, SSBL or SBL system. Each node of the plurality of autonomous nodes has a USBL, SSBL or SBL beacon address, with respective groups of nodes having the same beacon address. The nodes are configured such that no two nodes with the same beacon address can actively communicate over an associated USBL, SSBL or SBL modem at the same time.

A storage and reclaim system for bulk material includes a bulk material holding space having a bottom portion provided with a discharge port. The bottom portion includes an inclined support plate for supporting the bulk material and for assisting gravity induced feeding of the bulk material towards the discharge port. The support plate is supported by a support structure in a free-floating manner. One or more vibrators are connected to the support plate and configured to transfer vibrational energy to the support plate to induce a vibrational movement of the support plate. The discharge port includes one or more inclined discharge port plates. One or more vibrators are connected to each discharge port plate.

A storage and reclaim system for bulk material includes a bulk material holding space having a bottom portion provided with a discharge port. The bottom portion includes an inclined support plate for supporting the bulk material and for assisting gravity induced feeding of the bulk material towards the discharge port. The support plate is supported by a support structure in a free-floating manner. One or more vibrators are connected to the support plate and configured to transfer vibrational energy to the support plate to induce a vibrational movement of the support plate. The discharge port includes one or more inclined discharge port plates. One or more vibrators are connected to each discharge port plate.

A stone dumping vessel having symmetrical stone compartments includes a hull, a stone conveying unit, and an oblique fallpipe unit. The hull has a control cabin. A cannula compensating device of the oblique fallpipe unit is disposed on a side of the hull and connected with a fallpipe. Two sides of the control cabin are symmetrically provided with the stone compartments and dynamic positioning (DP) system cabins, respectively. The stone compartments are operated independently for automatically unloading stones to the stone conveying unit disposed at a lower center thereof. The stones are conveyed by independent conveyor systems disposed at the left and right of the control cabin to the fallpipe. The dynamic positioning (DP) system cabins and the cannula compensating device are adapted to position the hull and the fallpipe respectively so that the stone dumping vessel having symmetrical stone compartments can achieve high accuracy of stone dumping.

A stone dumping vessel having symmetrical stone compartments includes a hull, a stone conveying unit, and an oblique fallpipe unit. The hull has a control cabin. A cannula compensating device of the oblique fallpipe unit is disposed on a side of the hull and connected with a fallpipe. Two sides of the control cabin are symmetrically provided with the stone compartments and dynamic positioning (DP) system cabins, respectively. The stone compartments are operated independently for automatically unloading stones to the stone conveying unit disposed at a lower center thereof. The stones are conveyed by independent conveyor systems disposed at the left and right of the control cabin to the fallpipe. The dynamic positioning (DP) system cabins and the cannula compensating device are adapted to position the hull and the fallpipe respectively so that the stone dumping vessel having symmetrical stone compartments can achieve high accuracy of stone dumping.