A sealed and thermally insulating tank whose wall is fixed to a carrier wall. The tank wall includes a secondary thermal insulation barrier which is retained on the carrier wall and a secondary sealing barrier which is supported by the thermal insulation barrier. There is also a primary insulation barrier which is fixed to the secondary element of the tank by a fastener which is connected to the secondary insulation barrier.

A submarine support ship is preferably a triple-hulled vessel; the lower portion of the ship is a paired-hull catamaran which is capable of deep diving, clasping the submarine at deep sea, and floating upwards together with the clasped submarine. The upper portion of the ship is a buoyancy tank, which can supply air to and pull up the deep-diving lower portion, and can also conduct security of an ocean-going submarine. For the submarine support ship of the present invention, by utilizing a mature deep diving submersible technology, the lower portion of the submarine support ship is manufactured as a deep-diving submersible in a submarine contour form, which is quickly separated from the upper portion of the submarine support ship and dives to reach the submarine position in the deep sea, clasps the submarine and then floats upwards together with the submarine as a whole to the water-surface position, such that the egress hatch of the submarine is docked with a dedicated docking hatch of the submarine support ship, to implement rescue security of the submarine; which mainly solves the problem that the rescue water-depth of current deep-diving lifeboats is shallow, but it also solves the problems that the deep-diving lifeboat has many rescue links, slow speed, and can only save people, but not submarines.

A method includes: loading a vehicle onto a connector boat; loading the loaded connector boat onto the semi-submersible ship; transporting the semi-submersible ship having the loaded connector boat stored thereon to a location; taking water ballast onto the semi-submersible ship at the location; floating the loaded connector boat off of the semi-submersible ship; transporting the loaded connector boat to a second location; unloading the vehicle into water; and transporting the vehicle to a third location.

A shallow water seabed terminal for storing and loading or unloading hydrocarbons, such as LNG, oil or gas, includes a removable floatable module and a removable seabed substructure intended to be supported by a seabed. The floatable module is releasably fixed to the seabed substructure so that a harbour terminal is formed. The seabed substructure includes a base structure provided with buoyancy devices, a wall structure extending upwardly from the base structure and arranged along at least a part of the periphery of the base structure. The base structure is also provided with an opening in the wall structure for allowing the floatable module to be berthed in and supported by the seabed substructure. The base structure is provided with a submerged beam or base slab structure which extends laterally out from the vertical wall structure and is configured to support the floatable module.

The present invention relates to a hydraulic height adjusting device for installing a heavy-weight structure to secure stable horizontal bearing power against a horizontal load of a heavy-weight upper structure. The present invention includes a lower frame which is installed on a top surface of the carrier and is provided with a plurality of receiving portions formed in an upwardly opened shape; and a hydraulic cylinder which is disposed in and engaged to the respective receiving portions of the lower frame, the hydraulic cylinder being moved in a vertical direction to adjust the height of the upper structure, in a state in which an upper end thereof supports the upper structure. The receiving portion is provided with a support guide which is interposed between an inner wall of the receiving portion and the hydraulic cylinder to annually enclose the hydraulic cylinder and thus prevent the hydraulic cylinder from being tilted.

An offshore system includes a vessel having a deck; a cantilever which is mounted on the deck and which is moveable in a longitudinal direction of the cantilever relative to the deck between a retracted position and an extended position, and which is rotatable relative to the deck about a substantially vertical swivel axis; and actuators to move the cantilever in longitudinal direction and to rotate the cantilever about the swivel axis. The swivel axis is provided by a single sliding and swivel assembly arranged at one end of the cantilever, including a fixed part mounted to the deck and a sliding part mounted to the cantilever. The sliding part is arranged to slide in longitudinal direction of the cantilever relative to the fixed part when the cantilever moves in the longitudinal direction. The fixed part and/or the combination of fixed part and sliding part are configured to form the swivel axis allowing the cantilever to rotate relative to the deck. A sliding assembly is arranged at the other end of the cantilever supporting the cantilever and allowing the cantilever to slide in longitudinal direction of the cantilever relative to the deck during movement of the cantilever in longitudinal direction, and to slide in a transverse direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction relative to the deck during rotation of the cantilever relative to the deck.

A method of building an offshore windmill includes, using a 3D-heave-compensated crane, placing on a windmill pedestal a lifting jack having a receiving region, and fixing the lifting jack to the windmill pedestal such that the lifting jack can be later removed, and such that a windmill column can be placed within the receiving region directly on the windmill pedestal. The windmill generator is installed using the 3D-heave-compensated crane. The windmill column is partially erected on the windmill pedestal using the 3D-heave-compensated crane and the lifting jack. Before the windmill is fully erected, windmill blades are placed on the windmill generator using the 3D-heave-compensated crane, and the erection of the windmill column on the windmill pedestal is completed using at least the lifting jack. Using the 3D-heave-compensated crane, the lifting jack is removed from the windmill pedestal.

A submarine support ship is preferably a triple-hulled vessel; the lower portion of the ship is a paired-hull catamaran which is capable of deep diving, clasping the submarine at deep sea, and floating upwards together with the clasped submarine. The upper portion of the ship is a buoyancy tank, which can supply air to and pull up the deep-diving lower portion, and can also conduct security of an ocean-going submarine. For the submarine support ship of the present invention, by utilizing a mature deep diving submersible technology, the lower portion of the submarine support ship is manufactured as a deep-diving submersible in a submarine contour form, which is quickly separated from the upper portion of the submarine support ship and dives to reach the submarine position in the deep sea, clasps the submarine and then floats upwards together with the submarine as a whole to the water-surface position, such that the egress hatch of the submarine is docked with a dedicated docking hatch of the submarine support ship, to implement rescue security of the submarine; which mainly solves the problem that the rescue water-depth of current deep-diving lifeboats is shallow, but it also solves the problems that the deep-diving lifeboat has many rescue links, slow speed, and can only save people, but not submarines.

Described is a device for lifting an elongated object from a deck of a vessel subject to movements in a heave direction. The device comprises rigid supports provided on the deck of the vessel for supporting the object at a first height relative to the deck, and retractable supports provided on the deck of the vessel for supporting the object at a second height relative to the deck, which second height is larger than the first height. A lifting crane is configured to take up the object from the retractable supports at the second height. An actuator system is configured to lower the retractable supports in the heave direction to a third height relative to the deck at the instant in time the object is lifted from the retractable supports, the third height being smaller than the second height. A method using the device is also described.

The present invention relates to an offshore structure comprising an upending device for upending an elongate support structure from a substantially horizontal loading position on a deck of the offshore structure to a substantially vertical launch position outboard of the offshore structure. The upending device comprising a pivot axis situated near a side of the offshore structure for pivoting the upending device between the loading position and the launch position, a first end of the upending device having a connector member for pivotally connecting to the elongate support structure, the connector member in the launch position is in a position outboard from the side of the offshore structure, and a second end of the upending device is attached to a pulling device that is located on the deck of the offshore structure. The upending device is within reach of one or more hoisting means for lifting the elongate support structure.