A towing anchor capable of extending wing plate and an installation method therefor are provided. The towing anchor includes a main anchor plate and two wing plates which can slide outwards relative to the main anchor plate and will not be detached from the main anchor plate. The main anchor plate is anchored with a mooring steel cable connected to a towing vessel. The main anchor plate is further provided with a limit cable-receiving groove, in which first, second and third fixed pulleys are respectively provided correspondingly to each of the two wing plates. One end of a tensioning steel cable is fixed to an inner edge of the wing plate, and the other end of the tensioning steel cable sequentially surrounds the third, second, and first fixed pulleys and then passes through an opening formed at middle position of the groove to be connected to the towing vessel.

A mooring assembly for attaching a vessel to a subsea well including a well conductor, the mooring assembly comprising: (a) a housing for the well conductor; (b) a base defining an interface for a subsea ground surface; and (c) a rotatably mounted vessel attachment point; wherein, in use, a vessel moored to the subsea well is capable of rotational movement around the subsea well.

The mooring connector has a hollow body or shell and a central core. The hollow body or shell is formed from an engineering polymer, e.g. polyamide, and is generally cylindrical and has two shell parts. The hollow body has an outer surface and an inner surface. The outer surface has a central groove portion or rope running surface and two outer groove portions or rope running surfaces. The two outer groove portions or rope running surfaces are tapered, such that the outer groove portions are not equally spaced from the central groove portion around the entire circumference of the hollow body or shell. The central core is a solid body that is formed from a metallic material, for example steel. The central core is generally cylindrical and has a shape that is configured to correspond to the shape of the recess of the hollow body or shell. The central core has a central portion and arms that extend from the central portion to outer flanges. The diameter of the central core at the outer flanges and the central portion is greater than the diameter of the central core at the arms. This is to ensure that the central core has the required strength in the areas of the mooring connector that supports a rope, in use.

A tension device for securing a floating structure includes an elastic member, first and second end members, and an inelastic member. The elastic member is stretchable under tension from an unstretched length to a stretched length. The first and second end members are carried at first and second ends of the elastic member, respectively. The inelastic member is secured to the first and second end member and limits the stretched length of the elastic member. First and second restrictive apertures are limited in diameter by first and second sewn portions of the inelastic member, respectively. The first and second restrictive apertures prevent separation between the inelastic member and the first and second ends of the elastic member, when the tension device is loaded in tension.

A winch rigging link has a body defining a cable retainer and a soft shackle retainer at opposite ends. The body has a length, a width less than the length, and a depth less than the width. Furthermore, the body defines opposing faces bounded by the length and width and spaced apart by the depth. The soft shackle retainer comprises a channel running widthwise across the soft shackle retainer an in between the faces. The channel defines a bearing surface having curvature in a lengthwise and widthwise plane. The cable retainer may be permanently attached to a winch cable and the soft shackle retainer attached to a soft shackle or the like when required for winch rigging. The configuration of the link maximises the bend radius of the soft shackle or the like retained by the soft shackle retainer, despite the relatively narrow profile of the body thereof.

An off-shore wind turbine system is assembled using a platform or jack-up vessel, and a first base anchored to the seafloor at a bade assembly off-shore location. A buoyant tower is attached to the first base. A crane provided on the platform or jack-up vessel is used to lift blades and blades, which are then coupled to a turbine held in a nacelle provided at the top of the buoyant tower. The buoyant tower, the nacelle, and the blades are detached from the first base. The buoyant tower, the nacelle, and the blades are towed to a wind farm and connected to a second base provided in the wind farm. The buoyant tower, the nacelle, and the blades are further stabilized using mooring lines spanning between the buoyant towers and other bases provided in the wind farm. The first base and/or the second base include anti-rotation features.

A floating support structure for supporting a windmill system includes a windmill tower, a windmill nacelle, and windmill blades. The support structure includes an aft main section, a transverse main section, and a connecting flange. The aft main section includes a horizontal aft part with a first horizontal aft end and a second horizontal aft end, a vertical aft part with a first vertical aft end at least indirectly connected perpendicular to the first horizontal aft end and a second vertical aft end, and an aft damping structure connected to the second vertical aft end. The vertical and the horizontal aft parts are oriented in a common vertical aft plane. A horizontal cross sectional area of the aft damping structure is larger than a horizontal cross-sectional area of the second vertical aft end. The transverse main section includes a horizontal transverse part with a first horizontal transverse end and a second horizontal transverse end, two vertical transverse parts, each having a first vertical transverse end and a second vertical transverse end, wherein the first vertical transverse ends of the vertical transverse parts are at least indirectly connected perpendicular to the first and second horizontal transverse ends, and two transverse damping structures connected to the second vertical transverse ends of the respective two vertical transverse parts. The two vertical transverse parts and the horizontal transverse part are oriented in a common vertical transverse plane. A horizontal cross sectional area of each of the transverse damping structures is larger than a horizontal cross sectional area of the second vertical transverse end. The connecting flange is for connecting a coupling end of the windmill tower distal to the windmill nacelle vertically onto the floating support structure. The second horizontal aft end of the aft main section is connected to the horizontal transverse part of the transverse main section such that the vertical aft plane is oriented perpendicular to the vertical transverse plane.

A floating dock retention device. A flexible tether is adapted to retain a floating section to an adjacent structure, with a length defined between first and second positions along the flexible tether. A first clamp is affixed at the first position of the flexible tether, and a second clamp is affixed at the second position of the flexible tether. A drawbar spring with first and second ends is affixed to the first clamp at the first end and to the second clamp at the second end. The drawbar spring has a longer length when the drawbar spring is in a limit of its tension, and a shorter length when the drawbar spring is in a resting position. The longer length is no longer than the length between the first and second positions of the flexible tether, and the shorter length produces slack in the length between the first and second positions of the flexible tether.

The present invention provides an improved device for attaching a watercraft to another structure such as another watercraft or a fixed structure, such as a dock. The apparatus comprises a spacing bar and specialized, quick connecting and releasing attachment devices that allow the watercraft to be quickly and effectively moored to other structures on the water without the risk of collision or damage to the watercraft. The quick-connect devices may be positioned near ends of the spacing bars to effectively hold the watercraft at a predetermined distance from the other structure. The device may further include tensioning mechanisms that are operable to keep the spacing bars at a substantially orthogonal orientation relative to the watercraft to maintain the pre-determined spacing between the watercraft and the other structure.

A tillable anchor has a number of planar sides, typically four, attached to a base and to one another, forming an enclosed structure with a cavity therein. Attachment points for a deployment line and for mooring lines are provided. After the empty anchor is deployed to the seafloor or other water bottom, an inlet and an outlet permit placement of a flowable weight material into the cavity. The anchor may have an extended skirt around the base to enhance holding capability.