Experimental analysis of topside transportation with a double-barge float-over system

In this paper, an experimental investigation of the seakeeping behavior relative to a newly developed float-over concept by TechnipFMC ROC for transportation, installation and decommissioning of off-shore platform topside is presented. A rigid scaled model of the float-over system was tested in the wave basin to determine the range of the seastate conditions under which the transportation of the topside can safely be carried out in head and following waves. The present analysis is part of a more extensive experimental campaign which involves also the use of a scaled flexible physical (Dessi et al., 2017) and numerical simulations for which the collected data provide a validation database.