Experimental analysis of the seakeeping response of a double-barge float-over system for topside transportation

In this paper, an experimental investigation of the seakeeping behavior relative to a newly developed float-over concept byTechnipFMC Rome Operating Centre (ROC) for transportation, installation, and decommissioning of an offshore platformtopside is presented. A scaled rigid model of the twin-barge system has been tested in the wave basin to determine the mainseakeeping features and the towing forces in head and following waves. Comparisons with single-barge and flexible modeltests are also provided. In the perspective of identifying the range of safe sea-state conditions for topside transportation, thepresent analysis is the first stage of a more extensive investigation that involves the testing of different scale models as wellas numerical simulations for which the collected data will provide a validation database.