NL2017990B1 - Transferring items between decks fore and aft of a derrick of a drilling vessel - Google Patents

Description

Octrooicentrum

Nederland

Θ 2017990 (21) Aanvraagnummer: 2017990 © Aanvraag ingediend: 13/12/2016

BI OCTROOI (A) Int. Cl.:

B63B 35/44 (2017.01) E21B 19/00 (2017.01) E21B 19/15 (2017.01)

A) Aanvraag ingeschreven:	(73) Octrooihouder(s):
26/06/2018	GustoMSC Resources B.V. te Schiedam.
(43) Aanvraag gepubliceerd:
-	(72) Uitvinder(s):
	Sjoerd Maarten Hendriks te Schiedam.
Octrooi verleend:	Laurens Cornells Claassen te Schiedam.
26/06/2018	Wilhelmus Coenradus Johannes Jozephus
	Woldring te Schiedam.
(45) Octrooischrift uitgegeven:
04/07/2018
	(74) Gemachtigde:
	ir. C.M. Jansen c.s. te Den Haag.

© Transferring items between decks fore and aft of a derrick of a drilling vessel (57) Transferring items between a foredeck forwardly of a drilling derrick and an aft deck aft of the derrick using cranes on the foredeck and the aft deck. The item is hoisted from the foredeck or the aft deck onto a carriage to the side of the hull, the carriage is caused to travel along a guide rail from a position alongside the foredeck or the aft deck to a position alongside the other one of the foredeck and the aft deck, and the item is hoisted from the carriage onto the other one of the foredeck and the aft deck. A drilling vessel specifically adapted for carrying out such a method is also described.

NL BI 2017990

Dit octrooi is verleend ongeacht het bijgevoegde resultaat van het onderzoek naar de stand van de techniek en schriftelijke opinie. Het octrooischrift komt overeen met de oorspronkelijk ingediende stukken.

P114067NL00

TITLE: Transferring items between decks fore and aft of a derrick of a drilling vessel

FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a method for transferring items between decks fore and aft of a derrick of a drilling vessel and to a drilling vessel adapted for carrying out such a method.

On mobile offshore drilling units, such as drilling ships, it is frequently necessary to transfer items such as containers, equipment baskets, crates, equipment boxes, drilling tubulars, casing joints etc. from one location on the vessel to another location on the vessel. For instance from the deck aft of the derrick (hereinafter: aft deck) to the deck forwardly of the derrick (hereinafter foredeck) if, after drilling into a target zone and running and analyzing wireline logs, the decision is made to adjust the casing program and to run a casing string with a different diameter than anticipated while the casing joints of the required alternative diameter were loaded on the aft deck, but stand building must be done on the forward part of the drill floor, so the joints must be supplied from the fore deck. Another instance when such a transfer between foredeck and aft deck is necessary is if a gripper yoke, of which usually only one is on board, is stored on the aft deck, but drilling tubulars must be loaded on the forward catwalk machine, so the gripper yoke must be attached to one of the cranes serving the foredeck.

For transferring items between foredecks and aft deck, the items are usually hoisted from one deck onto a handover deck to the side of the derrick by a crane on the deck from which the item is hoisted and, subsequently, hoisted from the handover deck to another deck on the other side of the drilling derrick.

However, hoisting items onto and off handover decks entails numerous disadvantages. Firstly, the handover deck is close to the derrick, so the crane and hoisted items can easily collide with the derrick. Secondly, the handover deck is close to critical equipment, including riser tensioners, drilling line reels and rooms containing electrical equipment, so that collisions with this equipment can easily occur. Thirdly, personnel and walkways are in close proximity of the handover deck, which is a safety concern.

Instead of making use of the handover deck, it is also known to hoist the items to be transferred onto a platform supply vessel (PSV) alongside the drilling vessel. Although this avoids some of the disadvantages of hoisting via a handover deck, this method entails other disadvantages, such as ship-to-ship lifts, which entails more risks than hoisting from and to positions on the same vessel, and the additional costs of making available the PSV for this purpose.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a low cost solution that allows displacement of items from the foredeck to the aft deck of a drilling vessel and vice versa more easily and more safely.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by providing a method according to claim 1. The invention can also be embodied in a vessel according to claim 2.

By hoisting the item from the foredeck or the aft deck onto the carriage, subsequently causing the carriage to travel along the guide rail from a position alongside the foredeck or the aft deck to a position alongside the other one of the foredeck and the aft deck, and subsequently hoisting the item from the carriage onto the other one of the foredeck and the aft deck, the item can be displaced from the foredeck to the aft deck or vice versa without hoisting closely along the derrick, critical equipment and areas where personnel may be present and without the need of a PSV present alongside the drilling vessel.

Hoisting is safe with very little risk of accidentally dropping items into the sea (which, in addition to the costs of lost items, may cause substantial damage to underwater infrastructure), because only lifts on the vessel and over decks or platforms of the vessel are required. Moreover, displacements in longitudinal direction of the vessel can be performed quickly, because no horizontal displacement of freely hanging items is required.

Particular elaborations and embodiments of the invention are set forth in the dependent claims.

Further features, effects and details of the invention appear from the detailed description and the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an example of a drilling vessel according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a partly schematized perspective view along a side of a drilling vessel according to Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a schematic top view of a drilling vessel according to Figs. 1 and

2; and

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view along a line IV-IV in Fig. 3, a container being carried instead of tubular items as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The drawings show an example of a drilling vessel 1, in the form of a ship, according to the invention. The vessel 1 has a hull 2, a double drilling derrick 3, a foredeck 4 forwardly of the derrick 3, an aft deck 5 aft of the derrick 3, cranes 6, 7 on the foredeck 4 and cranes 8, 9 on the aft deck 5.

To the side of the hull 2 outboard of the hull, a carriage 10 is suspended from a guide rail 11 for guiding displacement of the carriage 10 along a side of the vessel 1 between a position to the side of the foredeck 4 and a position to the side of the aft deck 5. One of the cranes on 6, 7 on the foredeck 4 is arranged for hoisting items onto and from the carriage 10 positioned alongside the foredeck 4 and one of the cranes 8, 9 on the aft deck 5 is arranged for hoisting items onto and from the carriage 10 positioned alongside the aft deck

5. Furthermore, a carriage drive 12 is provided for driving displacement of the carriage 10 between the positions alongside the foredeck 4 and alongside the aft deck 5. In this example, the drive 12 is an electric motor electrically connected to a battery pack 13 and to a remote control unit 14 arranged for wireless communication with a user interface device on board of the vessel 1.

In operation, it is frequently necessary to transfer items such as containers, equipment baskets, crates, equipment boxes, drilling tubulars, casing joints 15 etc. from the aft deck 5 to the foredeck 4 or vice versa, for example if casing joints of a required diameter were loaded on the aft 5 deck, but stand building must be done on the forward part of the drill floor, so the joints must be supplied from the fore deck 4 or for transferring a gripper yoke for loading drilling tubulars on a forward or aft catwalk machine from a deck 5, 4 on the other side of the derrick 3.

According to the invention, such displacements can be carried out by first hoisting the item to be displaced from the foredeck 4 or the aft deck 5 onto the carriage 10, then causing the carriage 10 to travel along the guide rail 11 from a position alongside the foredeck 4 or the aft deck 5 to a position alongside the other one of the foredeck 4 and the aft deck 5, and then hoisting the item from the carriage 10 onto the other one of the foredeck 4 and the aft deck 5.

Thus, the item can be displaced from the foredeck 4 to the aft deck 5 or vice versa without hoisting closely along the derrick 3, critical equipment and areas where personnel may be present and without the need of a PSV present alongside the drilling vessel 1.

Since the carriage 10 is displaceable in longitudinal direction (arrow 20 in Fig. 3), reaching out of cranes 6-9) for the displacement in longitudinal direction is not necessary and there is no advantage in moving hoisted items along a trajectory over the open sea. Thus, hoisting is safe with very little risk of accidentally dropping items into the sea. Also displacements in longitudinal direction of the vessel 1 can be performed quickly, because no horizontal displacement of freely hanging items is required.

As is best seen in Figs. 2 and 4, the carriage 10 has upper guide members 16, 17 engaging the guide rail 11 for guidance along 11 guide rail 11 and lower guide member 18 resting against a side surface 19 of the hull 2 of the vessel 1. Thus, only a single guide rail is necessary and there is no requirement regarding tolerances in the distance between parallel guides rails. In the present example, the guide rail 11 is U-shaped, but other shapes, such as rod-shaped (e.g. circular or square) or C-shaped, are also conceivable.

In the present example, the guide members 16-18 are wheels, so that displacement of the carriage 10 along the guide rails 11 causes little friction. Other guide members, such as sliding blocks or levitation magnets are also conceivable.

The guide rail 11 has a trough having a horizontal surface and a vertical surface and wherein the upper guide member includes first wheels 17 having a circumference contacting the horizontal surface facing upwardly and second wheels 16 having a circumference contacting the vertical surface facing the hull 2 of the vessel 1. Thus, a particularly reliable guidance is achieved. If a more simple construction is desired, wheels having axes of rotation oriented in one oblique direction only and running along a surface of the guide rail sloping in about the same oblique direction and facing upwardly and towards the hull 2 may be provided.

As is shown in Fig. 4, the guide rail 11 is suspended to the side of the hull 2 from arms 21 projecting through openings 22 in the hull above deck 4. Such openings may also be openings in a railing. This allows such a guide rail to be fitted to an existing vessel in a simple manner. In particular, because the attachment of the rail 11 to the vessel body consists of clinches/shear pads welded to the deck 4, 5 and outriggers bolted to these, installation involves very little welding and finishing thereof. The rail 11 preferably consists of sections to facilitate manufacturing, transport and installation. In particular if the rail is to be provided on a new vessel, it may also be integrated in a top edge portion where the hull meets the deck.

The carriage 10 itself consists of a compact frame 23 with a top 24 to carry items, such as casing joints 15 or a container 25. If tubular items are to be displaced, the items are preferably hoisted onto and off the carriage 10 in a rack. At the top of the carriage a floor in the form of a grating 26 and handrails 27 for personnel access and safety are provided. The handrails 27 are partly removable to enable transportation of items that are longer than the carriage

10.

If necessary, for example during adverse weather conditions, the carriage 10 can be secured by means of a sea fastening system. In addition, the carriage 10 can be lifted off the guide rail 11 by a crane 7, 9 and stored on the deck 4, 5 for example during transit and while in a port.

Because the carriage according is equipped with a battery pack 13 for power supply and controlled remotely via wireless communication, no damage and corrosion prone items as cabling or a contact rail are necessary. The battery pack 13 may be charged by means of a charging station after the carriage has been moved to a position opposite the charging station.

Claims (4)

1. Conclusies

   1. Werkwijze voor het overdragen van voorwerpen tussen een voordek voor een boortoren en een achterdek achter de boortoren met gebruikmaking van kranen op het voordek en het achterdek, waarbij het voordek, het achterdek, de kranen en de boortoren deel uitmaken van een boorschip met een romp, een wagen opzij van de romp buitenboord van de romp en een geleiderad voor het geleiden van de verplaatsing van de wagen langs een zijde van het vaartuig, omvattende:

   het hijsen van het voorwerp van het voordek of het achterdek op de wagen;

   het vervolgens doen verplaatsen van de wagen langs de geleiderad vanaf een positie naast het voordek of het achterdek naar een positie naast het andere van het voordek en het achterdek; en het vervolgens hijsen van het voorwerp van de wagen naar het andere van het voordek en het achterdek.
2. 2. Boorschip met een romp, een boortoren, een voordek voor de boortoren, een achterdek achter de boortoren, ten minste één kraan op het voordek, ten minste één kraan op het achterdek, een wagen opzij van de romp buitenboord van de romp en een geleiderad voor het geleiden van de verplaatsing van de wagen langs een zijde van het schip tussen een positie opzij van het voordek en een positie opzij van het achterdek, waarbij:

   ten minste één van genoemde kranen op voordek is aangebracht voor het hijsen van voorwerpen naar en van de wagen gepositioneerd opzij van het voordek;

   ten minste één van genoemde kranen op genoemd achterdek is aangebracht voor het hijsen van voorwerpen naar en van de wagen gepositioneerd opzij van het achterdek; en een aandrijving van de wagen is voorzien voor het aandrijven van verplaatsing van genoemde wagen tussen de genoemde posities opzij van het voordek en opzij van het achterdek.
3. 5 3. Schip volgens conclusie 2, waarbij genoemde wagen een bovenste geleidingsorgaan aangrijpend op genoemde geleidingsrail voor geleiding langs genoemde geleidingsrail en een onderste geleidingsorgaan rustend tegen een zijoppervlak van de romp van het schip omvat.

   10 4. Schip volgens conclusie 3, waarbij de geleidingsorganen wielen zijn.

   5. Schip volgens conclusie 4, waarbij de rail een trog met een horizontaal oppervlak en een verticaal oppervlak heeft en waarbij het bovenste geleidingsorgaan ten minste een eerste wiel met een omtrek in contact met

   15 genoemd horizontaal oppervlak en ten minste één tweede wiel met een omtrek in contact met genoemd verticale oppervlak heeft.
4. 6. Schip volgens één der conclusies 2-5, waarbij de geleidingsrail opzij van de romp is op gehangen aan de armen die uitsteken door openingen in de

   20 romp boven het dek of door openingen in een railing.

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