DRY TOW OF THE FRONT RUNNER SPAR HULL

Project Summary

The 12,100 t Murphy Exploration & Production Company FRONT RUNNER spar hull was transported from Jebel Ali to the U.S. Gulf

by the semi-submersible heavy-lift barge ZHONG REN 3. This barge is a converted tanker. Because of the total length of the Spar

hull, 2 stern extensions were welded to the barge stern to support the spar's overhanging soft tank. The spar was loaded onto the

barge, by skidding it on over the stern. The barge’s buoyancy casings were (temporary) relocated to provide an unobstructed cargo

deck. The contractor provided large amounts of engineering studies, covering the load-out and transportation of the spar hull, including

structural analyses of the barge and the spar, detailed procedures, stability and motion response calculations, float-off calculations,

etc.

The project scope included:

Photographs courtesy of MatthewsDaniel.

specialists in marine heavy-lift transportation engineering

naval architects

marine surveyors

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Est. 1992

■	Determine the design environmental criteria for the tow, based on the anticipated departure date;
■	Reviewing all engineering documents and procedures;
■	Recommendations for the optimum ballast condition of the barge during the tow;
■	Independent stability and motion response calculations;
■	Calculation of the barge hull girder deflection in hogging and sagging conditions;
■	Independent strength analysis of the barge deck subject to high point loads during load-out and transport;
■	Independent stability analysis for the critical phases of the offloading.

Barge ZHONG REN 3 arriving with the FRONT RUNNER spar hull