An installation system of deepwater risers by an S-lay vessel

Along with the consumption increase of the petroleum products, more countries have transferred their attentions to the offshore fields, especially the deepwater oil and gas reserves. For deepwater exploitation, the risers must be installed to act as the conduits connecting surface platforms to subsea facilities. In this paper, the typical risers sorted by different classes are introduced, and the correspondent installation methods are presented. By investigating the recent projects performed in the deepwater hot spots, and combining the challenges of HYSY201 for riser installation, a lifting device developed for assisting riser installation is proposed and detailed to satisfy the installation of deepwater risers in the LW3-1 Gas Field of 1500 m in the South China Sea. Tests on both the functions and performances of such a new system exhibit the satisfaction of meeting all challenging requirements of HYSY201 for application to riser installation in waters up to a depth of 3000 m in the South China Sea.