OTC 14306

Anchors for Deepwater to Ultradeepwater Moorings

J-L. Colliat, TOTAL FINA ELF
Copyright 2002, Offshore Technology Conference
This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2002 Offshore Technology Conference held in
Houston, Texas U.S.A., 69 May 2002.
This paper was selected for presentation by the OTC Program Committee following review of
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presented, have not been reviewed by the Offshore Technology Conference and are subject to
correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any
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presented.

Abstract
From a review of current applications, suction piles and
vertically loaded plate anchors (VLAs) appear as the two
preferred solutions for deepwater mooring systems, in up to
about 1500m of water depth, and for both temporary mooring
of exploration drilling rigs and permanent mooring of
production units. From this experience, some general trends
for application in up to 3000m of water depth are suggested.
The availability of recognised design methods will
facilitate further applications of suction piles and VLAs in
deepwater to ultradeepwater moorings. In the paper, emphasis
is put on the required field load testing work for improving the
present design practice for suction piles and VLAs used in
permanent moorings in soft deepwater clays. Finally, within
the on-going R&D studies on new anchor types, the freefalling torpedo anchor is identified as the most promising
anchor concept, in particular for use in temporary moorings
for MODUs beyond the 3000m water depth limit.
Introduction
The rapidly growing offshore activity in ultradeep waters (i.e.
between 1500 and 3000m of water depth), requires the need to
increase the mooring capability of the existing fleet of
exploration drilling or floating production units (FPUs), with
the objective to maintain the procurement and installation
costs of the mooring system at a reasonable level, without
decreasing the reliability of the mooring components. The
selection of the mooring system for a given floating unit,
which has become a key parameter in deep waters, should be
based on an integrated study, including not only the type of
mooring line and anchor, but also the installation procedure at
the site and the type of installation vessel(s) which will
directly influence the final cost of the complete as-laid
mooring system.

For deepwater developments, apart from the TLP currently

applied in up to about 1200m of water in the Gulf of Mexico,
and excluding the piled compliant tower used in moderate
water depths, dry completion and production units under
consideration include semi-submersible FPUs, FPSOs/FSOs,
and deep draft floaters such as the SPAR buoy (Fig. 1).
To date, the driven pile is still the main type of foundation
or anchor for the TLPs and SPARs. The low soil resistance to
driving encountered in soft clays at deepwater sites makes the
use of relatively small hydraulic hammers efficient, with the
hammer weight not being an installation issue. However, the
need for alternative solutions is related to the costly pile
driving fieldworks with large crane barges, as well as to the
present limit of hydraulic hammers at about 1500m of water.
According to hammer manufacturers, this limit should
probably be extended to 2000m in the near future, with
fabrication of new umbilicals and winches, but more costly
modifications would be required for up-grading the hammers
for depths beyond 2000m.
With the exception of the lateral mooring system of the
Auger TLP in the Gulf of Mexico, the only two catenary
moorings for deepwater FPUs were those for the FPSO-II and
FPSO-VI, installed off Brazil in 1400 and 800m of water in
1997 and 2000, respectively. Conventional high holding
power drag anchors (HHPAs) were used in the three cases.
The API RP 2FP1 document [1] was modified by the API RP
2SK [2] to support the allowance of some vertical loading on
drag anchors under extreme environmental conditions,
although limited to a 5 and 10 uplift angle of the mooring line
at mudline in the intact and damaged condition, respectively,
thus allowing a significant reduction in the mooring line
length. However, the FPSO-II and FPSO-VI may probably be
the last two using conventional HHPAs in catenary moorings
at such water depths (Note: The FPSO-II was later relocated at
a shallower site with a new mooring system using VLAs, see
Table 2).
For both temporary mooring of drilling units and
permanent mooring of production floaters, deepwater to
ultradeepwater mooring systems are now considered with taut
legs, using fibre ropes and anchors with a vertical loading
capability. In the soft normally consolidated clays generally
found at deepwater sites, suction piles and vertically loaded
plate anchors presently appear as the two preferred anchoring
solutions. A number of applications now exist, in water depths

J-L. COLLIAT

ranging between 100 and 1400m for FPUs, and in up to about

2500m of water for drilling MODUs. From this experience,
some trends for application in ultradeep water, between 1500
and 3000m, are given in the paper. Some on-going R&D
studies on a new anchor type, for mooring systems reaching
the 3000m water depth limit and beyond, are also considered.
Development of Suction Piles and VLAs
Suction Piles. Table 1 summarises published data about
current applications of suction piles for permanent mooring of
production units, including semi-submersible FPUs and
FPSOs/FSOs, but excluding TLPs. The use of suction piles in
pre-installed moorings for exploration drilling MODUs in the
Gulf of Mexico is also mentioned. The list of applications in
Table 1 includes (1) a large range of water depth, from the
first ever application in 40m of water for the Gorm FSO in
Denmark in 1981 [3], to the most recent applications for
Hoover-Diana and Girassol in 1400m of water, and (2) the
complete range of soil conditions, from soft soils at deepwater
sites to hard clays and very dense sands from the North Sea
area. This clearly illustrates the high versatility and broad
range of applications of this anchor type.
Within the suction pile development in deepwater
moorings, one can mention the following milestones :
- In 1995, the ELF Congos Nkossa barge, in 200m of
water in west Africa, was the first FPU permanently
anchored with suction piles in soft clay representative of
deepwater sites. For this Nkossa barge, the suction pile
option was selected on an expected cost reduction of
about 20% of the global cost of the mooring system, in
particular because of the reduction in the mooring line
length and installation time, with no requirement for
proof-load testing at the field [4]. The good agreement
between the prediction and installation behaviour gave
confidence to both the anchor designer, installation
contractor and field operator. Although the length-todiameter ratio of the 5m diameter Nkossa anchors was
limited to 2.5 (with a maximum design penetration of
12m), it was shown that anchor penetration in soft clays
by means of suction under-pressure is not an installation
concern since the required suction is low with respect to
the maximum allowed suction [5]. This result probably
encouraged the consideration of installing long suction
piles for large floaters, as was demonstrated later by a
full-scale installation test of a suction pile with a lengthto-diameter ratio equal to five in the Gulf of Mexico.
- For the first time in 1997, fibre ropes were used in a tautleg mooring (TLM) configuration for the Marlim P19 and
P26 FPUs, in 770 and 1000m of water, respectively, and
all installation operations were driven and monitored
subsea by ROVs [9]. This was a break-through
application from PETROBRAS, which opened the way to
the use of suction piles in deep to ultradeepwater
moorings where taut lines with a significant vertical
loading component at seabed level are requested.
- End 1999, the EXXON MOBILs Hoover-Diana SPAR

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was the first SPAR floater with suction piles in a TLM

mooring system, in about 1400m of water in the Gulf of
Mexico. The large crane barge Saipem 7000, which was
the main construction and installation vessel at the field,
had ample lifting and winching capacities for handling the
6m diameter and 30m long suction piles, as well as the
twelve mooring lines composed of 6 chains and 6.5
coated steel wires [15].
In 1999 and 2000, pre-installation of mooring systems
with suction piles was performed by SHELL, for
extending the water depth capability of drilling MODUs
in up to about 2500m of water in the Gulf of Mexico. The
3.7m diameter and 18.3m long suction piles were installed
from a single AHV vessel, by means of a removable skid
to launch the pile over the stern roller via the use of the
vessel tuggers. The DELMAR subsea connector,
permitting easy connection/disconnection under water and
manoeuvred by ROV, allowed the mooring lines to be
changed from the vertical deployment configuration to a
20 angle in the final mooring configuration. With eight
lines per site, the overall installation time averaged less
than 20 days (including recovery of the suction piles,
wires and buoys from the previous location), in which
transit accounted for the highest percentage of time. It is
worth also to mention that the pump-in over-pressure at
time of retrieval was equal to about 2.5 times the
installation suction under-pressure for pulling-out suction
piles which were in place for six months [16, 17].
Mid 2001, the TOTAL FINA ELFs Girassol FPSO, the
largest FPSO worldwide for the deepest field developed
in west Africa to date, was anchored in 1400m of water
off Angola. The mooring system comprised 16 lines,
composed of 4.75 ground chain and 5 coated steel wire,
connected to 4.5m diameter and 17m high suction piles.
At the same Girassol field, the export buoy was anchored
with nine taut mooring lines made of fibre ropes with 5m
diameter and 16m high suction piles. Both mooring
systems were installed from the STOLT crane barge
Seaway Polaris and vessel Seaway Eagle [18].

VLAs. In front of the successful suction piles, both anchor

manufacturers BRUCE and VRYHOF have developed their
VLAs, i.e. the VRYHOFs Stevmanta and BRUCEs
Denla, respectively. In its principle, the VLA is a plate
fluke, embedded to sufficient depth by mainly horizontal
loading from an AHV vessel, similarly to a conventional dragin anchor, but loaded in a direction perpendicular to the fluke,
thus providing a vertical pull-out capacity under service
conditions in a taut leg mooring. On another hand, AMC
developed the SEPLA, a plate anchor which is penetrated to
depth by means of a suction pile follower. Published data
about VLA applications, including the first offshore prototype
tests of SEPLAs, are summarised in Table 2. Apart from the
SEPLAs used to anchor drilling MODUs in the Gulf of
Mexico, the two other VLAs have been applied offshore
Brazil only, for permanent mooring of three semi-submersible

OTC 14306

ANCHORS FOR DEEPWATER TO ULTRADEEPWATER MOORINGS

FPUs and one FPSO around the Marlim field area.

Since 1996, and after the first field tests carried out within
the DeepStar project in the Gulf of Mexico, the following
steps were taken for applying the three above VLAs :
- In 1998 and 1999, the Stevmanta was used for the
PETROBRAS P27 and P36 FPUs, in 530 and 1500m of
water, respectively. Two anchor handling vessels (AHVs)
worked in tandem for developing the required 300-ton
bollard pull for embedding the VLAs to a mean
penetration of 24m. At this penetration depth, the
calculated ultimate capacity of the 11 and 13m
Stevmanta VLAs was equal to 700 and 850 tons,
respectively [19, 20]. In 2000, three AHVs were required
for installing the Stevmanta VLAs for the P40 FPU in
1100m of water, having an ultimate pull-out capacity of
about 950 tons [23].
- In 1999, the Denla was used for the PETROBRAS
FPSO-II in 1200m of water, the first ever FPSO
permanently anchored with fibre ropes and VLAs. The
550-ton ultimate holding capacity of the 10m anchors
required an installation load of about 250 tons, applied by
means of two AHVs working in tandem. An embedment
depth ranging between 14 and 19m was obtained, with a
drag distance ranging between 24 and 50m [22].
- In 1999, the SEPLA concept has proven successful, with a
full-scale field test performed by AMC from an
exploration MODU in 1500m of water, where the plate
anchor was embedded to 25m of penetration by means of
a 4.5m diameter suction pile follower [21]. Thus, the
SEPLA works in a similar way than the Stevmanta and
Denla VLAs, but, in addition to the necessary bollardpull for proof-load testing the anchor, the use of an AHV
with a significant lifting capacity is required for handling
the follower. However, a significant advantage of the
SEPLA is to guarantee the anchor embedment depth and
location with its installation procedure using this suction
pile follower.
Applicability of Suction Piles and VLAs
The current applications of suction piles and VLAs given in
Tables 1 and 2 are presented in Fig. 2, where the ultimate
anchor holding capacity (thus its size and weight) is shown as
a function of water depth. One can see that three main areas
can be defined, corresponding to three classes of floating
structures and holding capacities.
- Zone 1: VLAs for semi-submersible FPUs and
MODUs. This area corresponds to relatively low ultimate
capacities of VLAs, in the order of 5 to 8MN. In Fig. 2,
Zone 1 has been limited to a maximum capacity of 10MN,
corresponding to a maximum VLA embedment load of
about 500 tons possibly applied with two or three large
AHV vessels. Two singular points pertaining to this first
area are highlighted, i.e. (1) the first ever application of
VLAs for the P27 FPU in the relatively shallow water
depth of about 500m offshore Brazil (falling into Zone 2),
and (2) the use of relatively low capacity suction piles in

pre-set moorings for MODUs in water depths ranging

between 1600 and 2500m in the Gulf of Mexico, thus
illustrating a possibly lower confidence given to VLAs for
this application.
Zone 2: Suction piles for FPSOs/FSOs/FPUs. This
second area includes almost all currently applied suction
piles, from shallow water (including their first application
for the Gorm FSO in 40m of water) up to 1500m of water
depth, with ultimate capacities ranging between 5 and
15MN. Zone 2 has been limited to a maximum capacity of
15MN, over which the dimensions and weight of the
suction piles would become an installation issue, thus
requesting great lifting capacities from a large and costly
crane barge (e.g. the Hoover-Diana SPAR case example).
The following singular points are found, i.e. (1) the
Girassol FPSO and P26 FPU (both falling into Zone 1),
corresponding to relatively low ultimate anchor capacities
in mild environmental conditions offshore Angola and
Brazil, respectively, and (2) the Marlim South FPSO-II,
corresponding to the first ever use of VLAs for permanent
mooring of a FPSO in Brazil.
Zone 3: Driven piles for TLPs. This last area, limited to
the 2000m water depth limit of hydraulic hammers,
corresponds to the Gulf of Mexico TLPs with much larger
ultimate holding capacities, i.e. above 20MN and in the
order of 40 to 50MN for the existing applications.

Some encouragements about the use of suction piles are

given in the API RP 2FPX [25] and ISO/WD 19904 [26]
documents. On another hand, a number of design methods
have been published in the last years by different authors,
generally based on small-scale centrifuge testing and with a
variable degree of complexity, thus making difficult a proper
evaluation and comparison. It is believed that further
applications of suction piles and VLAs in deepwater to
ultradeepwater moorings would probably be facilitated by the
availability of internationally recognised design methods. The
definition of such design procedures, out of the scope of the
present paper, is currently addressed by the Mooring and
Anchor Task Group of the ISO-API Foundation Technical
Committee, and the design of suction anchors was discussed at
a recent OTRC seminar [27]. On the basis of the Authors
experience, emphasis is put in the following section on the
required R&D work for improving the present design practice
for suction piles and VLAs used in permanent TLM moorings
in soft deepwater clays.
Design of suction piles. With respect to safety against failure,
and similarly to what is done for designing foundation piles,
the general design procedure for suction piles uses relatively
large safety coefficients (i.e. global lump factors or partial
load and material factors), thus implying that no significant
displacements or deformations are tolerated under service
operation and extreme loading situations. Therefore, and
contrarily to conventional drag anchors and VLAs, proof-load
testing of suction piles is not required at the time of field

J-L. COLLIAT

installation. To some extent, one can compare the suction

under-pressure versus penetration curve of a suction pile to the
blowcount versus depth curve of a driven pile, and, in both
cases, no direct relationship can be defined between the
dynamic
(i.e.
short
term)
soil
resistance
to
penetration/driving and the actual static (i.e. long term)
capacity of the suction/driven pile.
Therefore, due to the lack of full-scale load test data, a
degree of uncertainty still remains about the actual holding
capacity of suction piles. In particular, the two following
points of concern would probably deserve a significant effort
from the industry:
- For suction piles working under tension loading condition
(e.g. for TLP tendons), but also in taut leg moorings
where the vertical loading component becomes
predominant, the effect of set-up in clays may have
significant consequences in the event that the mooring
lines are connected to the floater shortly after installation
of the anchors. The effect of set-up time on the increase in
shear strength of the clay can be addressed (at least partly)
by thixotropy tests in the laboratory. On another hand,
pull-out load testing of suction piles after different set-up
times, which can be performed rather easily at the field by
means of pumping-in water and over-pressurising the pile,
is the only way to reduce the uncertainty about the
increase in soil-steel interface friction capacity for
defining the minimum time required before application of
the mooring load.
- The effect of passive suction on the ultimate pull-out
capacity of suction piles under mooring loads with an
important vertical loading component (for a TLM
mooring or for TLP tendons, for example), is generally
not taken into account. The performance of highly
instrumented field tests under a sufficient long period of
time would be required for gaining confidence in
this area.
About the latter point, although the embedment of long
suction piles in soft clay is not a critical installation issue, a
too conservative design method may end up to the requirement
to use a large lifting barge for installing longer and heavier
suction piles than strictly necessary. For the same mooring line
load of a given floater, smaller suction piles may be found
adequate by using the possible benefit in pull-out capacity
from passive suction that can develop in tightly closed piles
(i.e. piles that were closed after completion of suction
penetration). Possibly, such smaller suction piles could be
installed by means of a smaller naval support, which may
allow a significant reduction in the installation cost of the
mooring system, and/or a larger choice in the naval supports
that would be capable to install the mooring system. Taking
into account the limited number of construction and
installation vessels that can work in deep to ultradeep waters,
and in view of the rapidly increasing deepwater activity
worldwide, it is believed that the aforementioned point should
not be under-estimated.

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Design of VLAs. On the basis of the significant amount of

onshore model-scale tests and offshore full-scale field
installation data now available, the following points are worth
to mention:
- A ratio of about 2 to 2.5 was found between the ultimate
holding capacity of VLAs and their embedment pull-in
load, as was shown by the results of extensively
instrumented onshore tests performed in Norway on both
model-scale Stevmanta and Denla VLAs [28]. This is
generally in good agreement with the offshore field
installation data from the references given in Table 2. On
the basis of these onshore tests, the recommended practice
RP-E302 was proposed by DNV [29]. The load and
material factors given in this document, similar to those
applied for driven or suction piles, may require some
field calibration before being fully accepted by the
mooring industry.
- The BRUCEs tracking system, allowing to measure the
Denla embedment curve, was a significant
improvement, although, in its present configuration, the
VLA has to be recovered to the AHV deck for downloading the measurements stored in a memory [30].
Ongoing development works should allow BRUCE to
propose a new tracker, able to measure the anchor
embedment in real time, thus allowing to reduce one of
the main uncertainties about the final VLA depth and
pull-out capacity, the latter being calculated from the insitu soil strength at the actual anchor penetration depth.
- A design chart was proposed in the recently published
VRYHOFs Anchor Manual 2000 [31], where the
ultimate pull-out capacity of the Stevmanta VLA,
assumed as being embedded at sufficient depth in soft
clay, is related to its fluke area. Although, this graph was
purposely built for the Stevmanta anchor, Fig. 3 shows
that it may also be applied to preliminary sizing for the
Denla VLA, and probably also for other plate anchors
in soft deepwater clays.
Therefore, apart from the DNV RP-E302 which involves
some theoretical considerations about the soil and anchor
behaviour, the design of VLAs relies heavily on field
installation data, with significant uncertainties. Within the
main points of concern, one can mention the uncertainty about
the actual anchor installation pull-in load, as well as the
measurement of the anchor drag distance and penetration
depth (when no embedment tracker is used). Typically, the
bollard pull of an AHV vessel, or the combined bollard pull
power of two or three AHVs working in tandem to embed a
large VLA, may be the only proof-loading parameter
available, with the actual mooring line load at mudline and
anchor, as well as the anchor drag distance and embedment
depth, being determined in a rough manner only, when they
are mostly important on a geotechnical design point of view.
In other words, the present VLA design practice appears as
being similar to what has been done for decades with
conventional drag anchors, when a key issue should be borne
in mind, i.e., contrarily to such conventional drag anchors, any

OTC 14306

ANCHORS FOR DEEPWATER TO ULTRADEEPWATER MOORINGS

upward slippage of a VLA under constant vertical tension

loading would correspond to a reduction in its pull-out
capacity. Therefore, the lack of confidence about the actual
long term pull-out capacity of a VLA, which is probably the
main explanation for the larger success of suction piles in
deepwater applications, requires that additional precautions
shall be taken. As an example, ABS requested that the
mooring lines of the FPSO-II were instrumented for
monitoring the line loads and any possible displacement of the
anchors under long term service tension [22].
New Anchor Concept for Ultradeepwater Moorings
Suction piles and VLAs can be applied for ultradeepwater
moorings in up to 3000m of water depth and beyond, but R&D
studies about new anchor concepts are also carried out. In the
Authors opinion, such new anchors, applied in particular for
temporary mooring of exploration drilling MODUs, should
preferably allow for (1) an installation feasibility by means of
AHV vessels of limited size, and (2) a vertical loading
capacity with no severe constraints about accurate positioning
of the anchors on the sea bottom. Within the different anchor
concepts presently proposed to the industry, the free-falling
torpedo anchor (FFTA) could be a suitable candidate which
would satisfy these two requirements.
This concept is presently studied in Norway, and has been
already field tested by PETROBRAS in Brazil. In its principle,
such a torpedo (or penetrator), previously connected to its
mooring line and simply dropped from the stern roller of an
AHV vessel, is intended to penetrate to sufficient depth into
the soil by free-fall. With the deep penetrating anchor (DPA)
proposed by GEOPROBING, a possible pull-out capacity of
about 500 tons is considered, with a 15m high DPA having a
dry weight of 50tons and penetrating 45m into the soil [32].
On another hand, more than sixty torpedo anchors have been
field tested and installed by PETROBRAS in the last two
years, using three types of torpedoes, i.e. (a) 30 diameter and
12m long pipe (having a dry weight of 23tons when filled with
concrete) with a holding capacity of 140 tons for anchoring
flexible risers and ships, (b) same 30 diameter pipe with four
0.45m x 9m vertical fins (dry weight of 40tons) with a holding
capacity of 300 tons for anchoring drilling MODUs, and (c)
42 diameter and 15m long pipe with four 0.90m x 10m
vertical fins (dry weight of 90tons) with a holding capacity of
750 tons for anchoring production FPUs. During field tests
performed in the Campos Basin, in various soil conditions and
in water depths ranging between 200 and 1000m, the torpado
penetration ranged between 8 and 22m, with the free-falling
velocity ranging between 10 and 22m/s when the height of
free-fall was varied between 30 and 150m [33].
It is worth to recall that a similar concept of free-falling
torpedo was already considered by PRINCIPIA and the French
CEA in the early 80s. From a campaign of full-scale offshore
testing in over 5000m of water in the Atlantic Ocean, it was
shown that a free-fall speed of up to 45m/s could be reached,
with up to 40m of penetration into the seabed. In addition, the
in-situ shear strength profile of the soil was calculated from

the slowing down motion curve of the torpedo during

penetration [34].
The feasibility of such free-fall torpedo anchors is
demonstrated by both the original PRINCIPIA-CEA and
PETROBRAS tests, but the large variation in penetration
depths obtained by PETROBRAS makes additional full-scale
installation and pull-out testing of prototype FFTAs in
ultradeep water necessary for improving our confidence in this
new anchoring concept. Also, taking into account the high cost
of proof-load testing anchors in about 3000m of water, it is
considered that a significant effort should be devoted to the
reliability of the in-situ soil strength determination from the
torpedo slowing down motion, which would provide a
possibility to estimate the pull-out capacity of the
FFTA anchor.
Conclusions
The rapidly increasing offshore activity in deep to ultradeep
waterdepths has created the need to define and select reliable
and cost effective mooring systems for the drilling MODUs
and production FPUs required to operate between 1500 and
3000m of water. In such waterdepths, DP units have some
intrinsic advantages, but the long delivery schedule of
newbuild vessels, added to higher procurement and operating
costs, do require that the capabilities of existing moored
floaters be extended to meet the industrys demand. The
progress made in the station-keeping area, including both the
mooring lines and anchors, where fibre ropes and anchors with
a vertical loading capacity in taut leg configurations have
gained experience and confidence, now allow moored floaters
to provide a viable alternative.
From the existing applications in up to about 1500 and
2500m of water, for permanent and temporary mooring of
production and drilling units, respectively, suction piles and
VLAs currently appear as the two preferred anchoring
solutions. With respect to VLAs, the higher confidence in the
design procedure and long term pull-out capacity of suction
piles is probably the main explanation for their larger success
in deepwater applications in various environmental conditions
throughout the world. For both types of anchors used in TLM
moorings with a predominantly vertical loading component,
full-scale field data are needed, in particular regarding (1) the
confidence about passive suction that can develop into closed
suction piles, and (2) the behaviour and risk of upward
slippage of VLAs under long term service tension.
Finally, within the on-going R&D works on new anchor
types, the free-falling torpedo anchor is identified as the most
promising concept, in particular for use in temporary moorings
for MODUs beyond the 3000m water depth limit.
Glossary of Abbreviations
AHV :
Anchor Handling Vessel
DP
:
Dynamic Positioning
DPA
:
Deep Penetrating Anchor
FFTA :
Free-Falling Torpedo Anchor
FPSO :
Floating Production Storage and Off-loading

FPU
HHPA
MODU
ROV
SEPLA
TLM
TLP
VLA

J-L. COLLIAT

:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:

Floating Production Unit

High Holding Power (drag) Anchor
MObile Drilling Unit
Remotely Operated Vehicle
Suction Embedded Plate Anchor
Taut Leg Mooring
Tension Leg Platform
Vertically Loaded (drag-in plate) Anchor

Acknowledgements
TOTAL FINA ELF EP is acknowledged for granting the
permission to publish this paper.
References
1. API RP 2FP1: "Recommended Practice for Design, Analysis and
Maintenance of Moorings for Floating Production Systems", 1st
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2. API RP 2SK: "Recommended Practice for Design and Analysis
of Stationkeeping Systems for Floating Structures", 1st ed., 1995.
3. Senpere D., and Auvergne G.A.: "Suction Anchor Piles A
Proven Alternative to Driving or Drilling", Proc. OTC Offshore
Technology Conf., Paper 4206, Houston, May 1982.
4. Colliat J-L., Boisard P., Andersen K., and Schrder K.: "Caisson
Foundations as Alternative Anchors for Permanent Mooring of a
Process Barge Offshore Congo", Proc. OTC Offshore
Technology Conf., Paper 7797, Houston, May 1995.
5. Colliat J-L., Boisard P., Gramet J-C., and Sparrevik P.:
"Geotechnical Design of Suction Anchor Piles Comparison
with Drag Anchors", Proc. BOSS Behaviour of Off-Shore
Structures Conf., Delft, July 1997.
6. Sparrevik P.: "Suction Anchors A Versatile Foundation
Concept Finding its Place in the Offshore Market", Proc. OMAE
Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering Conf., Paper 983096, Lisbon, July 1998.
7. Solhjell E., Sparrevik P., Haldorsen K., and Karlsen V.:
"Comparison and Back Calculation of Penetration Resistance
from Suction Anchor Installation in Soft to Stiff Clay at the Njord
and Visund Fields in the North Sea", Proc. SUT Conf. on New
Frontiers in Offshore Site Investigation and Foundation
Behaviour, London, Sept. 1998.
8. Alhayari S.: "Innovative Developments in Suction Pile
Technology", Proc. OTC Offshore Technology Conf., Paper
8836, Houston, May 1998.
9. Mello J.R.C., Moretti M.J., Sparrevik P., Schrder K., and
Hansen S.B.: "P19 and P26 Moorings at the Marlim Field The
First Permanent Taut Leg Mooring with Fibre Rope and Suction
Anchors", Proc. FPS Conf. on Floating Production Systems,
London, 1998.
10. Knudsen A., and Pettigrew G.: "High Capacity Suction Anchors
for BPs Schiehallion FPSO", Proc. FPS Conf. on Floating
Production Systems, London, April 1997.
11. Bracchi S., Porcari A.M., Stani G., Sarcina G., and Poldervaart
L.: "Aquila Project FPSO Firenze", Proc. OMC Offshore
Mediterranean Conf., Ravenna, March 1999.
12. Barusco P.: "Mooring and Anchoring Systems Developed in
Marlim Field", Proc. OTC Offshore Technology Conf., Paper
10720, Houston, May 1999.
13. Huslid C., and Tjelta T.I.: "Examining the Success of Installing
the Aasgard B & C Suction Anchors in Deep Water", Proc. IIR
Conf. on Mooring and Anchors for Deep and Ultra Deep Water
Fields, Aberdeen, Nov. 1999.

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14. Alhayari S., Chen J.H., and Maerten B.: "Kuito Project
Successful Suction Pile Design and Installation Based on
Innovative Soil Investigation", Proc. Offshore West Africa Conf.,
Abidjan, March 2000.
15. Martelli G., and McGuire W.: "Advancement in Marine
Technology Descending to the Occasion", Proc. DOT Deep
Offshore Technology Conf., New Orleans, Nov. 2000.
16. El-Gharbawy S.L., Olson R.E., and Scott A.: "Suction Anchor
Installations for Deep Gulf of Mexico Applications", Proc. OTC
Offshore Technology Conf., Paper 10992, Houston, May 1999.
17. Dupal K., von Eberstein B., Loeb D., Xu H., Grant J., and
Bergeron B.: "Shells Experience with Deepwater Mooring
Systems for MODUs", Proc. DOT Deep Offshore Technology
Conf., New Orleans, Nov. 2000.
18. Dendani H., and Colliat J-L.: "Girassol: Design Analysis and
Installation of the Suction Anchors", Proc. OTC Offshore
Technology Conf., Paper 14209, Houston, May 2002.
19. Ruinen R., and Degenkamp G.: "First Application of 12
Stevmanta Anchors (VLA) in the P27 Taut Leg Mooring
System", Proc. DOT Deep Offshore Technology Conf.,
Stavanger, Oct. 1999.
20. Henriques C.C.D., and Fachetti M.B.: "Roncador Field Transport
of P36 and Installation of the Mooring System", Proc. OTC
Offshore Technology Conf., Paper 12141, Houston, May 2000.
21. Dove P., Weisinger D., Abbassian F., and Hooker J.: "The
Development and Testing of Polyester Moorings for Ultradeep
Drilling Operations", Proc. OTC Offshore Technology Conf.,
Paper 12172, Houston, May 2000.
22. Leite A.J.P., Costa L.C.S., Skusa W., Schuurmans S.T., and
Zanutto J.C.: "Marlim South Early Production System (FPSO II)
The First Taut-Leg Moored FPSO in the World", Proc. DOT
Deep Offshore Technology Conf., New Orleans, Nov. 2000.
23. Ruinen R., and Degenkamp G.: "Anchor Selection and Installation
for Shallow and Deepwater Mooring Systems", Proc. ISOPE
Offshore and Polar Engineering Conf., Stavanger, June 2001.
24. Bowles T., and Fulton T.: "Full Taut-Leg Polyester Drilling Unit
Mooring Established in Gulf of Mexico", Offshore, Nov. 2001.
25. API RP 2FPX: "Recommended Practice for Planning, Designing
and Constructing Floating Production Systems", 1st draft, 1999.
26. ISO/WD 19904: "Materials, Equipment and Offshore Structures
for Petroleum and Natural Gas Industries Floating Offshore
Structures Including Stationkeeping", working draft, July 2001.
27. Gilbert R.G., and Murff J.D.: "Identifying Uncertainties in the
Design of Suction Caisson Foundations", Proc. OTRC Seminar
on Geotechnical, Geological and Geophysical Properties of
Deepwater Sediments Honoring W.A. Dunlap, Houston,
Feb. 2001.
28. Dahlberg R., and Strm P.J.: "Unique Onshore Tests of
Deepwater Drag-In Plate Anchors", Proc. OTC Offshore
Technology Conf., Paper 10989, Houston, May 1999.
29. DNV RP-E302: "Recommended Practice for Design and
Installation of Drag-In Plate Anchors in Clay", 1st ed., 1999.
30. Foxton P.E., Bruce P., and Craine G.A.: "Development of the
Bruce Anchor Tracker", Proc. IIR Conf. on Technical
Developments in Moorings and Anchors for Deep and UltraDeep Water Fields, Aberdeen, Oct. 1998.
31. VRYHOF: "Anchor Manual 2000", 1st ed., 1999.
32. Lieng J.T., Hove F., and Tjelta T.I.: "Deep Penetrating Anchor
Subseabed Deepwater Anchor Concept for Floaters and Other
Installations", Proc. ISOPE Offshore and Polar Engineering
Conf., Brest, June 1999.
33. De Medeiros C.J.: "Torpedo Anchor for Deep Water", Proc. DOT
Deep Offshore Technology Conf., Rio de Janeiro, October 2001.

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ANCHORS FOR DEEPWATER TO ULTRADEEPWATER MOORINGS

34. Hembise O., Guevel P., Bardey P.R., Viaud J-L., Boisson J-Y.,
and Vacherand F.: "Identification of Marine Soils by Ballistic

Penetrometry", Proc. OMAE Offshore Mechanics and Arctic

Engineering Conf., Houston, March 1987.

Table 1: Applications of suction anchors for deepwater floating systems (TLPs excluded)
Field and Floater

Year

Water Depth

Dimensions
Diam. x Pen.

N of Lines
and Capacity

Ref.

Gorm
Nkossa
Yme
Harding
Norne
Njord

1981
1995

40m
200m
100m
110m
350m
330m

350m
350m
330m
850m
400m
780 to 850m

6.5m x 12m
5m x 11m
5m x 10m
4.5-5m x 16m
5.5m x 13m
4.7m x 17m

320m
300m

5m x 11m
5m x 10m
5m x 12m
5m x 15m
3.5m x 14m
3.5m x 11m
6.5m x 30m

12 x 2MN
12 x 6MN
8 x 9MN
8 x 7MN
12 x ?
12 x 8MN
8 x 8MN
9x?
16 x 6.5MN
16 x 6.5MN
14 x 12MN
16 x 8MN
8 x 7MN
8 x 7MN
9x?
8 x 11MN
8 x 11MN
12 x 7MN
16 x 10MN
9 x 11MN
16 x 8MN
12 x ?
6x?
12 x 15MN

[3]
[4] [5]
[6]
[6]
[6]
[7]

90m
770 to 1000m

3.5m x 8.5m
4.5-5m x 12m
5m x 7m
5m x 8-10m
5m x 10m
5m x 8-10m
5m x 7-10m
5-7m x 9-12m
4.7m x 13m

3.7m x 18,5m
4.5m x 16,5m
5m x 15m

8 x 6.5MN
16 x 7MN
9 x 4MN

[16] [17]
[18]

Water Depth

Anchor Type

VLA Area and

Capacity

Ref.

530m

12 x Stevmanta

11m2 - 700tons

[12] [19]

1200 to 1520m 16 x Stevmanta

13m2 - 870tons

[20]

FSO Shell
Barge Elf
Buoy Statoil
Buoy BP
FPSO Statoil
Semi-FPU Hydro
FSO Hydro
Curlew
FPU Shell
Marlim P19 P26
Semis-FPU Petrobras
Schiehallion
FPSO BP
Visund
Semi-FPU Hydro
Lufeng
FPSO Statoil
Aquila
FPSO Agip
Laminaria
FPSO Woodside
Marlim P33 - P35
FPSO Petrobras
Aasgard A
FPSO Statoil
Aasgard B & C Semi-FPU
FSO Statoil
Troll C
Semi-FPU Hydro
Kuito
FPSO Chevron
Buoy
Hoover-Diana SPAR ExxonMobil
Green Canyon 854
Semi-MODUs Shell
Girassol
FPSO TotalFinaElf
Buoy

1996
1997

1998

1999

330m
430m
1400m
2000
2001

1650 to 2550m
1400m

[8]
[9]
[10]
[7]
[6]
[8] [11]
[6]
[6] [12]
[6]
[13]
[6]
[14]
[15]

Table 2: Applications of VLAs for deepwater floating systems

Field and Floater

Year

Voador P27

1998

Semi-FPU Petrobras
Roncador P36
Semi-FPU Petrobras
Horn Mountain
Test AMC-Vastar for
Semi-MODU Ocean Victory
Marlim South
FPSO-II Petrobras
Marlim South P40
Semi-FPU Petrobras
Crazy Horse
BP
Semi-MODU Ocean Confidence

1999
1500m

1 x SEPLA

20m2 - 700tons
(tested to 320tons)

[21]

1200m

6 x Denla

10m2 - 550tons

[12] [22]

1100m

16 x Stevmanta

13m2 - 940tons

[23]

1950m

8 x SEPLA

900tons

[24]

2000
2001

J-L. COLLIAT

Fig. 1: Floating oil production structures for deepwater to ultradeepwater fields

Fig. 3: VRYHOFs design chart for the Stevmanta VLA (after [31])

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ANCHORS FOR DEEPWATER TO ULTRADEEPWATER MOORINGS

Fig. 2: Summary of existing applications and recommended anchor types in up to 3000m of water depth