Vessels associated with the offshore oil industry

Prospecting Vessels

These vessels play an important part in searching for oil and gas below the seabed.

Others play a role in collecting that oil or gas and bringing it ashore for refining.

Some undersea prospecting vessels have a Dynamic Positioning System that via links to satellites and links to a special propulsion system, can keep the ship in a given position automatically.

Offshore oil industry prospecting vessels: Slide 1 of 4

Seismic survey ship: Used to do seismic surveys of the rock structures under the seabed. Photograph: Aad Norland

Offshore oil industry prospecting vessels: Slide 2 of 4

Drill ship: Used for drilling into sub-sea rock structures to see whether oil or gas is present.

A: Drill Tower
Photograph Source: Unknown

Offshore oil industry prospecting vessels: Slide 3 of 4

Oil Rig: Used for undersea drilling; often anchored by eight to ten anchors; modern rigs have a DPS that holds them in place.

Offshore oil industry prospecting vessels: Slide 4 of 4

A jack-up oil rig being carried aboard a heavylift ship. The heavylift ship has an orange hull, the rig platform is the blue and red structure. Photograph Source: Unknown

Other vessels associated with the offshore oil & gas industry

Other offshore oil industry vessels: Slide 1 of 19

An offshore supply vessel/tug/anchor handler. She will tow rigs or platforms or lay out or move the anchors for rigs. Also see next slide.

Other offshore oil industry vessels: Slide 2 of 19

Another offshore supply vessel. Note the flat, high-gunwhaled after deck for the carriage of supplies (especially drilling pipes) to the rigs. Note the axe bow (A) (also known as X-bow). Photograph: Aad Norland

Other offshore oil industry vessels: Slide 3 of 19

Crane vessel: Used to lay pipes, install parts on rigs, and many other uses in the offshore oil operations.

Other offshore oil industry vessels: Slide 4 of 19

Pipe layer: Refitting in Cape Town.

Other offshore oil industry vessels: Slide 5 of 19

Floating storage and off-take vessel (FSO): Oil is drawn from under the seabed to be stored in the ship, a converted tanker, that is moored to the buoy (B). Note pipe (A) connecting the FSO to the buoy . Photograph: Teekay

Other offshore oil industry vessels: Slide 6 of 19

FSO (B) is moored to the buoy (A). The loading tanker (C) connects astern. Oil is pumped from the FSO to the loading tanker. When the loading tanker is full, she goes to a port to discharge the oil for refining. Photograph: Teekay

Other offshore oil industry vessels: Slide 7 of 19

FSO: A pipe (A) from under the seabed is connected to the FSO to fill the FSO with oil. The yellow structure (B) is the connecting point for the pipe from the tanker that comes to load crude oil from the FSO. Photograph: Teekay

Other offshore oil industry vessels: Slide 8 of 19

Liquid petroleum gas Floating Production, Storage & Off-Take Vessel (FPSO): Note the connecting arm (A) to receive natural gas via a pipe from under the seabed. Photograph : Andrew Ingpen

Other offshore oil industry vessels: Slide 9 of 19

Floating Production, Storage & Off-Take Vessel: Oil is drawn up from under the seabed, some impurities are removed, the oil is stored aboard until a tanker arrives to move the partially-refined oil to a port for full-scale refining. The tall steel tower (A) is the flare tower from which excess gas is burned off.

Other offshore oil industry vessels: Slide 10 of 19

The FPSO Petrojarl 1 (A) on station in the North Sea. Note the production rig (B) that will draw the oil from under the sea bed, and the two rig support vessels (C).

Other offshore oil industry vessels: Slide 11 of 19

1 Floating Production, Storage & Off-Take Vessel
2 Shuttle Tanker
3 Subsea System

A Helideck
B Accommodation
C Turret
D Processing Facilities
E Power Generation
F Thruster
G Swivel/drag chain
H Offloading
I Bowloading
J Dynamic Positioning
K
L Mooring Chain/wire

Illustration: Teekay

Other offshore oil industry vessels: Slide 12 of 19

Seas are often rough in North sea and Norwegian sea. Photograph: Teekay

Other offshore oil industry vessels: Slide 13 of 19

A cylindrical FPSO that is more suited to adverse weather than the conventional FPSO.Via a vertical pipe, oil is drawn up from under the seabed, and partially processed by the FPSO. A tanker takes the partially processed oil to a port for refining. Photograph: Teekay