…from MOSES software development

Back in the seventies, following the request of the engineering community, we created MOSES, an integrated and global tool, designed to simulate the various aspects of the installation of structures at sea.

Our primary objective with MOSES was to provide engineers with the tools necessary to realistically design and analyze marine structures and operations. The increasing sophistication of the offshore industry, coupled with the rapid evolution of the computational power available, has made it evident that to achieve this goal, a significant departure from the traditional approaches would be necessary.

Over the years, MOSES was used to elaborate more sophisticated scenarios and was continuously upgraded to cope with the ever changing industry challenges.

The use of MOSES allows for global answers combining hydro/structure without loss of precision and yields to maximum efficiency. Typically, motion response and structural results are obtained in a single run.

Its internal structure allows us to consider all the elements in the model without any approximations regarding boundaries of the model.

…to Consulting

Aside from the development of MOSES, Ultramarine is the preferred partner of numerous engineering and installation companies, helping them to solve complex problems.

As analysts, we assist clients, running simulations and providing the viable answers they need to move forward.

As a small and flexible structure, we manage to generate tailor-made studies to meet the needs of our clients.

From fixed to floating structures, shallow to deep waters, mild to harsh environments, we do our best to ensure that all operations run successfully.

The first major contribution was the study of the installation of Cognac jacket (1973-1975). At the time, this was the tallest jacket ever installed and done so in three pieces. Each piece was launched, connected to two crane barges and lowered. The two primary contributions to this effort, were to analyze the launch of the top section (an unusual shape) and to develop an onboard computer program. The function of this computer program was to compute the changes in lengths of the mooring lines in order to position the two barges so that a “package” was in the correct position.

It was followed in 1977-1978 by Union Oils Cerveza and Cerveza Liguera jackets. Despite being slightly smaller than the Cognac jacket, these jackets were the tallest one-piece jackets of their time ever installed.

The 25 years subsequent to the Cerveza Project, we were involved in the following major projects:

  • 1979 -1981 Worked on the design of the replacement for half of the Hood Canal floating bridge. The previous bridge section was blown away in a storm.
    Here, we designed a system to analyze the structural dynamics of the bridge
  • 1983-1984 Uprighting of the Alexander Kjelland, a pentagonal semi-submersible that had lost a leg and overturned with great loss of life.
  • 1984-1985 Performed a joint industry study with Noble Denton to study how to assess fatigue damage of decks and jackets during transportation
  • 1985-1987 Installation of the Bullwinkle jacket. Still, the tallest jacket ever installed.
  • 1986-1988 Use of a “float over” method to install decks Mobile Bay in very shallow water.
  • 1987-1990 Wet tow of the Auger TLP from Italy to Freeport TX.
  • 1992-1995 Installation of the Hibernia deck being towed by two barges.
  • 1995-2005 Numerous transportation fatigue analyses of tows from Korea to West Africa.
  • 1998-2002 Design and installation of the Girasol FPSO offshore Angola.

For the past few years we have been taking on various exciting projects, and look forward to building new connections in the years to come.