Reliable deepwater anchor performance is critical for mooring floating Mobile Offshore Drilling Units (MODUs). Anchor failure can result in MODUs going adrift and colliding with other topside structures as well as dragging anchors that can damage subsea pipelines, seafloor production systems and natural sealife communities.
Drag embedment anchors (DEAs) are the most utilized anchor for MODU moorings in the Gulf of Mexico. Nearly 30 instances of MODU mooring system failures resulted during hurricanes Ivan, Katrina, Rita, and Ike, including lost station-keeping. During instances where the MODUs went adrift, anchors dragged and are suspected to have caused pipeline damage that led to delays in restoring post-hurricane oil and gas production and possible hydrocarbon release.
The goal of this project was to increase the understanding of DEA performance and to improve their design and application practices in order to increase the overall reliability of MODU mooring systems.
Held kick-off meeting on August 3, 2009 at the MMS Regional office in New Orleans, LA. Project completed on May 27, 2011 with delivery of the attached final report and appendices.