CSO Aker Marine Contractors, Inc. (CAMC), one of the Houston-based entities of the Coflexip
Stena Offshore Group, announced the successful mooring of Diamond Offshore's rig the Ocean Confidence using a preset taut leg mooring with polyester rope and CAMC's SEPLA anchoring system while under contract to BP. The mooring location is in the Gulf of Mexico in 6,385 ft. (1,946 m). The project represents a significant advancement in deepwater mooring.
BP, CAMC and Diamond Offshore set several Gulf of Mexico records with this project. The rig is the first MODU in the GOM to use polyester moorings on all 8 legs and the first rig to be moored employing SEPLAs on all 8 legs, a technology developed and patented by CSO Aker.
CAMC performed the installation in three phases, the first two using a single anchor handling vessel. The first phase pre-installed the anchors and a receptacle for a subsea connector with Edison Chouest Offfshore's Edison Chouest, which is on long term charter to BP. The second phase attached ground chain and polyester with a subsea connector to the anchors with CAMC's purpose built construction anchoring handling vessel the Dove, specifically designed for the deployment of deepwater
mooring systems. The third phase inserted additional polyester into the preset moorings and attached the moorings to the MODU. The third phase was conducted with the Dove and Seacor Vanguard.