Offshore Research & Development

Our highly educated and experienced team develops new and customized technologies that enable offshore vessels to operate in higher pressures, various water depths and harsher environments. Based on field data, as well as advancments in technology and materials, we continuously improve our products at our research facilities in Houston.

Our Asset Integrity team provides condition monitoring and advanced analytics for our mooring system technologies to support clients with the alternative energy transition.

Examples of our system developments

• Very Large Turret with replaceable bearing technology and chain table storage and deployment system for the ENI Coral South floating liquefied natural gas operations offshore Mozambique and the Santos Barossa floating production storage and offloading vessel offshore Australia
• World’s first disconnectable tower yoke mooring system for the Amoca field off Mexico’s coast, with quick disconnect and reconnect capability for shallow water in a hurricane prone environment
• LPG CALM buoy, allowing LPG vessel operators to transfer LPG from LPG tankers to shore and vice versa
• Rapid Deployment (RA-DE) SALM buoy for the U.S. Navy

Guided by open communication, collaboration, and a strong client focus, we assist our clients with component development and improvement

• Dual-axis chain support assemblies
• Chain support deployment system for internal turrets
• Replaceable roller bearing technology
• Testing of synthetic bearing materials
• Integration of steel risers to internal and external turrets
• Extension of swivel capabilities (temperature and pressure)
• Testing of swivel seal materials and designs
• Implementation of high voltage swivels and power circuits on single point mooring systems
• Robust anchor leg monitoring systems
• Turret monitoring systems, and associated digitalization efforts for condition monitoring
• CFD applied to fluid-structure interaction
• Various component and system standardization efforts

For nearly 50 years, SOFEC has built an extensive patent portfolio including

• Disconnectable tower yoke mooring systems
• Bearing replacement technologies
• Disconnectable internal turret variations
• Swivel seal replacement technologies
• Other novel mooring solutions (double point moorings, Keel Integrated Turrets, etc.)

Our in-demand experts often present at leading industry conferences and contribute to highly-regarded industry publications.

Design and supply of a Marine Terminals on a fast track basis to the turnkey mooring development for a sophisticated Floating Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, SOFEC has the technology, experience, and resources to get the job done on time and on budget.

SOFEC, Inc. is a leader in the development and supply of Single-Point Mooring (SPM) systems and is continually engaged in research involving new and improved tanker mooring systems and associated components. SPMs encompass a wide array of systems which moor vessels in the open sea. Turret moorings permit vessels to “weathervane” 360 degrees, allowing continued operations in extreme sea conditions.

Using model test data in conjunction with computer analyses to optimize system designs, SOFEC leads the industry in producing the highest quality systems at the lowest possible cost. Research and development efforts include development of new SPMs, both permanent and disconnectable, for floating storage and processing in both shallow and deep water, for cyclone prone areas and for service in ice congested Arctic waters. SOFEC continually verifies computer models against model test data to ensure the ability to provide our clients with the most accurate load and motion analysis. In addition, SOFEC is developing high pressure swivel systems to meet the demands of deep water production.

Types and Features:

• Water depths from 19 to over 3,000 meters

External Cantilevered Turrets:

• Mild to moderate environments
• Southeast Asia, West Africa, Middle East, Latin America, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand

Internal Turrets:

• Permanent and Disconnectable systems
• Moderate to harsh environment / deep water applications
• Gulf of Mexico, North Sea, North Atlantic, South China Sea, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand

We are your leader, with close to 30 external turret mooring systems delivered to the offshore oil and gas industry.

Let us manage your single point and spread mooring system assets.

Our experts’ knowledge, coupled with customized inspections, integrity reviews and condition monitoring, offer you a blueprint for operations, maintenance, modifications and life extensions for these systems.

Our Asset Integrity Services team offers

• Inspection support and integrity reviews
• Annual surveys of mooring systems for tower yoke, turrets and CALM buoys by specialized SOFEC inspectors
• Inspection programs for third parties (mooring, structure, process equipment)
• Integrity assessments and fit-for-purpose engineering analyses by in-house subject matter experts based on (third-party) inspection reports

Condition monitoring extends the life of your mooring systems and include

• Bearing grease monitoring to detect premature wear in the main and swivel bearings
• Condition monitoring for critical components, such as:
  • Station keeping and motions monitoring systems
  • Mooring and anchor leg monitoring systems
  • Swivel and bearing control systems
• Real-time condition monitoring for component and system status
• Long-term operational performance assessment
• Advanced analytics (digital twin) solutions for predictive maintenance

Swivel technology is the heart of advanced mooring systems.

Our swivel systems feature complex designs and innovative technology that are proven and cost-effective. From single-product loading and offloading buoy swivels to multi-riser, multi-phase swivel stacks, our dedicated swivel engineers design a custom fluid swivel solution for all single-point mooring systems.

All our swivel engineering, from analysis to testing, is performed in-house.

Marine terminal solutions

For loading and offloading tanker cargo, our buoy swivels transfer large volumes of fluid safely and efficiently with little maintenance. One or more fluids simultaneously move through our buoy swivels. Our technologies include:

• Single-product swivel
• Multi-product swivel

Turret moored solutions

For turret mooring systems, we use a modular approach to combine swivel technologies as well as work with third-party electrical and optical slip rings. The modular approach allows for the swivels to be serviced and seals to be changed out quickly and efficiently. Our swivel technologies include:

• Toroidal swivels
• Utility swivels
• Inline swivels