[pdf]

Note: MOPS

Abstract: The operation of offshore wind farm vessels in areas further offshore poses new challenges to these ships. Their ability to achieve a stable, gravity-based position on the seabed by extending their jacking legs is a major design aspect of these vessels. During the jacking operation the jack-up vessel is characterised as a hybrid structure of ship and offshore unit. This work presents a method to analyse the dynamics of a jack-up vessel during the jacking sequence in the early design stage. This comprises the analysis of the manoeuvrability and the seakeeping behaviour as well as the computation of the impact forces onto the jacking legs during the initial contact with the seabed.