ROUGH WATER OPERATION OF A SEMISUBMERSIBLE PIPELAYER IN THE NORTH SEA

The paper gives a short description of the third generation pipe-laying semisubmersible barge the "Viking Piper" with special emphasis on its motion characteristics. It furthermore relates this to pipe-laying capabilities in the North Sea. Data on barge performance achieved during the 1975 season is given which demonstrates that year around pipe-laying operation is now feasible in the hostile waters of the North Sea.