Floatable spoolbase with intermediate carousel storage

摘要

A floatable spoolbase for supplying rigid pipe to a reel-lay pipelaying vessel having a storage reel with an upright rotational axis for interim storage of a continuous length of pipe is disclosed. Welding stations upstream of the storage reel add pipe elements to the pipe to be stored on the storage reel. When a pipelaying vessel visits the spoolbase, the pipe is unwound from the storage reel and fed to a pipelay reel of the pipelaying vessel. Where the pipelay reel turns about a substantially horizontal rotational axis, winding the pipe onto the pipelay reel reduces ovalization of the pipe imparted by previously winding the pipe onto the storage reel.