A new Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO) which was 300m long by 60m wide and weighed 85,000 tonnes was being towed from South Korea to it’s final destination in Angola.
During the tow around the coast of South Africa a severe storm sprang up during which the tow lines became detached. It took several days to get the lines re-attached during which the track of the FPSO was monitored as various attempts were made to bring the vessel back under control. Upon successful reconnection an investigation into the incident was convened and the following graphic was produced to show the diary of events and display other items of interest associated with the towing strategy. The diagram shows the path taken by the FPSO while running free and identifies key events that occurred during the attempts at reconnection. In addition to the vessel movements a detailed representation of the tow line structures was included as an aid to understanding the points of failure.
