Wavegate for Seismic Vessel Back Deck Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current marine seismic surveys require multiple vessels, increasing costs and time due to the inability of typical seismic vessels to deploy and shoot seismic nodes while moving backwards or in the face of incoming waves, posing safety risks and operational limitations.
Innovation Solution
The deployment of one or more wavegates on a seismic surface vessel to prevent waves from crashing onto the back deck, allowing the vessel to travel backwards and perform seismic operations safely by moving the wavegates between open and closed positions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the vessel travels backwards or in the face of incoming waves to perform deployment operations, then operational flexibility and efficiency are improved, but safety risks increase due to waves crashing onto the back deck
Solution Approach 1:
A wavegate structure is introduced as an intermediary element between the ocean waves and the back deck. The wavegate acts as a protective barrier that mediates the interaction between waves and the deck, allowing the vessel to operate in previously unsafe conditions by blocking wave impact while maintaining operational access to the back deck.
2Reliability
If multiple vessels are used for deployment and seismic source operations, then operational safety is improved by separating functions, but cost and time requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The wavegate enables merging of deployment vessel and seismic source vessel functions into a single vessel. By providing protective barriers, the system allows one vessel to simultaneously or sequentially perform both deployment operations and seismic shooting operations that previously required separate vessels, thereby reducing overall survey time and cost while maintaining safety through functional separation during operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The wavegate system enables a single vessel to serve multiple functions - acting as both a deployment vessel and a seismic source vessel. The protective barriers allow the back deck to be used for deployment operations while the vessel can also travel backwards or into waves to position itself for seismic shooting, creating a multi-functional platform that increases operational efficiency.
3Ease of operation
If the back deck is left open for deployment operations, then ease of operation is improved, but wave interference increases
Solution Approach 1:
The wavegate system is designed to be dynamic rather than static - the barriers can be moved between open and closed positions. This allows the system to adapt to different operational requirements: open for deployment operations when waves are calm, and closed when wave protection is needed, providing both ease of operation and wave protection as conditions dictate.
Data Source
AI summary
One or more wavegates are located on a seismic surface vessel to substantially prevent or limit waves from crashing onto a back deck of the vessel. The wavegate may comprise one or more steel gates or doors located at or near the aft portion of the vessel, such as on or near the rear end of the back deck, that may be moveable between a closed position and an open position. Each door may be fixed in position and/or be rotated and/or moveable in a horizontal and/or vertical direction between different positions. The wavegate allows the surface vessel to travel backwards and/or in the face of incoming waves while substantially preventing and/or limiting waves from crashing onto the back deck of the marine vessel. The seismic surface vessel may be a deployment vessel or a hybrid seismic shooting and deployment vessel or another marine surface vessel.