Optimal Design for Main Dimensions of a 75000t Floating Production and Storage Vessel

The basis, process and results of the demonstration of the main dimensions of a 75000t floating production and storage vessel are discussed in this paper. A simple but reliable orthogonal design method is applied in the main dimension optimization. The ideas of gradual approximation and feedback from various aspects are put into effect. During the demonstration, in order to make the model tally with the actual situation, the draft design is closely related to the computational analysis, so that the demonstration model can be verified at any time; the handling of the overall system is closely related to the research of each item, which is beneficial not only to the mastery of various regularities, but also to the balance of decisions. Finally, according to the computational results and the regularities obtained from analysis, the main dimensions are determined.     

Inferred gas hydrate on the Barents Sea shelf — a model for its formation and a volume estimate

 On the southwestern Barents Sea shelf, sediments containing gas hydrates that overlie free gas have been inferred from multichannel seismic data. The volume of suspected gas hydrate is tentatively estimated to about 1.9×10⁸ m³. The gas hydrate zone probably formed from thermogenic gas leaking from a deeper source. The hydrate zone may have thickened during the Neogene by including gas originally trapped as free gas below the hydrate following a significant downward migration of the isotherms caused by erosion and/or subsidence. Within the present oceanographic conditions, gas hydrate is suspected to be stable or slowly decomposing. Received: 20 December 1996 / Revision received: 20 August 1997     

Shape from shading—a method of integration of sonar images and bathymetric data for ocean mapping

Shape from shading is one of the methods that derive geometric information of objects from analysis of monocular images. Application of this technique to underwater sonar images enables the conversion of imposed reflectance characteristics in sonar images to shape information, namely, slopes, about the seafloor surface. A combination of this shape information and available sparse distributed depth points results in improved dense bathymetric data.

The reconstruction of shape models of seafloor surfaces from sonar images is treated as an inverse problem and is solved by the regularization theory. Sparse gridded points are used for boundary constraints. The regularization is implemented as a relaxation procedure with a hierarchical structure of multiresolution grids.     

From biomass mining to sustainable fishing — using abundance and size to define a spatial management framework for deep-water lobster

Based on the assumption that depleted stocks would have recovered during a six-year layoff from fishing, trapping for deep-water spiny lobster Palinurus delagoae and slipper lobster Scyllarides elisabethae off eastern South Africa resumed in 2004 until 2007. A generalised linear modelling approach was used to investigate the effects of year, sampling area, depth, month and trap soak-time on catch and lobster size, and to construct standardised abundance indices. The renewed trapping rapidly reversed partially restored nominal catch rates. Fishing strategy changed from targeting spiny lobsters during the first months of each fishing season to targeting slipper lobsters during later months. Small spiny lobsters were abundant in the southern area, identified as a recruitment hotspot. Spiny lobster abundance and size in this area increased over four years of fishing, but conversely, large adult spiny lobsters predominated in the central and northern areas, where trapping depleted their abundance over time. The adult populations in the central and northern areas are upstream from the recruitment hotspot, and are presumably a source of larvae. Slipper lobster abundance peaked in 2005, remained relatively constant across areas, and increased with depth. Trapping for deep-water lobster is unlikely to be sustainable in its present form. However, the clear gradients in spiny lobster size and abundance by sampling area and depth provide a good framework for spatial management planning.