air-gap effect on life boat arrangement for a semi-submersible fpu

In the offshore project such as semi-submersible FPU and FPSO, the free fall type life boat called TEMPSC (Totally Enclosed Motor Propelled Survival Craft) has been installed for the use of an emergency evacuation of POB (People on Board) from the topside platform. For the design of life boat arrangement for semi-submersible FPU in the initial design stage, the drop height and launch angle are required fulfill with the limitation of classification society rule and Company requirement, including type of approval as applicable when intact and damage condition of the platform. In this paper, we have been performed the numerical studies to find proper arrangement for the life boats consider drop height in various environmental conditions such as wave, wind and current. In the calculations, the contributions from static and low frequency (LF) motions are considered from the hydrodynamic and mooring analysis as well as damage angle from the intact and damage stability analysis. Also, Air-gap calculation at the life boat positions has been carried out to check the effect on the life boat arrangement. The air-gap assessment is based on the extreme air-gap method includes the effect of 1st order wave frequency (WF) motions, 2nd order low frequency roll/pitch motion, static trim/heel and set down.