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In the Yard Gulf Copper?s Port Arthur facility earlier this year completed a unique 10-month project to build the three massive buoys for SOFEC, buoys which will be used to of oad liquid product such as diesel or gasoline in places lacking deepwater ports. In total Gulf Copper received two separate contracts to build a total of ve CALM buoys (3 and 2), for SOFEC. The order is of particular interest from the yard?s view as they are a new line of business for the company. The massive buoys pictured here are Catenary Anchor Leg Mooring System, or CALM buoys, and SOFEC is a global leader in the supply of CALM and SALM terminals globally. Each unit weighs in at 230-260 tons (depending on the num-ber of heads) and the oating hull of the buoy is tethered to the ocean oor offshore of a storage or processing facility. ?SOFEC Inc. has manufactured and delivered a total of 44 CALM buoys to date,? said Claude Signori, Project Man- ager, SOFEC, when Marine Technology Reporter checked in with him last month. ?These have been delivered and in- stalled evenly between Latin America, the Middle East and South East Asia. The demand for CALM buoys has been fairly steady since the early 80s and is expected to remain steady for the foreseeable future. Prior to the arrival of the offshore terminal, vessels were obliged to moor to Jetties in a harbor/port. This would mean the construction of Jetties, the addition of transfer hoses or mechanical loading arms and in most cases the expensive dredging and upkeep of channels to accept the medium to very large vessels used for the transport of liquid hydrocarbons.? SOFEC Completes at Texas Shipyard By Greg Trauthwein, Editor CALM Buoys CALM Buoys September 201316 MTRMTR #7 (1-17).indd 16MTR #7 (1-17).indd 168/22/2013 10:00:03 AM8/22/2013 10:00:03 AM
