Given the excellent motions, simpler hull layout and construction provide other considerable benefits. The hull is subdivided as follows:

• Temporary top ballast tank in the top section which is used for hull deballasting during VersaBuoy Deck Mating. The topsides are installed via float-off. The temporary water ballast is installed quayside (as is the solid ballast) prior to a Wet-Tow of VersaBuoy Hull to the Installation Site. The temporary ballast is removed using compressed air from the deck. There are no internal hull mechanicals for this application. Following deballasting and installation this tank forms part of the hard tank.
• Center hard tank section which is never flooded.
• Soft tank compartment in the main hull legs, plus additional soft tanks located at the base of the hull. These additional soft tanks provide additional temporary ballast for the wet tow to location. At location they are flooded to upend the hull.
• Solid ballast section at the base of the hull in the main legs. The solid ballast is installed in the hull at the quay side in the conventional manner.
• Mooring lines are then attached to the columns at an elevation that is selected to provide an initial column/deck angle that guaranteed a clear well-bay area under any extreme wave/current/wind conditions.

  
  Wet-Tow of VersaBuoy Hull to the Installation Site

VersaBuoy Deck Mating