If we want to create a Very Large Floating Structure, VLFS, in the open ocean, and as commented in the previous blog, we need a type of structure that attenuates the waves. Semisubmersibles are ideal for that, as in the MOB. But other ideas and technologies are also being developed. The very well known Pneumatically Stabilized Platform, PSP, is a very promising structure.
Although traditional shipbuilding uses steel for almost the whole structure, concrete has also been used in the past in a few vessels. But in the last years, the offshore industry has been discovering the great possibilities that concrete presents as compared to steel, and it is being used in more and more projects, such as floating LNG terminals and in the development of the MOB concept (Mobile Offshore Base), as shown on the picture.
Some projects for establishing ocean communities are investigated and then given up for several reasons. One of them is the Mobile Offshore Base (M.O.B.) concept by U.S. Navy. It was considered technically possible, but too expensive. Nevertheless, working on the idea, we have developed a proposal for a seastead based on several barges moored between them.
Summary and conclusions:
