SOFEC's Mid-Water Arch* represents an improved design configuration for shallow water lazy-S and steep-S flexible riser systems. C These configurations effectively decouple the ship motions, especially in shallow water, while accommodating very large excursions of the surface vessel and protecting the riser's minimum bend radius at the seabed touchdown point. SOFEC's system includes the seafloor anchoring system, anchor tethers, buoyant arch, and riser clamps to secure the risers to the buoy. The concentrated riser buoyancy of the mid-water arch system provides a cost-effective alternative to commonly employed distributed riser buoyancy. The savings are especially significant when multiple risers require flotation.

With SOFEC's experience in designing single point moorings for floating production vessels, SOFEC is able to design and analyze the combined mooring and riser system and is able to more effectively develop an optimized system considering the individual design requirements of both the risers, the mooring, and the turret system.

*Covered by U.S. Patent 6,109,989 and corresponding foreign patents.