US Patent 7886679 Mooring system

A system for mooring a vessel at an offshore site comprises at least one floating mooring element with two opposite mooring bodies for receiving therebetween and engaging the hull of the vessel. Each mooring element is movable between an upper position for engaging the hull of the vessel and a lower position in which at least one of its mooring bodies is lowered below the upper position for disengaging the hull of the vessel. Further means are provided for maintaining a substantially stationary position of the mooring element relative to the seabed. Preferably the system comprises at least two mooring elements spaced in the longitudinal direction of the vessel.