Offshore loading buoy with hose reeling

Claim 1

A floating offshore loading terminal for transferring flowable material between a vessel and a storage facility through an underwater pipeline, comprising: a moorable base structure; a buoyant rotary hull structure rotatably coupled on and surrounding said base structure, and having a peripheral configuration adapted for winding buoyant cargo transfer hose; lower conduit means supported within said base structure coupled in flow communication with said underwater pipeline; upper conduit means supported within said rotary hull structure coupled in flow communication with buoyant cargo transfer hose; means defining a swivel coupling for establishing rotatable flow communication between said upper and said lower conduit means; buoyant cargo transfer hose coupled to said upper conduit means adjacent to periphery of said rotary hull structure; motor drive means for rotating said hull structure relative to said base structure to wind said hose about the periphery of said hull structure; and, upper and lower hose retaining structures extending radially outward about the periphery of said rotary hull structure, said hose retaining structures being vertically spaced from one another above and below the waterline by at least the cross section of said buoyant cargo transfer hose to provide a horizontal spooling arrangement within which said hose is wound in multiple layers.