Mooring at 4,500m — Deferred (Mobile Ship)

Draft High Research 160 words Created Mar 3, 2026

Mooring at 4,500m — Deferred (Mobile Ship Decision)

Status: Not Required for Phase 1

The decision to use a mobile processing vessel instead of a stationary platform eliminates the need for a mooring system entirely. This was one of the strongest arguments for the mobile ship architecture — the mooring system was projected at $220–440M, more than any other single cost item.

If Revisited

A stationary platform may become relevant at Phase 3+ as a permanent processing hub receiving plastic from a collection fleet. At that point, mooring research would cover:

Taut-leg polyester rope (neutrally buoyant, current record: 2,728m)
Suction pile anchors in abyssal clay
Thruster-assist hybrid station-keeping
World-record engineering at 4,500m (65% beyond current deepest)
Estimated cost: $220–440M regardless of platform type

Detailed mooring engineering data is available in the knowledge base under Offshore Platform Engineering and FPSO Conversion Market.

Decision Rationale

See Platform Type Comparison for the full analysis of why mobile ship was chosen over stationary platform.