Single Buoy Moorings (SBM) established in 1969
The single buoy mooring was an idea by Shell. Gusto shipyard started production of SBM's in the late 1950s with technical assistance by Shell. SBM's became a very successful product of Gusto in the 1960s. However, during installation the builder Gusto often had to call on operator Shell for assistance. In order to solve this Robert Smulders (from the Gusto family) founded a new IHC daughter company on 27 February 1969. This was SBM Inc., specialized in SBM's. It would do marketing and sales, delivery, training of operator staff, after sales, and ideas for new products.[7]
IHC Inc. S.A. was established as a foreign holding in Fribourg, Switzerland. It held the participations in the French offshore drilling company Forasol / Foramer, and SBM Inc. Designers, sales, procurement, and financial administration moved to Switzerland. The holding structure meant that instead of paying 48 % corporate income tax in the Netherlands, IHC paid only 16 % in Switzerland. Soon after the designers moved to Monaco. Monaco had 35 % corporate income tax, and no personal income tax, so this move seemed like tax-shopping. On the other hand Monaco had huge housing cost. The real reason to move there, was that the very international staff required many and speedy work permits, which Switzerland was not willing to provide.
In order to install the buoys, SBM had a ship later called Installer I lengthened at Gusto Schiedam. It got a 50 tons crane, and place on deck for two single buoys moorings. For precise positioning it had many anchors and a system to determine her exact location. She had drills and hammers for undersea pile driving. Her first job was to install a single buoys mooring before the Humber Refinery in England.[8] An early example of SBM's activity was when in the winter of 1970-1971 it installed two SBM's in 80 m deep water in the North Sea.[9]
In 1970 a holding IHC Inter was created to become the proxy owner of the foreign activities. Another new daughter in 1970 was Terminal Installations Inc., designated to specialize in installation of Single Buoy Moorings, and said to be the owner of Installer I.[10]
In August 1971 Egypt ordered 8 single buoy moorings for 65 million guilders, the biggest order for IHC up to that time. It was related to the Sumed pipeline that would be constructed between Suez and Alexandria. In Suez three single buoy moorings would be installed to handle supertankers up to 250,000 ton. In Alexandra there would be five more single buoy moorings.[11] In September 1973 IHC created a participations division, of which SBM was part.[12] In July 1975 Gusto Slikkerveer delivered a more conventional Single Buoy Mooring of 17 m diameter and a height of 11 m. It was especially designed to unload tankers of over 500,000 DWT. Because these could not enter any European harbor, the tankers could also fuel up at the buoy. It would be placed before the coast of Wales in the Irish Sea.[13] It shows the character of the first group of single buoy moorings, which were basically meant as near-offshore loading unloading terminals.
Meanwhile a second group of SBM's was developed to serve as loading points near offshore crude oil platforms. In January 1974 Gusto Slikkerveer delivered an ELBSM, 'Exposed Location Single Buoy Mooring', this was a subtype of group II SBM's meant for rough conditions. It was 76 m long (i.e. high) and had a 24 m diameter. It would be placed in the Auk oilfield of Esso-Shell near the center of the North Sea. It had a helicopter platform, and would stick 24 m above sea level.[14] Another subtype is the SPAR, which is similar to the ELSBM, but includes storage space. By 1975 IHC had delivered over 60 Single Buoy Moorings.[15]
