Patent ID: 7025147

Claim:
A method of landing items at a well location, comprising the steps of: a) positioning a drilling rig above a well location, the drilling rig having a landing string that is comprised of a number of joints of drill pipe that generate a huge tensile load, and a holder that holds a joint of drill pipe in the landing string for supporting the landing string; b) attaching an item to the lower end of the landing string and lowering the landing string such that it spans the distance between the drilling rig and the well location; c) wherein the holder, and the joint of drill pipe that is held by the holder, are configured to support the tensile load of the landing string with correspondingly shaped shoulders that engage when the holder holds the joint of drill pipe; d) wherein the shoulders are rotatable with respect to each other, regardless of the distance between said shoulders; and e) wherein the joint of drill pipe that is held by the holder includes a plurality of separate drill pipes that are mated together end to end.