Patent ID: 8870496

Claim:
An offshore S-lay pipelaying vessel for laying a pipeline on the seabed comprising: a hull; an elongated stinger having a hull end extending a horizontal distance from the hull of the vessel and a free end, said stinger being adapted to support the pipeline to be laid from the vessel, wherein the stinger comprises a rigid stinger frame structure, and wherein stinger sheaves are mounted to the stinger remote from the hull end of the stinger; a detachable stinger mounting unit comprising: a frame which is detachably mounted to the hull of the vessel; and a stinger suspension cable winch and sheaves provided in the frame; and stinger suspension cables which are reeved between the sheaves of the stinger mounting unit and the stinger sheaves, and are connected to the stinger suspension cable winch, wherein the hull end of the stinger is pivotally attached to the frame of the detachable stinger mounting unit, and wherein the combination of the stinger and detachable stinger mounting unit is configured to be installed and de-installed without requiring the stinger suspension cables to be disconnected from the stinger or detachable stinger mounting unit.