Patent ID: 8322438

Claim:
An offshore riser joint assembly, comprising: a central riser pipe: an upper support flange on an upper end portion of the central riser pipe and a lower support flange on a lower end portion of the central riser pipe, each of the support flanges having a plurality of openings; a plurality of auxiliary lines spaced around the central riser pipe, each auxiliary line having an upper end extending through one of the openings in the upper support flange and a lower end extending through one of the openings in the lower support flange; a buoyancy module assembly mounted around the central riser pipe and the plurality of the auxiliary lines; upper and lower thrust flanges carried by at least one of the auxiliary lines, the upper thrust flange being at an upper end of the buoyancy module assembly and the lower thrust flange being at a lower end of the buoyancy module assembly; an upper thrust link extending between the upper thrust flange and the upper support flange for transferring an upward force imposed by the buoyancy module assembly while submersed to the upper support flange; a lower thrust link extending between the lower thrust flange and the lower support flange for transferring a downward force imposed by the weight of the buoyancy module assembly while out of water to the lower support flange; and wherein: the upper thrust flange is axially movable relative to the auxiliary line on which it is carried so that upward thrust forces applied to the upper thrust flange pass through the upper thrust link directly to the upper support flange, bypassing the auxiliary line on which the upper thrust flange is carried.