Patent ID: 8882390

Claim:
A method for assembling an operating rig for a fluid in a body of water, of the type comprising the following steps: bringing a buoy to the surface of the body of water substantially facing an anchoring region on the bottom of the body of water, the buoy comprising a floatability can; connecting a downstream point of a fluid transport pipe to the buoy, the connecting step comprising actuating a traction unit for raising the downstream point on the buoy; completely immersing the buoy under the surface of the body of water before or after the connecting step; deploying in the body of water an intermediate section of the transport pipe from the downstream point to at least as far as an upstream point; anchoring the upstream point on an anchoring element fixed on the bottom of the body of water in the anchoring region; tensioning the intermediate section of the transport pipe between the downstream point and the upstream point under the effect of the buoyancy of the buoy, in order to maintain the intermediate section substantially vertical in the body of water, the intermediate section extending along a vertical axis between the upstream point and the downstream point; wherein, during the connecting step, the buoy is borne in the body of water substantially exclusively by floatability of the buoy, wherein the buoy has a height, taken along a vertical axis (A-A′), when the intermediate section is tensioned, of less than 1.5 times a maximum transverse dimension of the buoy, taken transversely to the vertical axis (A-A′), the step for bringing the buoy to the surface of the body of water comprising displacing the buoy between a remote position located away from the anchoring region and a placement position located facing the anchoring region, while maintaining the buoy partly immersed at the surface of the body of water, and wherein during the connecting the buoy is maintained in the body of water substantially exclusively by the floatability of the buoy, without being connected to the bottom of the body of water with an anchoring line.