Danish Hydraulic Institute (DHI) is an independent, non-profit organization established in 1964 by the Danish Academy of Technical Sciences in co-operation with the Technical University of Denmark. The present staff numbers 230 (1998) of whom 163 hold MSc or PhD degrees, 29 technicians, including programmers and field surveyors, and 38 administrative personnel. Projects have been undertaken in more than 130 countries since DHI was established.

DHI has been involved in numerous EU research projects including the BRITE, MAST, HCM and TMR programmes. DHI conducts an independent programme of applied research financed by the surplus arising from the Institutes consulting work and by Danish Government grants. In addition, DHI is a leading partner in several major internationally sponsored research programmes.

DHIs areas of expertise relevant to the present proposal include coastal structures, offshore structures, computational hydrodynamics, monitoring of environmental data, data processing, statistical analysis and modelling of environmental data (wind, waves, currents) and loads both on large structures (vessels) and small structures (risers, mooring lines). Laboratory testing technology, such as wave generating systems, sensors and data acquisition hardware and software, is not only applied in-house but is also offered as part of DHI_s commercial activities. From the research programmes as well as from the commercial activities, DHI has gained extensive experience in physical and numerical modelling of floating offshore structures.

It has always been fundamental for DHI to establish a thorough understanding of the physics behind hydraulic and hydrodynamic phenomena and then to develop the appropriate analysis tools. The combination of physical and numerical modelling has often proved to be the most appropriate avenue for solving complex problems, such as load and response of floating structures.