Long-Term Debt - Term Loans (Narrative) (Details) $ in Thousands	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($) vessel subsidiary term_loan	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) term_loan
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Number of subsidiaries with outstanding term loans \| subsidiary	2
Partnership's interest owned in subsidiaries (as a percent)	50.00%
Number of outstanding term loans \| term_loan	1	3
Aggregate principal amount \| $	$ 3,237,822	$ 3,173,229
U.S. Dollar-denominated Term Loan due through 2021 \| Guaranteed Term Loan
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Aggregate principal amount \| $	29,100
U.S. Dollar-denominated Term Loan due through 2021 \| Guaranteed Term Loan \| Other owner of subsidiary
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Aggregate principal amount \| $	29,100
Term Loans \| U.S. Dollar-denominated Term Loan due through 2021
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Aggregate principal amount \| $	$ 58,255	85,574
Term Loans \| U.S. Dollar-denominated Term Loan due through 2021 \| Guaranteed Term Loan
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Partnership's interest owned in subsidiaries (as a percent)	50.00%
Term Loans \| U.S. Dollar-denominated Term Loans due through 2030
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Aggregate principal amount \| $	$ 1,433,398	$ 1,623,440
Shuttle tanker segment \| Shuttle Tankers
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Number of vessels	13
Shuttle tanker segment \| Term Loans \| Shuttle Tankers
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Number of vessels	3
Shuttle tanker segment \| Term Loans \| U.S. Dollar-denominated Term Loan due through 2021 \| Shuttle Tankers
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Number of vessels	2
FSO segment \| Term Loans \| FSO Units
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Number of vessels	2
FPSO segment \| Term Loans \| FPSO Units
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Number of vessels	3
Towage segment \| Term Loans \| Towage Vessels
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Number of vessels	10

Number of debt instruments.

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- Definition

Number Of Partnerships Vessels

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Number of subsidiaries with outstanding term loans guaranteed

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Amount, before unamortized (discount) premium and debt issuance costs, of long-term debt. Includes, but is not limited to, notes payable, bonds payable, commercial loans, mortgage loans, convertible debt, subordinated debt and other types of debt.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(22))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-03(16))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6879938&loc=d3e572229-122910

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-03(16))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6876686&loc=d3e534808-122878

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- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

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- Definition

The number of units or percentage investment held in the subsidiary by the limited liability company or limited partnership.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 946
-SubTopic 320
-Section S99
-Paragraph 9
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=50485924&loc=d3e611443-123010

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