The reel-lay method, developed in the late twentieth century, is a novel pipe-laying technique with advantages such as high laying efficiency and excellent welding quality. This paper utilizes Abaqus’s nonlinear processing capabilities to simulate the process of a pipe being reeled onto a drum and the deepwater laying process under hydrodynamic loads. The rotation of the drum is simulated by constraining its rotational displacement, while the software’s contact analysis feature is employed to model the interaction between the pipe and the drum. A parametric analysis of the effect of tension on the plastic deformation of the pipe is conducted. Results show that during the increase of the reeling traction, the main strain of the pipe is concentrated on the drum and remains stable. However, when the traction force becomes too large, the axial strain of the unreeled portion of the pipeline increases. Appropriate laying tension can effectively reduce the interference of deepwater wave and current loads on the laying curvature. The positions of the straightener and calibrator need to be adjusted according to the actual conditions, laying angle, and tension.