NEwS
Contract of 2 million barrels; two of them will be based offshore
STX Finland signs
Angola and the other two in Nigeria.
Commissioning of the inert gas system on Dalia
SA vessel deal
FPSO has been completed, while the already commis-
sioned Akpo FPSO recently reached the ‘first oil’
STX Finland Oy and the South African Department stage. Two further systems underwent full-scale tests
of Environmental Affairs have signed a contract for in Moss, Norway, before delivery to Pazflor FPSO in
construction of a polar supply and research vessel. June 2009 and to Usan FPSO in September.
The vessel, with a value of approximately €116 All of the systems are skid-mounted and located in
million (US$162.9 million), will bring around 600 the topside hazardous area. Hamworthy Moss’ scope
man-years of work. It will be built at the Rauma of supply includes items such as pressure vacuum
shipyard and is scheduled for delivery in mid-2012. (P/V) breakers and control systems for all four
The ship will function as a multi-purpose vessel, installations. Three of the vessels will also feature
serving as a supply vessel, research vessel, icebreaker, Hamworthy deck water seals – on Usan FPSO the
expedition vessel, as well as a passenger ship. The deck water seal is replaced by a double block and
ice-strengthened vessel will be approximately 134m bleed system.
loa and it will have accommodation for a crew of 45 Manager of Hamworthy Moss offshore business
and around 100 researchers or passengers. unit, Odd Ivar Lindløv, said: “These packages are
The polar supply and research vessel will be used to part of an FPSO’s topside installation, contrary to the
carry scientists and research equipment for the South common belief that the inert gas system is usually
African National Antarctic Programme in the sea located inside an engine room and a part of the
area between South Africa, the Antarctic islands and hull system.”
Antarctica. The ship can spend several months out at
sea and it also acts as a mobile laboratory. Scientists Research and development
can also conduct marine research onboard the ship.
The ship is classified for carrying passengers. The
Sener enters joint
vessel also keeps a continuous record of weather data
‘green’ project
for meteorological institutions around the world. The
vessel has a shelter and landing area for two Puma Spanish engineering and design company, Sener
class helicopters and it will feature laboratories, a Ingenieria y Sistemas, and renewable energy
gym, a library and a small hospital. company, Iberdrola Renovables, have each signed
Timo Suistio, director of STX Finland Oy, Rauma an agreement for Sener’s active participation in the
shipyard, said that the trade agreement is of great research and development of floating wind turbine
importance both for STX Finland’s Rauma shipyard supports, moored over deep waters of more than
and the trade relations between Finland and South 50m depth.
Africa in general. The project, named as ‘Proyecto Emerge’, has
Suistio added: “This is one of the biggest individual been promoted from the offshore wind projects
civil trade agreements the Finnish industry has made department at Iberdrola Renovables.
with South Africa. Furthermore, the agreement will The scope of the research project includes two
naturally have a positive effect on the employment different phases. From the first phase, consist-
at the Rauma shipyard. The design work on the new ing of the execution of all the engineering works
research vessel will commence immediately and the for the development of the floating wind turbine
ship will enter production in September 2010. The supports, Sener has assumed responsibility for
ship will be delivered to the owner, the South African those regarding marine engineering. This phase,
Department of Environmental Affairs, in spring in its turn, is divided into two steps, being the first
[second quarter] 2012.” one devoted to the viability aspects, both techni-
cal and commercial. This is particularly complex
Delivery due to the absence of commercial offshore floating
Hamworthy IG
wind turbines in today’s market.
Sener expects to have some alternative answers
systems for Africa
by the end of the first quarter of 2010, from which
a short list would be fully developed, for classifica-
Norway-based Hamworthy Moss AS has provided tion and detailed design.
inert gas (IG) systems for four new floating produc- The second phase of the project, the execution of
tion, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels entering the prototypes, will depend on the results obtained
service with Total. Each vessel has a storage capacity at the end of phase one. OMT
8
Offshore Marine Technology 1st Quarter 2010
News.indd 8 27/01/2010 11:08:20
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36