Oceangoing and port tugs assisted in manoeuvring SBM Offshore’s newest oil production and storage ship out of a newbuild dock
Keppel shipyard in Singapore completed construction of Liza Unity floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit for a deepwater oilfield project off South America.
Liza Unity was assisted out of the shipyard by at least five tugboats pulling, pushing and manoeuvring this huge vessel ready for its deepsea voyage.
Keppel built this FPSO as a second for ExxonMobil’s Liza project offshore Guyana.
Liza Unity has capacity to produce 220,000 barrels of oil per day (b/d) and store 2M barrels of crude oil.
Once it was manoeuvred into the open sea around a congested Singapore port, two ALP Maritime Services anchor-handling tugs connected towing lines and started the voyage across the Indian and Atlantic oceans to South America, with another oceangoing tug to control the aft of the tow.
ALP vessels will tow Liza Unity to Guyana, where it is due to arrive near the end of the year.
“Once the FPSO arrives at the Liza field in Guyanese waters, it will be hooked up to the seabed, which will then be followed by installation of umbilicals and risers, allowing the next phase of operations to start,” SBM Offshore said.
The FPSO will be spread moored in a water depth of about 1,600 m. It has 19 topside modules, including those for associated gas treatment capacity of 400M ft3/d and water injection capacity of 250,000 b/d.
“We are pleased to see Liza Unity FPSO is ready for the next phase and we look forward to co-operating closely with our client ExxonMobil to ensure the start-up is a success,” said SBM managing director for floating production solutions Olivier Icyk.
Liza Unity is the first FPSO to achieve ABS’ Sustain-1 notation. This means the design, construction, documentation and operational procedures of the unit are assessed against and adhere to the requirements of ABS’ guidance for sustainability notations, which are aligned with the applicable UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Examples of features recognised by the Sustain-1 class notation include energy-efficiency management, mitigation of ozone-depleting substances and management of hazardous materials throughout the lifecycle.
“We work closely with our clients and our supply chain towards the goal of reducing emissions from our products,” said Mr Icyk. “This is an important step in our journey to deliver safe, sustainable and affordable energy from the oceans.”
Liza Unity is the first of SBM’s Fast4Ward design, benefiting from standardisation of the project’s execution plan and using a fully completed and commissioned MPF hull.
With the assistance of ALP’s tugs, the project continues to target first oil in 2022, in line with ExxonMobil’s schedule.
Video shows Liza Unity FPSO manoeuvred out of the shipyard and starting its ocean tow
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