FPSO leaves UK port after nearly three years – gallery

After being warm stacked for close to three years, a cylindrical floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel has sailed away from the UK’s Kishorn port (KPL), a 50/50 joint venture between Ferguson Transport (Spean Bridge) and Leiths (Scotland).

Kishorn Port recently bid farewell to the FPSO Voyageur Spirit after almost three years. The 2008-built FPSO with a dead weight of 45,145 t left the port on Sunday, 9 April 2023. This vessel has a length of 70 m and a breadth of 65 m. The FPSO has been at Kishorn Port and dry dock since July 2020 and it was supported by KPL port and marine staff throughout this period.

Alasdair Ferguson, KPL Director, remarked: “It has been a great project for the port and the onsite team, once again demonstrating the port’s outstanding capabilities and a great testament to our ability to look after all the needs of a warm stacked vessel, such as the Voyageur Spirit, and providing all the services required.”

According to Kishorn, the FPSO Voyageur Spirit was floated onto Cosco Shipping’s heavy load carrier vessel, Xin Yao Hua, which is described as the largest vessel to visit the port in its history. The HTV vessel was built in 2022 with a dead weight of 81,798 t and a gross tonnage of 72,275 t. KPL claims that the whole process was carried out with the cooperation of all stakeholders and the marine team, with “meticulous planning and safely delivered on time.”

“KPL and its partners at Leith Scotland and Ferguson Transport & Shipping extend their best wishes and a safe onward journey for the asset and crew,” highlighted the port.

In a separate statement, Interocean Marine Services Ltd outlined that it acted as the lead marine contractor in the loadout operation of the FPSO Voyager Spirit onto the HTV Xin Yao Hua. The company underscores that its team and the other companies worked “tirelessly to ensure that everything went seamlessly, and we’re proud to say that the operation was completed efficiently and without incident.”
 
For this particular operation, Interocean Marine Services provided marine procedures, engineering review, project manager, tow masters, mooring masters, assisting vessels, and drone support. The company explains that Loch Kishorn, on the North West coast of Scotland, provided “a beautiful backdrop for this exciting project. We’re grateful for the opportunity to showcase our expertise in the industry, and we look forward to taking on more similar challenges in the future.”

Previously, Altera Infrastructure’s FPSO Voyageur Spirit worked at the Premier-operated Huntington field in the Central North Sea, prior to the operator’s decision to start decommissioning the field.