MDL completes Thema LNG project gig

Back-deck equipment specialist Maritime Developments MDL has completed a flexible installation in Ghana’s Tema port for the offshore LNG facility.

MDL third-generation Reel Drive System was used to deploy a 33 centimetres gas lift riser from an 11.4 metres reel which was mobilised on the back of an anchor handler vessel.

The tie-in connected the beach with the LNG facility, located 12 kilmetres off the coast of Tema, in the Greater Accra Region in the Eastern part of Ghana.

Tema LNG consists of a dedicated FRU, built by Jiangnan Shipbuilding, and a separate FSU. It has the capacity to receive, re-gasify, store, and deliver around 1.7 million tonnes of LNG a year.

The first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa, the LNG terminal is expected to help Ghana meet its growing domestic energy demand to not depend on foreign imports.

The long-term supply deal between Royal Dutch Shell and Ghana National Petroleum Corp supports the project. Spanish LNG terminal operator Reganosa will run and maintain the terminal and the associated 6-km gas pipeline.

Prior to the project, the MDL RDS had been used for a pipeline replacement at a Nigerian terminal, mobilised onboard a barge.