TechnipFMC vessel gears up for Prelude FLNG work

TechnipFMC’s construction vessel Deep Orient is all set to go and work on the Shell-operated Prelude project, which is located offshore Australia. 

Back in 2012, before Technip merged with FMC Technologies to form TechnipFMC, the company won a subsea contract from Shell for the Prelude floating LNG (FLNG) unit. The plan was to use the company’s two vessels, the Deep Energy and the Deep Orient, for the work.

This contract included management, fabrication, transport and installation of flowlines, transport and installation of the subsea equipment as well as the management of key interfaces with the hook-up and commissioning of the FLNG facility with transport, installation and handover of the flexible risers and umbilical.

TechnipFMC reported through its social media channels on Thursday that the Deep Orient vessel was ready to go to work on the world’s largest offshore facility, Shell’s Prelude.

“We’re proud to work on this project to realize new possibilities for oil and gas,” TechnipFMC briefly said.

According to the latest AIS data, the 2013-built medium construction vessel is currently moored in Singapore. The Deep Orient is suited for subsea construction and flexible pipelay projects.

Under a different contract awarded to TechnipFMC late last year, the company is also in charge of multi-disciplinary engineering and design services in support of the Prelude FLNG project which will allow the smooth delivery of brownfield engineering scope as the project moves into operations.

When it comes to the FLNG unit, the vessel left the Samsung Heavy Industry shipyard in South Korea about two weeks ago, being towed to its offshore location in Australia by four Posh Terasea vessels. The journey was expected to last for four weeks, which means the unit should now be half way through to its final offshore location in the Browse Basin.

Once at location, the 488-meter-long-hull facility will be moored and connected to the undersea infrastructure and the whole production system commissioned. It is expected to start production in 2018.

The largest floating facility ever built will unlock new energy resources offshore and produce approximately 3.6 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas per year.

Offshore Energy Today Staff