LNG

The American Bureau of Shipping, the US maritime classification society, has awarded approval for the design of a one-side spread mooring system for a floating liquefied natural gas facility to South Korean shipyard and offshore equipment-maker Samsung Heavy Industries.

The Approval in Principle (AIP) for SHI will see the FLNG system being safely spread-moored on one side, enabling LNG carriers to berth and load on the opposite side free from obstructions.

“With more than 150 floating oil and gas facilities in the ABS-classed fleet, ABS is the market leader in classification of offshore production units, which includes FLNG assets,” said the Houston, Texas-based company.

Matt Tremblay, ABS Vice President for Global Offshore, explained that the US class society was well placed to understand the unique requirements of these units, with a focus on safety.

“I’m proud to be able to support SHI with this innovation,” stated Tremblay.

Wang K. Lee, Vice President of SHI’s Offshore Business Division, said the one-side spread mooring system is a patented technology that can replace complex turrets in a mild offshore environment.

“It will be the optimized solution for shipping companies looking for economical FLNG models,” he added.
ABS has expertise on the whole of the LNG engineering, shipping and bunkering sector.

One of its 2021 approvals was for a new design by Finnish company Deltamarin and French LNG storage tank firm GTT for an LNG-powered Aframax oil tanker.

The vessel was developed by Deltamarin, a designer of ships and offshore platforms for the energy industry, to increase autonomy and carbon-emission reductions for the Aframax-type vessel, which is a crude oil tanker with a deadweight between 80,000 and 120,000 metric tonnes.

That design is intended to meet current and future environmental targets by introducing GTT membrane-type LNG tanks with LNG fuel stored at atmospheric pressure and designed to ABS Class.

The AiP from ABS certifies that the onboard integration of the membrane fuel tank solution is technically feasible for an LNG-fuelled tanker and that it complies with all safety regulations.

Compared with a conventional oil-fuelled tanker, the LNG-powered design reduces CO2 emissions by at least 20 percent.

The American Bureau of Shipping, the US maritime classification society, has approved a specialized near-shore LNG Floating Production Storage Offloading Vessel (FPSO) hull developed by the South Korean company Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering.

The ABS said it issued and Approval in Principle for the wide-breadth, single row near-shore LNG FPSO with a jetty-moored system.

The approval is the completion of a joint development project between DSME and ABS, combining the latest industry trends of shipbuilding practices and ABS rules to advance LNG safety standards.
 
The 64-metres wide, barge-shaped hull features a No. 96 single row containment system from French technology firm Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT) with storage capacity of 209,000 cubic metres.

It accommodates a jetty-moored system and approximately 40,000-metric tonnes of topside modules, which may produce between 3.0 million tonnes per annum and 3.5 MTPA of LNG.
 
“Due to wider breadth and different hull configuration compared to existing standard LNG carriers, various sloshing model tests have been carried out with the 6-DOF sloshing rig, driven by electric servomotors, at DSME’s sloshing research center in Korea,” explained ABS.

“Through these extensive tests, DSME have verified that the new hull design and the membrane cargo containment system (CCS) can withstand the sloshing impact loads under actual operating conditions,” added the US class society.
 
Matt Tremblay, ABS Senior Vice President for Global Offshore, noted that the US firm has been a part of the FPSO industry since its earliest days and has played a key role in the development of the sector.

“The benefit from that involvement is that we’ve been able to both witness and participate in the evolution of FPSOs in size, complexity and technology,” added Tremblay.

“This project is the next step in that evolution, and we are proud to be able to support it,” he stated.
 
Odin Kwon, an Executive Vice President of DSME and Chief Technology Officer, was delighted with the approval.

“As today’s offshore oil and gas market demands more cost efficient and fast-track projects, this single row CCS tank configuration will become a desirable model for our clients and this new line-up together with the two-row CCS configuration will provide greater flexibility to fulfil various needs,” he said.

ABS noted that it has been working with floating gas concepts for many years, including the first purpose-built liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) floating storage and offloading unit, delivered in 1997, and the first LPG FPSO in 2005.