Marine Link
Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Oceaneering Completes FPSO Conversion

A 268,000-dwt crude oil tanker was converted to a floating production, storage and offloading system (FPSO), named Zafiro Producer, by Oceaneering International. Oceaneering purchased the vessel from Mobil, and Mobil will lease the completed FPSO from Oceaneering for processing up to 80,000 barrels of crude oil per day at the Zafiro field, which is offshore Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea.

The vessel — which will have a storage capacity of 1.2 million barrels of crude oil — was originally the M/T Swift, built in Japan by Mitsui at the Tamano shipyard in 1973 for a Japanese owner. Following its purchase by Oceaneering, the vessel was taken to PMB/Bechtel Pelican Island Facility (the former Todd Shipyard) in Galveston, Texas, where the repairs and principal conversion work was performed afloat.

The vessel was to have sailed no later than June 21 for Europe, where it was to be drydocked at a Portuguese shipyard for shell plate repairs, hull coating and final ABS-class inspection. The schedule calls for the vessel to move onto West Africa from Portugal, and it is to be installed at the Zafiro field by mid- August.

Some highlights of the conversion include: •At 268,000 dwt, Zafiro Producer will be the second largest vessel ever converted to an FPSO when it enters production service; •The 80,000/bpd, 40-mmscfd production process system is one of the largest yet installed aboard an FPSO; and •The vessel will be installed in a water depth of 600 ft. (182.8 m), reportedly the greatest depth to date for a spread-moored FPSO, and the greatest depth for a floating production system offshore West Africa.

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Offshore Oil History

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