On February 25, the 300,000-ton Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO), which was retrofitted by CIMC Raffles, departed from Yantai, Shandong Province for Brazil.
It is reported that it is the first FPSO renovation project in China that integrates the main hull modification, construction and integration of all modules, FPSO system commissioning, etc.
The project, named “FPSO Marechal Duque de Caxias”, was undertaken by CIMC Raffles and delivered at the end of January 2024.The FPSO, named “Mero 3 FPSO”, was owned by Malaysia International Shipping Company (MISC).
The original vessel for this project is a 300,000 tons Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) under Malaysian registry. The converted FPSO main hull has an overall length of 341.2 meters, a breadth of 67.2 meters and a depth of 29.7 meters.
The conversion work includes removal of living quarters and main engine on the original ship, and addition of new oil loading and unloading modules, torch tower modules, oil and gas treatment modules, compression modules, pipe galleries, etc. The total weight of the new modules after conversion is about 44,000 tons, and the empty ship weight is more than 110,000 tons.
Featuring a 24-point multi-point mooring system, the Mero 3 FPSO will be capable of handling 180,000 barrels of crude oil per day, 12 million m3 of natural gas per day, and will have a storage capacity of up to 1.45 million barrels of oil. The FPSO will be installed at a water depth of about 2,050 meters, and will be an “offshore oil processing plant” integrating production and processing, storage and offloading, personnel accommodation and production command. This is the first FPSO in the world to adopt HISEP technology, which will effectively reduce carbon emissions.
Up to now, CIMC Raffles has delivered the P71 FPSO hull, P78 FPSO hull segments, and the upper modules of several FPSO projects of Petronas, and undertaken the turnkey contract for the construction of P80 and P83 FPSO hulls. In addition, besides the Mero 3 FPSO project, CIMC Raffles also undertook the conversion of a semi-submersible drilling rig into a floating storage unit(FPU), making a breakthrough in the gas production platform project.