A device developed in Norway, owned by Teekay and named after the remora sucker fish, is set to revolutionise the loading of tankers on offshore oilfields, subject to successful trials with Brazilian semi-state operator Petrobras.
Measuring 47m in height, by 28m length and 11m draft, HiLoad DP unit No. 1 looks incongruous on its own, but more obvious with regard to its intended function when attached to its mothership, the tanker Navion Anglia.
The ship and its attachment are being prepared for a 10-year trial with Petrobras, operating in both the Campos basin and the Espirito Santo pre-salt basin.
Remora is designed to load oil from floating production units and storage vessels directly on to a standard tanker with no extra equipment.
It thereby offers a cost-saving alternative to specialist shuttle tankers with their own dynamic positioning (DP) systems, and to the use of moored loading buoys with the associated requirement for support tugs.
The current production ship population stands at around 150 units. Many are converted tankers, an option much used by Petrobras, though the number of purpose designed and built FPSOs is also growing.
According to IHS, 21 of the 48 FPSOs currently under construction are being built for Petrobras; and Douglas-Westwood forecasts that $91billion will be spent on new vessels
HiLoad DP No. 1 was built in 2010. It operates using the same principle as that used by the remora for adhesion. This species empties water from chambers in the sucker to create the vacuum that enables it to hitch a ride from a larger host, especially sharks.
The HiLoad DP unit works in much the same way. A sucker is deployed to grab the tanker below the water line, and more suckers on the section of the craft above the surface secure a hold higher up on the vessel’s hull.
Once attached, three powerful DP thruster engines that can rotate 360 degrees keep the host tanker steady and a safe distance from the production vessel. A hose attached to the HiLoad from the FPSO fills the tanker with crude.
HiLoad DP No. 1 and its crew of three can travel at four knots and up to three nautical miles from its mother ship or an FPSO to which it can attach itself when not in use.
It can handle any tanker up to Suezmax size (160,000 tonnes deadweight), seizing it and loading it with oil in a process that takes 24-30 hours – comparable with a shuttle tanker loading time.
Teekay said in May it hoped to start operations early next year. It also has a contract to provide shuttle tankers from this year for BG Group.
Recommended for you
