ABS announced it granted an Approval in Principle (AIP) to Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) hull design for the offshore industry.
The design basis is storing 2 Mbbl of crude oil in the barge-shaped hull, applying mainly shipbuilding standards, and combining offshore production facility features, such as a 25-year lifetime without drydocking, and structural reinforcement for Topside structure installation.
The ABS AIP shows that the design complies with Class and Regulatory requirements, giving regulatory agencies and other key stakeholders confidence in the design. ABS and HHI worked together to develop a technically feasible and class compliant FPSO hull design, “using the latest technologies while maintaining high safety standards”.
“The Newbuilding Conversion FPSO hull design can be built for about half the cost as compared to a conventional FPSO hull,” says Jae-Eul Kim, HHI Senior Vice President, Shipbuilding Division. “In the current difficult energy market, the competitive Ready-to-Convert FPSO hull, with AIP from ABS, offers a practical approach to floating production units—enabling stakeholders to take confident financial investment decisions.”
