26 april 2015
First steel cutting for the Hanne Knutsen's conversion into an FSO
Remontowa Shiprepair Yard SA, member of Remontowa Holding has recently held a steel cutting ceremony to mark the start of conversion of the shuttle tanker Hanne Knutsen for Total’s Martin Linge field on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
The celebrative steel cutting for the prefabricated structures for Hanne Knutsen conversion took place at Remontowa SA in April 2015. Once the conversion of this shuttle tanker is completed, the vessel will serve as an FSO unit for the Martin Linge offshore development.
As announced in December 2013, KNOT FSO 1 AS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers AS, had signed a time-charter contract with Total E&P Norge AS for a floating, storage, and offloading unit (FSO). For this project, a KNOT shuttle tanker will be converted into an FSO unit and then chartered by Total E&P Norge AS. The converted FSO will be used to store and offload oil that has been pumped from the Martin Linge field in the Norwegian North Sea. This field is held by a partnership comprising the operator Total E&P Norge AS, Petoro AS and Statoil Petroleum AS. After delivery, the FSO unit will be chartered to Total E&P Norge AS for 8 years plus up to 4 optional years.
The conversion contract was signed on March 10, 2014. Redelivery of the FSO unit, that is expected to arrive at Remontowa SA as a shuttle tanker early October 2015, is scheduled for July 2016.
For several months now, dedicated team at Remontowa SA has been occupied with Martin Linge project. The team cooperates both with Total, operator of the Martin Linge offshore development, with the shipowner - Knutsen and Romanian, Galati based Icepronav Engineering Srl - consulting naval architects and marine & offshore engineers experienced in offshore units conversion projects.
The scope of conversion includes additional division of cargo tanks, installation of new piping as well as new electrical and electronic systems, aft offshore offloading system installation and replacement of the helideck with a new structure of the same purpose.
Important part of the conversion related tasks is maximizing of the prefabrication of various structures so as they are ready for installation immediately upon vessel's arrival. Prefabrication, physically, commenced with first steel cutting mentioned above.
The event was attended by numerous representatives of involved companies, including Bjorn Hagland Hansen from Knutsen (Project Manager, Knutsen OAS Shipping AS), Svein Berg of Total (FSO Construction Site Representative, Total E&P Norge AS) and project teams of Knutsen and Total, as well as Marek Sokołowski - Conversions, Upgrades and Modifications Commercial Office Director of Remontowa SA.
Svein Berg, supervising the project for Total, commenced the first steel cutting for Martin Linge FSO prefabricated structures by starting up the steel plasma cutting machine. The first steel cut was part of the transverse bulkhead on frame 55.
