Seatrium delivers floating production unit for Shell's Gulf of Mexico project
(WO) – Seatrium Limited (Seatrium) announced the successful delivery of the Floating Production Unit (FPU), Whale, for deployment in the Gulf of Mexico, in accordance with the contract secured in November 2019 with Shell Offshore Inc. The completed Whale FPU, which comprises a topside module and a four-column semisubmersible floating hull (of over 22,000 tonnes) delivered on-time and within budget, underscores Seatrium’s strong track record and leadership as a global player with deep engineering expertise.
Enabled by Seatrium’s game-changing Goliath twin cranes with a combined 30,000-tonne lifting capacity and a 100-metre hook height, the integration of the Whale FPU topside and hull in one single lift is a major milestone achievement for Seatrium, resulting in greater productivity and safety for the assembly of such mega-blocks before integration.
Leveraging Seatrium’s extensive experience in designing and building world-class FPUs, the Whale project demonstrates Seatrium's continuous efforts for improvement and innovation which has brought about tangible contributions of over two million man-hours saved and 30% reduction in hull and topside integration time.
The hull structure of Whale was fabricated in Seatrium’s state-of-the-art steel fabrication facility, powered by renewable solar energy, resulting in reduced carbon emissions during the construction process.
The project scores 96% on international standards for health, safety, and environment and complies with the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers1 (IOGP) 577 standards as well as the U.S. Coast Guards statutory requirements. In addition to strong engineering capabilities and timely project delivery, Seatrium adopts Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices in its operations.
