Japanese floating production specialist MODEC has developed a pair of next generation new build hull designs for floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels developed in partnership with Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding, targeting greater production and storage capacity.
In recent years, large FPSOs have mainly been based on converting used Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs). However, as a result of increases in required crude oil and gas production capacities, the topsides have become bigger and heavier, which has led to insufficient deck space area and insufficient crude oil storage capacity. Additionally, the durations of the client contracts are increasing, thereby requiring longer FPSO design lives. Going forward it is expected that there will be a heightened demand for new built FPSO hulls.
In response to these demands from the market, MODEC joined forces with Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. to develop a next generation new built hull for FPSOs called the MODEC NOAH.
The MODEC NOAH is based on a next generation hull design for FPSOs that had already been developed by Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding, one of the most experienced companies that has engineered and constructed more than 2,000 vessels. However, the MODEC NOAH is MODEC’s own new hull design for FPSOs, and it was developed with the aim of achieving MODEC’s top priority of maximizing the lifecycle value that each FPSO can provide to clients and other stakeholders through their whole lifetime, more than 20 years from the start until the end of operations.
MODEC has also developed a second next generation new built FPSO hull, the M350, which has received AiPs from ABS and DNV GL. The M350 has been jointly developed with Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co., Ltd. (DSIC), a subsidiary of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), with ultra-modern shipbuilding facilities and technologies, MODEC said.
