DOF lands Prelude FLNG work

TechnipFMC hands Norwegian vessel owner deal for support of Shell’s giant project off Australia

Eoin O'Cinneide

Norwegian vessel owner DOF Subsea has won a contract from TechnipFMC for work on Shell’s giant Prelude floating liquefied natural gas project off Western Australia.

The Oslo-listed player will put its multipurpose support vessel Geoholm on the job, providing ROV and light construction support services for the water intake riser installation at Prelude.

No deal value or contract duration was given by DOF.

The vessel owner has only recently secured a safety case for the Geoholm, which will be available in the Asia-Pacific region from the start of the second quarter. The vessel had previously been working off Brazil for state-run oil company Petrobras.

With Geoholm heading to the region, DOF Subsea will have a total of five advanced subsea vessels operating in Asia-Pacific with an average age of six years.

DOF has recently taken over management and operation of two offshore support vessels from Olympic Shipping, with one – Olympic Commander – to be renamed Skandi Darwin and used for inspection, maintenance and repair work on Prelude.

Technip was recently awarded a contract for engineering and project management services at Prelude, providing multi-disciplinary engineering and design support. It will handle concept, front-end engineering design, detailed and follow-on engineering services, procurement and construction management services, as well as pre-commissioning, commissioning and hand-over services.

Shell's giant facility is under construction at Samsung Heavy Industries' Geoje facility in South Korea.

The 5.3 million-tonne-per-annum Prelude FLNG vessel will process natural gas collected from subsea wells off Western Australia. The vessel is expected to start production in 2017. It will be moored in about 250 metres of water.

Earlier this year, Shell awarded US engineering player Emerson a services contract for Prelude equipment monitoring, diagnostic services, spares support, and maintenance for the facility's control and safety systems.

Earlier this month DPF Subsea landed a three-year inspection, maintenance and repair frame agreement from an unnamed oil major in an unspecified section of the Asia-Pacific region.