Pakistan’s SPM Facility Completes First Year of Operation

Pakistan is set to revolutionize the handling of petroleum and oil products with the setting up of the country’s pioneering single point mooring (SPM) facility in the deep sea. Namely, Byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited has carried out the first year of successful SPM operations, thus significantly cutting on demurrage costs, the Express Tribune writes. 

The open sea anchorage comprises sub soil pipelines and 15km pipeline laid at the seafloor, connecting it to the on-shore facilities at Byco’s Mouza Kund site.

With this facility, Byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited plans to reduce the distance from Middle Eastern ports by 100 nautical miles per trip.

The SPM, featuring a draft of 25 meters, is based on Catenary Anchor Leg Mooring (CALM) system which allows mooring of tankers at much higher environmental thresholds achieving lower downtime. The system is secured to the seabed by anchor chains, or Catenary Anchor Legs, which permit the buoy to move freely within defined limits.

The first vessel, MT Arietis, that was moored to the SPM on December 26, 2012 with a cargo of 67,146 tons marked the official commissioning of the facility, as explained by Imran Farooki, CEO of Byco Terminals Pakistan Limited (BTPL) during a visit of media representatives to the company.

 “The SPM’s single largest cargo to date came on vessel MT Quetta with a quantity of 79,000 tons,” he added.

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Subsea World News Staff, December 27, 2013