ABS approves Wison floating gas to methanol vessel design

China’s Wison Offshore & Marine has received an approval in principle from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for its latest floating natural gas to methanol (FGTM) vessel.

Wison said that the fully integrated gas-to-methanol system could eliminate heavy upfront capital expenditure during offshore LNG production.

With the topside design being done by Wison Engineering (WEL), the floating methanol facility has a combination of both Wison Offshore & Marine and Wison Engineering technical experience.

The FGTM can be deployed to offshore gas fields with an annual capacity of 1.8 million tons of methanol and offers a storage capacity of up to 200,000 m3.

The company added that the launch of Wison’s FGTM design represented a successful collaboration between Wison and ABS.

Yang Guangli, ABS China general manager for business development, said: “As demand for different types of liquefied gases increases rapidly, the concept of the floating natural gas to methanol plant will provide a new solution for liquefied gas conversion and production to the market.

“Awarding Wison Offshore & Marine this AIP is another example of ABS’s commitment to supporting industry efforts to deliver a more sustainable energy consumption landscape.”

Weimin Chen, general manager of the engineering center at Wison Offshore & Marine, added: “This also highlights the combined efforts of Wison Offshore & Marine and Wison Engineering to not only develop a new solution for the monetization of natural gas resources but also provide our clients with an integrated engineering service.”