Ichthys FPSO gets its turret

South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) has begun integration of the lower turret with the Ichthys LNG project’s floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit.

The unique 4,200 tonne, 31 metre-tall turret structure, which travelled from Singapore, was inserted into the hull of the FPSO, which is currently under construction at a DSME yard in Okpo, South Korea.

Three components make up the overall FPSO turret: the lower turret, the manifold and the gantry frame. When completed, the turret will measure 85 metres in height and weigh 8,700 tonnes, making it one of the largest in the world.

Ichthys LNG Project Offshore Director Claude Cahuzac said the turret was one of the most technically complex pieces of project equipment.

“Almost everything that will enter or leave the FPSO will do so through the turret – through chemical injection lines, transfers lines or control and power cables that provide it with fluid, gas and power from the nearby central processing facility,” Cahuzac said.

“The turret also provides the semi-submersible FPSO with its mooring system – with mooring lines connecting directly to the turret and not the facility – so that it can withstand cyclonic weather conditions.

The Ichthys LNG project is will develop the gas and condensate field discovered by INPEX in the Browse Basin approximately 220 kilometres off the northwest coast of Western Australia.

The Ichthys field contains resource estimates of more than 12 trillion cubic feet of gas. According to INPEX, this is around 13 times the amount of gas Australia uses each year. The field also contains the largest discovery of hydrocarbon