Keel Laying Ceremony for Dana’s Western Isles FPSO

The keel laying of the floating, storage, production and offloading vessel (FPSO) marks a major milestone for Dana’s Western Isles project.

Dana and its partner Cieco are investing $1.6 billion in a nine-well development of two oil fields called Harris and Barra in the Northern North Sea, 160km east of the Shetlands and 12km west of the Tern field.

Dana’s Group Chief Executive Marcus Richards said: “This is a major milestone for Dana and the Western Isles project. We aim to significantly grow our production over the next five years and this project is vital to helping us achieve that goal.”

The vessel, of Sevan Marine design, will displace around 26,000 tonnes and can safely store up to 400,000 barrels of oil. The hull and topsides of the FPSO are being constructed in China. The project has around 70 per cent UK content overall. The vessel will then be transported to the North Sea where it will begin operations in late 2015.