September 6, 2014
In May 2013, Teekay Corporation and Salamander Energy of Thailand reached agreement on the supply of a Floating Storage and Offtake Vessel (FSO) unit at the Bualuang field in the Gulf of Thailand. The 1993-built shuttle tanker, the Navion Clipper, has been operated by Teekay for 20 years, which is typically the customer-imposed operating life of such a vessel. In this regard, Teekay contracted to convert the shuttle tanker into an FSO as well as to operate the refurbished vessel.
Here, the Suksan Salamander is seen in action. The external turret mooring system is attached to the bow of the ship and fixed to the seabed via nine anchor lines allowing the vessel to weather-vane through 360 degrees.
“She was in good condition and did not need much, if any, steel to be replaced due to corrosion,” says FSO Business Developer at Teekay, Peter Webb. “Her size was ideal for the loading rate and storage capacity that Salamander Energy required.”
The two companies agreed on a ten-year charter contract, followed by a five-year extension option. To ensure that the FSO will remain safely on location, the FSO will be moored by an external turret allowing the vessel to weather-vane through 360 degrees. “The mooring system is a very heavy-duty permanent turret mooring due to the occasional effects of a tropical cyclone,” says Webb. After the conversion work, Teekay would also be responsible for operating the unit. Earlier this year, Teekay finalised the conversion of the Navion Clipper which was renamed the Suksan Salamander.
Several factors played an important role in giving Teekay the edge to secure the contract with Salamander Energy. Among others, Teekay’s immediate ability to provide a shuttle tanker for conversion as well as the high-quality FSO operations for which Teekay is recognised both in Thailand and internationally. “The Suksan Salamander adds a second Thai FSO, adding to our existing Pattani Spirit which is on contract to Chevron Thailand. As a consequence, economies of scale exist in our operations; this gives the Thai workforce more security of employment,” Peter Webb states.
On July 8, the Suksan Salamander arrived at the Bualuang field for field installation. Before the FSO could commence loading crude oil, tensioning of all anchor lines for the external turret mooring system needed to be completed. The process of installing the FSO, tensioning the anchor chains, installing the flowlines and testing operational systems as well as receiving ABS FSO Class and helideck operations approval lasted for more than a month. However, on 14 August, the Suksan Salamander started loading crude oil for the first time on her new Bualuang Field location. “We are confident that she will perform as faultlessly as the Pattani Spirit – without any downtime, and with the ultimate benefit to our customer,” Webb says. “At the moment, she is fully on hire, receiving oil from the platform and has already completed three discharges to export tankers.”