Offshore staff
PARIS – Bureau Veritas (BV) has issued new/updated notations and guidance for construction and operation of floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) and floating storage units (FSUs).
According to BV, floating gas terminals are attracting growing interest due to the operational flexibility they provide and the reduced timescales for construction – from concept to operation – in comparison with onshore terminals.
In addition, converting existing LNG carriers offers a further speedy way of achieving operational availability.
At present there are more than 20 LNG carriers in laid-up condition, BV said, many of which are candidates for conversion to FSRU or FSU operations.
The new conversion guidelines are designed to advise the industry how to address issues that may arise during the conversion process, helping shipowners either avoid or surmount potential problems.
Matthieu de Tugny, COO, Marine & Offshore at BV, said: ‘We are providing the rule framework and guidance necessary to develop both FSRU and FSU terminals – both for newbuildings and conversions.”
Last November, BV published NR645, the first rules document fully dedicated to FSRUs.
The first FSRU newbuild, delivered in 2005, was BV-classed, while the largest FSRU ever built is MOL’s BV-classed 263,000-cu m (9.29-MMcf) vessel delivered in 2017.
Almost 40% of the active fleet is said to now be BV-classed.
07/30/2018
