Mooring of the PSVM FPSO in 2000m of water in BP’s ultra-deepwater block 31 offshore Angola was completed recently by First Subsea. The double-hulled FPSO is a hub field development that will produce oil from the Plutao, Saturno, Venus and Marte fields.
PSVM’s external turretmoored FPSO has 12 mooring lines, each with a Ballgrab Series I ball and taper subsea mooring connector, with a minimum breaking load of 4903kN. The female receptacle part of the Ballgrab connectors was installed subsea, mounted on docking porches on suction piles, ahead of the arrival of the FPSO. Once the production vessel was on-station, the mooring connector attached to the mooring was lowered into the receptacle to complete the mooring installation. The process was then repeated until all 12 mooring lines were connected.
Sofec mooring project manager Chris Newlands commented: ‘The First Subsea team did a great job. The moorings went very smoothly; we were kept informed at every stage, ensuring each mooring was completed without a hitch.’
