1 Project Overview
In late 2020, Oceaneering’s IMDS group completed a four-month project to support a large vessel modification project off the coast of West Africa.
The client was retrofitting a liquid natural gas carrier (LNGC) to create a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU). The FSRU uses regasified LNG to generate electricity that is delivered to an onshore connection and transmission facility.
2 Challenge
The client was required to have an established maintenance strategy in place in order to ensure the vessel met the required standards and regulations and to allow the safe start-up of the modified asset.
3 The Oceaneering Solution
The project focused on two primary deliverables: a maintainable equipment list and a maintenance strategy.
An Aberdeen-based team of integrity management professionals completed a thorough review of assets and generated a database for the client. This information fed into the subsequent maintenance strategy, enabling the client to optimize maintenance and inspection while ensuring compliance.
The Oceaneering team also provided the maintenance strategy. All facility owners and operators are required to ensure their assets are managed effectively to confirm their technical integrity while maximizing their availability and reliability throughout the design life.
To meet this requirement, appropriate and effective maintenance activities must be defined and applied which are economic, in terms of value, when compared to the potential safety, environmental, and business reputational impacts that may occur where no action is taken. The overall objective is to ensure that a high level of safety is maintained.
Oceaneering developed a maintenance strategy that could be applied across all the specified equipment taking into account the requirements of all relevant legislation, national and international standards, and lessons learned through best engineering practice and operational experience. The FSRU’s maintenance strategy covered the application of maintenance for the vessel’s:
- Cargo pumps and associated equipment, motors, instrumentation, etc.
- Safety valves (PSVs)
- Regasification plant
- Electrical equipment (within hazardous areas)
- Emergency shutdown (ESD) valves.
4 Execution Plan
A highly-experienced team in Aberdeen reviewed all technical documentation provided by the client.
This enabled them to determine and assess the onboard maintainable equipment and develop a comprehensive maintenance strategy.
5 Project Highlights
6 Results
Establishing a strategic and data-based maintenance strategy had both short- and long-term implications for the client.
Not only were they able to execute retrofit work while remaining compliant, but the strategy will equip them with a schedule to maximize equipment uptime and asset life. They are less likely to be affected by maintenance-based interruptions to critical operation. Importantly, they are well positioned to increase their overall efficiency across operations by streamlining inspections and work orders to meet regulatory standards.
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