Asia’s First Cylindrical FPSO Arrives at Operation Area

Date：2024-05-31

On May 29, Haikui No. 1, China’s self-developed and Asia’s first cylindrical floating oil-gas production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility, arrived at the sea area where the Liuhua Oilfield is located.

Haikui No. 1 is a high-end marine facility integrating the functions of crude oil production, storage, and offloading. It consists of nearly 600,000 parts, and has a weight of nearly 37,000 tons, a height close to a 30-storey building, and a maximum oil storage capacity of 60,000 tons. With a design life of 30 years, it can operate at sea for 15 consecutive years.

Haikui No. 1 was transported with the combination of the following two methods: “Being loaded on a large ship” and “being towed by smaller ships.” It completed a voyage of more than 1,300 nautical miles from Qingdao, Shandong to the destination across the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, and the Taiwan Strait.

The project team coped with the loading/unloading of ultra-large structures, transportation design, plan preparation, and complex calculations, established a land-sea emergency response and support system, responded to a broad array of complex situations such as sweeping tides, harsh climatic conditions, and concentrated fishing areas with scientific methods. At last, Haikui No. 1 was transported to the operating area three days ahead of the planned date.

After arrival, Haikui No. 1 will be connected to the anchor leg in the deep sea by 12 mooring lines whose lengths total 2,570m. It will operate at a depth of 324m.