Prelude Floating LNG Facility's Vessel Hull Nears Completion, Expected to be World's Largest

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources Australia (Perth, Australia)--The construction team working on the Prelude Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) Facility has reached another milestone, with the vessel hull now joined and nearing completion. With the hull constructed, it is clear how enormous the completed Prelude FLNG Facility will be.

Project owner Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS.A) (The Hague, Netherlands) has assigned a large team of engineering, construction and project management experts from around the globe to construct the project.

The 488-metre-long, 74-metre-wide Prelude FLNG facility is being constructed at Samsung Heavy Industries' Geoje Shipyard in South Korea, which is one of the few locations worldwide with the ability to produce the vessel. The Prelude FLNG will be the biggest vessel ever made, and the first large-scale natural gas liquefaction facility at sea.

The project's construction is on schedule. The vessel will be transported to Australia and moored to site in 2016. Prelude FLNG will begin exports of liquefied natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and condensate from early 2017.

The keel was completed in July 2013. The hull was made in two sections that were joined in August 2013 in the Geoje Shipyard dry docks. Six tugboats were required to complete the long process of transporting one half of the hull to the other, and connecting the sections. A margin for error of about 10 millimetres was allowed. The dry docks were then completely emptied of water, and the sections were welded together.

The completed hull alone weighs more than 100,000 tonnes and measures 1,600 feet from bow to stern. When complete, the vessel will weigh 600,000 tonnes. There is still a long way to go with construction; the topsides, the process equipment, LNG, condensate and LPG storage, living quarters, communication and electrical systems, instrumentation and much more is still to be added. The topsides will add an additional 40 metres to the height of a hull that is already remarkable in both height and width.

The Prelude FLNG Facility will be moored in 250 metres of water, above the Concerto and Prelude natural gas fields, approximately 200 kilometres off the coast in northern Western Australia, near the Northern Territory.

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