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Mooring Systems Specialists » Mooring Systems » External Turret Mooring Systems »
Fluminense FPSO External Turret

SOFEC designed, constructed and supplied an external cantilevered bow turret mooring system for a 357,000 dwt FPSO vessel to produce the Bijupirá & Salema fields in the Campos Basin, Brazil. The taut leg mooring in water depths ranging from 470m to 800m  set an external turret water depth record and is installed on the largest FPSO in Brazil. 

The MODEC converted FPSO is moored between the Bijupirá & Salema fields and produce oils from the field, supplies injection water to the wells and exports gas to an existing pipeline in the field. The turret is designed for a combination of 18 risers and umbilicals.

General Description

Location: Bijupirá and Salema Fields, Campos Basin, Brazil
Client Name: Shell Brasil Ltda.
Contract Award: May 2001
Installation Date:    July 2003
First Oil: August 2003
Vessel Type: Converted ULCC FPSO
Vessel Size: 357,000 dwt
Storage Capacity: 1,200,000 bbls
Water Depth: 800m / 2,642.4ft
Fabrication: Turret - Malaysia South America
Region: South America

World's Largest External Turret

This SOFEC external turret mooring system is the world's largest to date and provides a safe and reliable means of mooring the FPSO on station in the Bijupirá and Salema fields for the entire service life of the FPSO, in all sea state conditions including the 100-year storm. The riser system must remain undamaged in the 100-year storm.

The SPM system is an external, bow-mounted cantilevered turret designed to allow free weathervaning of the FPSO about the mooring system. In the offloading condition, the mooring system is, in addition to withstanding loads from the 357,000 dwt FPSO, capable of withstanding loads imparted by a Suezmax shuttle tanker moored in tandem off the stern of the FPSO.

The external turret has the capacity for 15 risers and three umbilicals, allowing for future field expansion and tie-ins. 

The primary component of each taut anchor leg consists of 154mm diameter polyester rope. The rope was manufactured, inspected and tested in accordance with the API Specification RP 2SM Recommended Practice for Design, Analysis, and Testing of Synthetic Fiber Ropes in Offshore Mooring Applications, and ABS Guidance Notes on the Application of Synthetic Ropes for Offshore Mooring.

The Bijupirá & Salema field development in the Campos Basin Offshore Brazil for Shell Brasil Ltda is an example of the full field, turnkey capabilities available FMC Technologies.

This SOFEC external turret mooring system is ABS classed.

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