ABS wins PFLNG 2 classification

ABS, a leading provider of classification and technical services to the global offshore industry, has been awarded the classification contract from Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas for the company’s second floating LNG facility (PFLNG 2). The vessel will be built at the Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) yard in Geoje, South Korea.

ABS Chairman and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki said: “This is a very significant award for us. It also is the natural next step for an organisation that is widely recognised as the leader in the classification of offshore production units and LNG ships.”

As the selected class society for the PFLNG 2 unit, ABS will provide a comprehensive suite of technical services, including classification.

PFLNG 2, which is set to see first gas production in early 2018, will be moored via an external turret on the deepwater Rotan gas field offshore Sabah, Malaysia. Designed to produce 1.5 million tpa of LNG, the vessel is expected to operate on site for a minimum of 20 years without dry docking.

FLNG emphasis

ABS Vice President for Global Gas Solutions Patrick Janssens said: “The search for new energy reserves is seeing exploration activities shift to the type of remote offshore fields on which facilities like the PFLNG 2 are perfectly suited to operate. With the growing demand for gas around the world, there will be a continued emphasis on FLNG-related technology, and ABS will continue to play a leading role.”

The award to class this FLNG newbuild comes just months after the unveiling of the ABS Global Gas Solutions team, a multidisciplinary group of engineers formed to respond to the rapidly escalating number of gas-related projects, including LNG and LPG transportation, the use of LNG and LPG as fuel and the growing number of FLNG projects.

There currently are more than 150 floating oil and gas facilities in the ABS-classed fleet, the largest single market share of any classification society and the company has a long history of working with floating gas concepts, classing the first offshore LPG storage unit in the world in 1997 and the first LPG floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit in 2005. ABS has awarded approval in principle (AIP) for ten floating LNG concepts and has performed pre-front-end engineering and design (FEED) and FEED work on a number of others.

Adapted from press release by Ted Monroe

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/floating-lng/06052014/abs_awarded_classification_contract_for_pflng_2/