In November 2013, the ABS “JSM” team proudly watched as the Jack St. Malo FPU set sail from the Kiewit Offshore Services integration yard in Ingleside, Texas, on its way to Walker Ridge 718 in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM), where it will be stationed in 7,000 ft (2,134 m) water depth for 30 years. The success of the project – from ABS support during front end engineering design (FEED), to hull and topsides fabrication and integration through to project completion and scheduled sailaway – was the culmination of several years of hard work.
Beginning in 2009, ABS’ initial scope of work called for its approval of the FEED design to validate that the FPU design complied with the intent of ABS Rules and appropriate codes. Following FEED approvals, ABS proceeded to the classification and statutory approvals and fabrication and installation surveys. The Jack St. Malo FPU will receive the floating offshore installation (FOI) notation under ABS class.
The Jack St. Malo project comprises the joint development of the Jack and St. Malo oil fields, which are part of the emerging Lower Tertiary Trend deposited 65 million years ago more than 20,000 ft (609 m) beneath the seabed. The $7.5 billion development will consist of three subsea centers tied back to the hub production facility with a capacity of 170,000 barrels of oil and 42.5 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.
In February 2013, the Jack St. Malo hull departed Geoje, South Korea, aboard the Dockwise Vanguard heavy transport vessel on its maiden voyage to the Kiewit yard in Ingleside, where the floating production unit (FPU) topside modules were being constructed. At 56,000 metric tons, the Jack St. Malo hull is the world’s largest to date, and its float-on operation proved Vanguard’s heavy transport capability across 13,000 nautical miles.
Organization, teamwork, and delivery are what Chevron has come to expect from ABS over the years. The organization is classing and certifying the design, fabrication and installation of two of Chevron’s other megaprojects under way in the GOM, the $4.1 billion Big Foot TLP and the Williams-operated Tubular Bells spar.
The offshore installation campaign is now mobilized, with first oil anticipated in 2014.
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