DGI Doedijns has delivered eight topside umbilical connection (TUC) cabinets to be installed aboard two FPSOs at the Kaombo field Block 32 offshore Angola.

The TUC’s are a vital part aboard the FPSO as part of turret mooring system to interface with the subsea umbilicals.

Each vessel will be equipped with four TUC’s to provide a reliable interface between subsea umbilicals and the vessel.

Two of Total’s very large crude carriers will be converted into the FPSOs. Because the existing carriers are being converted, the available design space for the cabinets was limited. The TUC cabinets will be used for distributing the process chemicals aboard the FPSO’s and termination of the umbilicals, the company explained.

Kaombo project involves the development of six of the 12 fields discovered at Block 32 Angola. The development of the Kaombo primarily involves the drilling of 59 subsea wells, which will be connected via 300 km of subsea lines to two FPSO vessels. Associated gas from the fields will be transferred to the Angola Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant in Soyo. Production from Kaombo field is expected to start in 2017.

The two FPSOs will each have an oil treatment capacity of 115,000 barrels a day, a water injection capacity of 200,000 barrels a day, a gas compression capacity of 100 million standard cubic feet a day, and an oil storage capacity of 1.7 million barrels.