Ichthys Offshore Facilities Named in South Korea
Julie BishopA double-celebration was held in South Korea’s shipyards on Friday with the official naming ceremonies of two offshore facilities belonging to the Inpex-operated Ichthys LNG project.
At the Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) shipyard, Australian minister for foreign affairs Julie Bishop officially named the project’s central processing facility (CPF) ‘Ichthys Explorer’.
Earlier today, at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard, former chief minister of the Northern Territory of Australia Clare Martin named the project’s floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel ‘Ichthys Venturer’.
Inpex president & CEO Toshiaki Kitamura said: “Our sincere thanks go to our facilities’ godmothers, the Hon. Julie Bishop MP and the Hon. Clare Martin. On behalf of the Ichthys joint venture, Inpex is honoured to have their involvement in this milestone event and is most grateful for the support they have shown the Ichthys LNG project. My thanks extend to all the teams and contractors who completed more than 60 million man-hours of work to safely construct these remarkable, world-class facilities.
“Our project’s two gigantic floating facilities will be located in the Ichthys gas- condensate field, located about 220 kilometers offshore Western Australia, for 40 years of continuous operation, setting new benchmarks for durability.”
At 130 meters by 120 meters, the Ichthys Explorer is the “world’s largest” semi- submersible platform, Inpex said. The Ichthys Explorer will receive well fluids from a subsea gas gathering system, located at a water depth of approximately 250 meters, within the Ichthys gas-condensate field.
Most liquids will be transferred from the Ichthys Explorer to the 336 meter-long Ichthys Venturer for offshore processing and condensate offloading.
Linking the Ichthys Explorer to the onshore production facilities is the longest subsea pipeline in the Southern Hemisphere, 42 inches in diameter and 890 kilometers in length.
