LNG Tandem Offloading

LNG is produced nowadays offshore by FLNG’s (floating natural gas liquefaction plants) almost exclusively in areas with very mild wave conditions. This allows to offload the production into shuttle LNG carriers in the usual side-by-side ship-to-ship (STS) configuration with a sufficient weather window.

However, the tandem configuration – with the bow of the shuttle tanker moored to the stern of the floating plant – has been proven in harsh conditions with produced oil since decades, notably in the North Sea. Several designs have been proposed for LNG by the offshore industry leading contractors in the early 2000’s but none was ever built for technical reasons (too complicated, too big) and because of excessive cost and by lack of suitable LNG hose.

planette.be proposes now an innovative LNG Tandem Offloading System based on the same rationale as for the side-by-side STS system with multiple 8” or 10”hoses. This game-changing system was then created and developed by the planette.be‘s founder back in 2005 for EXMAR, and is nowadays the undisputed industry standard.

The proposed LNG Tandem Offloading System is based on existing 14” LNG floating hoses. It is cost effective, safe to operate and much less intrusive for both the FLNG and the shuttle LNG carrier than the previous concepts. It can be used as well for the retrofit of existing FLNGs, possibly installed on location without mooring nor risers disconnection.

Its operating window would broaden the range of locations suitable for FLNG implementation to other than mild conditions, acting as a real FLNG project enabler.