VESSEL CONVERSION | Marlin Natuna – Large floating oil and gas production unit for deployment off Western Indonesia

Singapore shipbuilder PaxOcean has handed over a floating production storage and offloading unit (FPSO) to the partnership formed by Indonesian companies SKK Migas, Medco E&P Natuna, and Hanochem Tiaka Samudera.

Marlin Natuna was originally built as a crude oil tanker but has been converted into an FPSO at PaxOcean’s shipyard in Batam, Indonesia. The conversion work was undertaken in collaboration with Hanochem Tiaka Samudera and Malaysia-based MTC Engineering at a total cost of approximately US$236 million.

Extensive use of locally sourced content

The FPSO has an LOA of 183.23 metres (601.15 feet), a beam of 30 metres (100 feet), a draught of eight metres (26 feet), a production capacity of 10,000 barrels of oil per day, and a total capacity of 250,000 barrels. Seventeen modules comprise the topsides, and these feature equipment for processing, water treatment, and gas compression.

MTC Engineering said the local content used in the conversion is in excess of the minimum 80 per cent requirement set by the Indonesian Government.

Helping ensure energy security in Western Indonesia

Marlin Natuna will be connected to one well head platform with five production wells, a gas injection well, and two other wells that can be mobilised in the future if necessary.

The vessel will be used to accommodate the natural gas and oil from the estimated 13.4-billion-barrel reserves of the Forel Bronang field in Natuna Block B off Western Indonesia’s Riau Islands province.