Synergy completes FSU conversion and delivery
Written by Nick Blenkey
Captain Rajesh Unni (left), CEO and Founder of Synergy Group, and Alvin Gan (right), Sembcorp Marine Head of Repairs & Upgrades
Singapore-headquartered ship manager Synergy Group has successfully managed the conversion of a 1992-built, 126,000-cubic-meter LNG carrier into a Floating Storage Unit (FSU).
The conversion was performed at Sembcorp Marine’s Admiralty Yard in Singapore.
Synergy will manage, maintain and operate the FSU—which was delivered to its owner last week and will have a projected life of 15 years—on an ongoing basis. It will be deployed in Myanmar where it will be manned by a Synergy crew of 25 seafarers.
The FSU will be moored permanently and used to receive and store LNG imports for delivery on demand to an onshore regasification plant which will supply power to local consumers.
Synergy administered the FSU conversion on behalf of the client on a one-stop-shop basis. This included identifying the correct LNG carrier for conversion and selecting a suitable shipyard. Synergy also managed the entire design, engineering, procurement and yard oversight process ahead of the FSU delivery and deployment.
TECHNICAL THOUGHT PARTNER
“I think this LNG carrier to FSU conversion really drives home that Synergy is not just an asset manager and ship operator,” said Capt. Rajesh Unni, CEO and Founder of Synergy Group. “We are a technical thought partner for owners and can deliver integrated solutions which require cross-disciplinary skills.
“We are also now an established single-source technical solution provider of LNG-to-power services. We can take a concept and realize the entire undertaking right through to delivering energy to end consumers even during a global pandemic.”
The project was completed successfully despite workplace restrictions due to COVID-19 safe-distancing rules, the complexity of arranging travel and work permissions for specialists arriving from overseas, and the difficulty of sourcing parts and materials during lockdowns.
“A lot of our top quality owners already employ Synergy to manage their newbuilding orders in Korea, Japan and China and we are currently overseeing more than 30 newbuilding vessel projects,” said Unni. “This successful conversion shows once again that we are fully equipped to take on the most complex conversions.”
ONE-STOP SHOP
Synergy administered the FSU conversion for the client on a one-stop-shop basis. This included identifying the correct LNG carrier for conversion and selecting a suitable shipyard. Synergy also managed the entire design, engineering, procurement and shipyard oversight process ahead of the FSU delivery and deployment.
“I would like to thank Sembcorp Marine and its personnel for their absolute professionalism throughout this project which was completed in the most challenging of environments,” said Unni. “Together we have delivered over 150,000 man hours from May onwards without any Lost Time Incidents (LTI) notwithstanding the ongoing threat of COVID-19 infections.”
Naval architect Subodh Borse, a specialist in LNG newbuilds and retrofits who heads Synergy’s newbuilding department commented: “We were very happy with the design which includes the addition of four feed pumps in each of the cargo tanks which allows them to hold boil-off gas (BOG) for longer durations. The addition of emergency release couplings and quick release hooks ensures vessels depart the terminal quickly. We increased the tank pressure up to 0.7 bars and the design allows the FSU to simultaneously feed LNG to the regasification plant while also offloading offload LNG to another smaller vessel.
“Sembcorp Marine is pleased to partner Synergy Group on this milestone FSU conversion project,” said Alvin Gan, Sembcorp Marine’s Head of Repairs & Upgrades. “As the leading LNG ship repair and upgrades solutions provider in the world, we take pride in executing FSU and FSRU conversions on time, safely and meeting our customers’ engineering and quality expectations. We thank Synergy for putting their trust in our expertise and track record.”
