Hanwha Ocean has launched Singapore’s first floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), designed to operate throughout its entire 25-year charter without undergoing dry-dock maintenance.
The 204,000-cubic-metre FSRU is being constructed for Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and will be chartered to Singapore LNG Corporation (SLNG). It will serve as the central component of Singapore’s second LNG import terminal.
Maintaining continuous regasification operations for a quarter of a century required Hanwha Ocean to reconsider the conventional FSRU maintenance model. Commercial vessels usually enter dry dock approximately every five years for inspections and work that cannot be completed while they remain in service.
To eliminate this requirement, the South Korean shipbuilder installed redundant equipment, longer-lasting protective coatings and additional onboard maintenance facilities. Hanwha Ocean also conducted dozens of extra risk assessments and expanded its 3D model review process from the engine room to the entire vessel.
Digital condition monitoring is another essential part of the design. The FSRU has received several ABS SMART class notations, including SMART MHM for machinery health monitoring of its main generator engines.
The system provides real-time information about equipment condition, supporting predictive and condition-based maintenance instead of relying exclusively on fixed servicing schedules.
Special maintenance spaces and additional clearances around equipment will allow critical systems to be serviced onboard while the FSRU remains operational.
The 299-metre unit will have an annual regasification capacity of five million tonnes of LNG and will eventually be permanently moored at Jurong Port.
MOL will own, manage and operate the vessel under a long-term charter agreement with SLNG. The construction contract awarded to Hanwha Ocean was previously valued at approximately $413 million.
The launch moves the project into its next construction phase. Hanwha Ocean has built 12 FSRUs to date, but said the Singapore unit is its first designed to maintain continuous regasification operations for such an extended period without following the traditional dry-docking cycle.
