CNOOC announced on July 14, 2021 that China's first 15,000-ton dynamic positioning shuttle tanker Beihai New Hope was completed and delivered in Nantong, Jiangsu. It is a "floating tubing" tailored for China's first 1500-meter ultra-deep water large-scale gas field "Deep Sea One", which has recently been put into production. It will undertake the heavy task of crude oil transportation on offshore production platforms.

According to CNOOC, the dynamic positioning shuttle tanker is specifically used for crude oil transportation between offshore production platforms and land, and is called "floating tubing." It is equipped with a dynamic positioning and bow loading system, which can be positioned in the deep sea and other complex sea conditions, quickly and safely connect to the oil hose sent by the offshore production platform, and accept crude oil from the offshore production platform.

Beihai New Hope will serve the world's first 100,000-ton deepwater semi-submersible production and storage platform "Deep Sea One" energy station that has just been put into operation. It is expected to complete the first crude oil export in August 2021. The Lingshui area where the "Deep Sea No. 1" energy station is located is a typhoon-prone area, facing complex wind and wave conditions, and ordinary oil tankers cannot maintain a specific safe distance and interval angle. However, dynamic positioning tankers with a wider range of applicable sea areas and sea conditions and higher safety factors have become the only choice.

In the industry, the load of a dynamic positioning tanker is usually 100,000 to 120,000 tons, while the load of the Beihai New Hope is only 15,000 tons, which is about one-tenth of that of an ordinary dynamic positioning tanker. This is like integrating the various functions of an aircraft carrier into a submarine, and there is no international experience in its design and construction. Li Jun, head of the Beihai New Hope project of CNOOC International Trade Corporation, said that the ship’s 15,000-ton load design can not only meet the needs of energy station condensate oil transportation, but also has the characteristics of safety, efficiency, and advanced technology. Under the sea conditions and weather environment, it can quickly respond to the scheduling arrangements of production operations.

Keywords: Domestic Engineering News

Beihai New Hope signed a shipbuilding contract in November 2019. In the face of the impact of the new crown epidemic, the CNOOC project team formulated the "multi-site modular construction model at the same time," and completed the ship construction in only 11 months, which is nearly half the time compared to the global ship of the same type. Liu Daping, chairman of CNOOC International Trade Corporation, said that the completion and delivery of Beihai New Hope provides valuable experience and reference for the construction of domestic dynamic positioning tankers and the development of deepwater oil and gas projects in the future, and further enhances the deepwater equipment manufacturing of CNOOC. And operational capabilities. Editor/XuNing