Technip and Bluewater announced today that they have recently signed an exclusive global agreement to jointly market the Spiral Stacked Turret (SST), a turret system component intended for floating units.
The SST is a flexible-hose-based alternative to the traditional mechanical swivel stack that acts to transfer flow from the moored turret of a floating unit to its topside deck, which rotates in the prevailing weather conditions. The SST allows each flexible pipe to wind and unwind onto and off a conical tray, giving significant rotational freedom and extended service life. The SST is best suited for high pressure and large capacity flow transfer systems.
Technip will design and supply the upper fluid transfer system while Bluewater will design and supply the lower turret mechanism. Both companies will jointly market the SST and offer it to third party unit owners on a worldwide basis.
For Technip, this agreement represents an outlet for the fluid transfer hoses manufactured in its flexible pipe plants in Le Trait, France, Vitoria, Brazil and Tanjung Langsat, Malaysia. For Bluewater, this is an opportunity to use the SST on its own FPSOs* where the application is suitable.
* FPSO (Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading): a converted or custom-built ship-shaped floater, employed to process oil and gas and for temporary storage of the oil prior to transhipment.
[mappress] Source:Technip , October 5, 2011; Image:Bluewater