FSU Sourena will moor for repairs when new FSU Khalij-e Fars enters Bahregan zone by 20 March 2012.
Manager of FSU Sourena at Iranian Off-shore Oil Company (IOOC) said that for major repairs Sourena’s activities need to be fully halted therefore a new FSO ordered by IOOC to an asian vessel builder in 2008.
Considering repairs are being planned by domestic companies, he added Sourena will be employed thereafter as a substitute for FSU Khalij-e Fars.
Referring to the receiving and offloading of oil at the vessel he mentioned that the crude quality of Soroush and Norouz oilfields requires a offloading to be done on a floating unit.
He further stated that Sourena is an integral part of Soroush and Norouz production complexes and was converted to storage unit that worked for more than 10 years off the soroush field without major repair.
Sourena has five oil tankers of which the largest tanker’s capacity is 250 thousand barrels and the smallest can store up to 120 thousand barrels of crude. The FSU is able to store crude of each oilfield separately. Besides, it is capable of receiving and offloading crude simultaneously.
[mappress] World Maritime News Staff, January 9, 2012; Image: NIOC