Malaysia-based investment holding company Yinson Holdings Berhad has through its wholly owned subsidiary Yinson Production (West Africa) bought the 1998-built, Very Large Crude Carrier Ulriken, to be converted into a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel for use offshore Ghana.
YPWA bought the 309,996 dwt tanker from Golden State Petro back in October 2014 for USD 26.25 million.
The name of the vessel was subsequently changed to Yinson Genesis and was registered with the Registrar of Singapore Ships on December 5, 2014.
Yinson Genesis will be converted from a tanker into a floating production storage offloading (FPSO) unit following the award of the chartering, operation and maintenance of a FPSO contract by Eni Ghana Exploration & Production Ltd to the consortium of YPWA and Yinson Production West Africa Limited at the Offshore Cape Three Points Block (OCTP), located in the Tano Basin approximately 60 km off the coast of Ghana.
The contract is for a firm charter period of fifteen years with five yearly extension options exercisable by Eni. The estimated aggregate value of the contract during the firm charter period is approximately up to USD 2.539 billion, and an estimated total aggregate value of up to USD 3.256 billion if Eni Ghana exercises all five yearly extension options.
The FPSO is expected to commence operations in the OCTP block in 2017.