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Knutsen expands technology base

Haugesund-based Knutsen OAS is at the forefront of new technology both in the tanker and gas carrier fields. Although tracing its history back for decades, the company really name to the fore with the development of North Sea shuttle tankers in the mid-1970s.

Today, leading Norwegian tanker and LNGC owner Knutsen OAS is split into two divisions — offshore and shipping. Headquartered in Haugesund with offices in Madrid, Aberdeen and St John's (NF), the group employs 1,560 officers and crew, plus another 95 onshore.

The offshore department looks after the shuttle tankers, FSOs and specialised vessels, while the shipping division is responsible for LNGCs and projects, such as LNG FPSOs, plus other shuttle tanker projects. The technology branch coming under the shipping department covers ship conversions and vessel designs, compressed natural gas carriers (CNGs), pressurised gas carriers (PNGs), the KVOC project and the latest venture — a ballast water treatment system. Also in the pipeline is a PCO2 carrier, which is a spin-off from the PNG project aimed at transporting CO2 for carbon capture projects.

Knutsen claims to be the world's second largest shuttle tanker owner fitted with dynamic positioning systems with 19 vessels and three newbuildings. The two FSOs are stationed in the North Sea (Auska C) and in the Philippines respectively. Another project being undertaken by the technology division is the conversion of two Handysize tankers into support vessels for offshore Brazil. They will be fitted with dynamic positioning (DP) systems and large bunker tanks. The navigating seafarers will need specialist training in DP operation, the company said.

The company operates its vessels under long term contracts to oil and energy concerns. For example, Knutsen recently won a five-year contract with Statoil for a newbuilding 156,000 dwt shuttle tanker to be delivered early next year. Options exist to extend the charter by a further three periods of one year each.

Bodil Knutsen will be fully winterised classed by DNV to Ice Class 1A. She will be the world's largest shuttle tanker when operational with a cargo capacity of 178,900 cu m. All of her cargo tanks will be coated.

They will be fitted with one deepwell pump each and all the pumps and pipelines will be protected by an enclosed shelter to prevent pollution. The vessel was launched at Daewoo on 9th October and is due to be delivered during the first quarter of next year.

She will also be fitted with a redundant dynamic positioning system to DP2 standards and have the latest version of the bow loading system fitted. The vessel will also be prepared for an easy conversion to an FSO if necessary.
When the Bodil Knutsen and two 105.000 dwt shuttle tankers currently under construction at Nantong shipyard in Shanghai are delivered, the Knutsen fleet will have 24 shuttle tankers (including two tankers converted to FSUs) in operation.

The shuttle tankers and FSU's, plus the two offshore support vessels, are managed by Knutsen Offshore Tankers (KOT) and are operated by Knutsen OAS Shipping (KOAS). KOAS also operates 13 product/chemical tankers and eight LNGCs. Another gas carrier is under construction at DSME and will be delivered later this year.

Another addition to the fleet is a recent acquisition from Sovcomflot, which will be converted to a bow loading configuration under a charter to BG for operation offshore Brazil. A further conversion is also to be carried out. Looking at KOT's shuttle tanker fleet, 14 tankers operate in and around the North Sea, three in Canada, three in Brazil (including two newbuildings/conversions), one in Venezuela and one in the Philippines.

The concept of a shuttle tanker was first seen in the mid-1970s, alongside pipelines. Knutsen said that they are cost efficient as they have low up front costs, compared with pipeline systems. They can be flexible to changing field production profiles and reliable, as 80% reliability was originally projected for this type of vessel, but nearly 100% has been achieved, Knutsen said. They also provide safe platforms for both personnel and the environment.
Offshore oil field operators are dependent on these type of tankers for their cash flow as they deliver the product from the wells to the end user/refiner. Many are adapted to operate in a specific field and are thus chartered for long periods. Knutsen said that there is a very high safety focus with shuttle tanker operations driven by the oil companies and the authorities. Personnel are vetted as are the vessels on a routine basis and there are strict reporting and documentation standards in place. The navigators also need DP qualifications to serve on board a shuttle tanker. "It is difficult to enter the market without prior experience," Knutsen said.

As for Knutsen main clients/charterers, these include BP, Repsol, Petrobras/Transpetro, Petro-Canada, Nido Petroleum, Statoil, Shell, Husky Energy, Total, DONG Energy, BG and PDVSA.

Knutsen operates in close co-operation with Teekay having previously fixed the vessels on timecharter with Statoil/Navion. Coas are being optimised with Teekay, as both are now  major players in the North Sea shuttle  market.

In the LNGC sector, KOAS took delivery of the 173,400 cu m Valencia Knutsen in September. She has been delivered for operation on a 20-year charter to Spanish energy concern Repsol, part operator of Stream with Gas Natural. Like her sisters, she will serve the newly completed Peru LNG terminal. She is the third in the series, following the Barcelona Knutsen and Seville Knutsen. The last in this series will be delivered by the end of this year. The company also manages three earlier built 138,000 cu m LNGCs.

LNG feeders

Knutsen also pioneered the concept of LNG feeder vessels with the delivery of the 1,100 cu m Pioneer Knutsen which operates on charter to Gasnor along the Norwegian coastline taking LNG to distribution points to fuel the many ferries and offshore support vessels now running on LNG. Knutsen has also unveiled an LNG FPSO design on which the pre-FEED work was completed last year.

Valencia Knutsen is the company's first Ice Class 1A LNGC, as she has been prepared for Arctic and winter operations in the North Atlantic. She is of a twin-skeg design and has a capacity of 173,400 cu m. Knutsen claimed that her fuel consumption had been reduced by around 20% by fitting a dual-fuel diesel­electric propulsion system, which runs on heavy fuel oil as well as LNG. The hull has also been coated with fluoropolymer, which is claimed to add to the vessel's efficiency.

KOAS also manages eight 16,500 dwt product / chemical tankers, two 17,000 dwt parcel tankers, one 19,000 dwt parcel tankers and two 22,000 dwt parcel tankers. All the eight chemical / product tankers are classed to Ice Class 1A and the parcel tankers' cargo tanks are of stainless steel construction. In addition the parcel tankers have between 24 and 34 segregations and two are classed to Ice Class 1A.

The shipmanagement department takes care of all technical and commercial aspects of the Heet, including chartering, newbuilding supervision and project development. The newbuilding department has looked after 38 vessel constructions, plus has another six newbuilding projects underway.

Knutsen's main claim to fame has been its North Sea operations, including offshore buoy loading and DP systems. It was the first company to use an STL type operation on shuttle tankers and tandem offloading. It has also provided a support vessel for extended well testing and has undertaken chemical injection in platform production risers. The company operated the first diesel-electric powered shuttle tanker on the Norwegian Shelf and undertook FSO loading from two independent production platforms simultaneously.

Thus far, Knutsen has been involved in North Sea shuttle operations for 23 years and shipped more than 5,000 cargoes. Offshore tandem loading has been undertaken for 18 years and the company has been involved in the FSO market for 10 years. Nineteen vessels have been equipped with bow loading systems and six with STLs. In addition, 50 LNGC ship-to-ship transfer operations have been successfully completed and the company was the first to fit a VOC recovery unit on a shuttle tanker.

Ballast water

Following several years of research and design appraisal, Knutsen has unveiled a new proprietary ballast water treatment system, called KBAL. The system was tested at NIVA under the watchful eye of DNV and the company is hopeful of receiving IMO approval next year as it is being qualification tested and will be commercially available shortly after.

KBAL has a large capatity as, for example, on a 173,400 cu m Knutsen LNGC, the ballast pump capacity is 2 x 3,400 cu m per hour with the ballast tanks volume being 58,000 cu m, while the 138,000 cu m LNGCs have two 2,500 cu m per hour ballast pumps, with a ballast volume of 50,000 cu m. Each vessel is also fitted with a spare pump.

Retrofits have been made easier by placing the equipment on deck rather than in the machinery space, Knutsen said. One advantage claimed was that it will not be necessary to drydock a vessel to fit the equipment, which can be done alongside a quay.

No filters are required as an ultra-violet system has been chosen for the system, which is claimed to be smaller in size than conventional systems. The substances used are passive and the operation is claimed to be simple and cost competitive. It can be combined with any other active substance to meet the more strict proposed US standards, Knutsen said.
Knutsen's testing facility at Haugesund has a capacity of 50 cu m per hour, while the test rig at NIVA Solbergstrand has a capacity of 200 cu m per hour.
The company said that the industry as a whole will be challenged to provide new and efficient technology to meet the new ballast water regulations. It is estimated that around 30 systems will have IMO approval by the end of 2012 — the majority of which are based on existing land technology. Knutsen calculated that there will be a need for about 25,000 retrofits by 2016 while under the new rules, all newly built vessels dating from 2012 will have to be fitted with a system.

Stricter requirements will be proposed and may also be imposed by some countries before IMO has ratified the proposed BWM system convention. Knutsen explained that it had decided to be prepared for the future and was undertaking qualification testing to be ready to retrofit its own Heet with a KBAL.

Returning to the gas sector, Knutsen also has a proprietary pressurised natural gas vessel design - PNG.

This has been developed by a consortium, involving KOAS, Europipe and DNV and is intended for marine compressed natural gas transportation. Europipe is a leading pipeline manufacturer who will be responsible for the fabrication of the ship containment system.

DNV was the first class society to issue roles and regulations for marine CNG transportation and also has expertise in offshore piping.

As for the gas characteristics, both lean and rich gas can be transported in KOAS' PNG carrier. The water dew point has to be controlled (as in pipeline systems), white CO2 and H2S will also be treated as in pipeline systems.

The CNG concept has been ready for the market sine 2002. However, Knutsen conceded that the technology needed a 'first' project to demonstrate its benefits. The company said that PNG will be a reality in the near future, as the next generation of offshore fields will be smaller and further away from any infrastructure. Also to be considered are future gas prices, energy demand and environmental challenges, including flaring restrictions. In addition, there are deepwater challenges with associated gas, Knutsen said.

As a spin-off from PNCy KOAS has also developed PCO2, which is pressurised CO2 proprietary technology for marine compressed CO2 transportation.

Finally, Knutsen has developed a volatile organic compound unit — KVOC, which it is now marketing to third parties .

Several systems have been fitted on KOT's shuttle tankers due to the Norwegian Government's rigid stance on air pollution in and around its coastline.

In essence, a KVOC unit fitted on board a tanker will reduce VOC emissions into the air disring loading and transit.

Knutsen said that around 30 tankers have and will be fitted with a system, most of which are operating in the North Sea.

A VOC unit is not only applicable for crude oil tankers, but also for product carriers and vessels carrying volatile chemicals, the company said.

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