First Subsea to supply Ghana field mooring connectors

Offshore staff

LANCASTER, UK -- SOFEC has awarded First Subsea a contract to supply the mooring connectors for the first FPSO to be installed in the Jubilee field, offshore Ghana. Moored in 1,100 m (3,609 ft) of water, the external turret-moored FPSO is scheduled to begin production in 2010.

First Subsea is supplying nine Ballgrab ball and taper connectors, with a minimum breaking load (MBL) of 5,364 kN, for the external turret's mooring lines. Ballgrab connectors will link the suction piles and ground chain segments, interfacing directly with the mooring lines' long term mooring shackles. The female receptacle part of the connectors will be installed subsea with the piles, mounted on a docking porch. When the FPSO is in position, the male connector, attached to the mooring line, is lowered from the surface into the female receptacle to complete the mooring installation.