Hanwha Ocean Secures Global Certification for South America-Optimized Standard FPSO Model

Standard FPSO FEED Certified by ABS and DNV

Accelerating Offshore Plant Expansion in South America and West Africa

Hanwha Ocean has obtained global classification certification for its standard Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) facility, which was developed targeting the South American offshore plant market.

On July 26, Hanwha Ocean announced that it had received Basic Design Review (BDR) certification for the standard FPSO Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), as well as Approval in Principle (AIP) from Det Norske Veritas (DNV) of Norway.

Arnab Ghosh, Vice President of Business Development for ABS Singapore (sixth from the left), Bi Li-guo, Executive Director of Hanwha Ocean Energy Plant Business Division (seventh from the left), and other company officials are posing for a commemorative photo after completing the basic design review certification ceremony. Hanwha Ocean

An FPSO is a facility that extracts crude oil or gas from subsea wells, refines it, stores it, and offloads it to shuttle tankers, and is often referred to as a "refinery on the sea."

The certified model is planned to be applied primarily in the South American region, where large-scale project orders are expected in the coming years.

Previously, Hanwha Ocean had developed a "standard FPSO conceptual design" suitable for deployment across the deep waters of West Africa, and in 2024, it simultaneously obtained AIP from ABS and the French classification society Bureau Veritas (BV). By additionally developing a standard model tailored for the South American market, the company has built a standard FPSO portfolio that covers major offshore plant markets such as South America and West Africa.

This standard FPSO is designed to move away from the traditional custom, project-by-project design approach and instead leverages a proven standard platform, thereby improving efficiency in design, procurement, and construction. By responding more quickly to customer demands, Hanwha Ocean expects to simultaneously shorten project delivery times and enhance cost competitiveness.

During the certification process, all major designs and technical standards across FPSO segments—including the hull, marine systems, topside modules, and mooring systems—were verified. Compliance with international regulations and classification requirements was also confirmed.

A Hanwha Ocean representative stated, "We plan to enhance our order competitiveness in the global FPSO market by offering differentiated standard platforms and to provide optimized solutions tailored to the characteristics and requirements of each region, such as South America and West Africa."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.