Seatrium Starts Fabrication of Shell’s Sparta FPU

Seatrium has started the steel fabrication for Sparta semi-submersible floating production unit (FPU), which is the Singapore-based company’s third FPU to be built for its long-standing customer Shell.

The steel cutting ceremony marks the beginning of the Sparta FPU project in at Seatrium’s steel fabrication facility, powered by renewable solar energy.

The scope of the contract, secured from Shell early in January 2024, includes the construction and integration of the hull, topsides and living quarters of the Sparta FPU.

The FPU, a close replica of its predecessors the Shell Vito and Whale FPUs, will leverage operational synergies by replicating the safe and efficient on-ground commissioning before the single-lift integration method for the topsides.

The two-level topside for Sparta will be integrated and lifted to the hull using Seatrium’s Goliath twin cranes capable of lifting up to 30,000 tons.

When completed, Sparta will be situated in the Garden Banks area of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, and is expected to produce 90,000 boe/d.