Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) shipyard in Geoje Island, South Korea has launched the hull of Petroliam Nasional Berhad’s (PETRONAS) second floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) unit, the PETRONAS Floating LNG2 (PFLNG2).

The 393-metre-long hull was floated out from the Green Dock 3 on 30 April 2016 to anchor at the quayside of the SHI shipyard signifying the near completion of the hull construction which commenced in June 2015.

“We take great pride in achieving this important milestone. The many lessons learnt from the design and construction of PFLNG Satu have been applied to PFLNG2. I look forward to the successful completion of PFLNG2 and must thank the project team JGC and SHI for the good job,” saidPETRONAS’ Advisor of Global LNG Project – Project Delivery and Technology, Datuk Abdullah Karim.

PETRONAS, together with JGC Group and SHI, the consortium leading the engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning of the PFLNG2, commemorated the milestone with a pledge to deliver the PFLNG2 on schedule with safety as top priority.

Once completed PFLNG2 will have a collective weight of 134,000 tonnes and will enable the liquefaction, production and offloading processing of natural gas in the Rotan field, 240 kilometers offshore Sabah. The unit is designed for water-depth between 500 metres to 1500 metres deep and a processing capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).

In March, PETRONAS said that it would push the commissioning of its second FLNG project for a later date as the company works to cut costs in a relentless market.

The PFLNG 2 project was originally scheduled for delivery in 2018. However, it has not been disclosed what will be the new date of delivery.

Meanwhile, PETRONAS’ first floating LNG facility (PFLNG 1) at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard in Okpo, South Korea is nearing conclusion, with 95% of the structure completed in December 2015. Once completed, the PFLNG 1 will be moored at the Kanowit field, offshore Sarawak, and is designed to produce 1.2 mtpa of LNG.