Ithaca Energy's floating production unit, the FPF-1, has set sail for the Stella field in the North Sea after completing final marine systems trials.
First oil from the Greater Stella Area development is expected in about three months later.
Completion of modifications on the vessel, which was previously known as the AH001 and was used by Hess on the North Sea Ivanhoe and Rob Roy fields in the North Sea, has seen a series of set backs.
Petrofac, the contractor, had its contract incentivized so that Petrofac would be paid up to US$34 million on sailaway prior to the end of March this year, reducing to zero after the end of 31 July.
The unit is due to produce the Greater Stella Area, containing the Stella and Harrier fields, initially via five subsea wells on Stella, with plans to also tie-in the Hurricane discovery and potentially other prospects in the area.
The AH001 was previously owned by Hess and operated by Aker Production Solutions. The AH001 had been converted from the Sedco/Phillips SS, the first offshore safety vessel. It was originally built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Shipyard at Hiroshima in Japan and delivered in 1977 at a cost of $40 million. Its latets upgrade was at the Remontowa shipyard in Gdansk, Poland.
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FPF-1 sets sail from Gdansk yard