All LNG import operations require berthing or docking facilities, offloading capability, storage tanks, regasification equipment and sendout lines. Four different offshore concepts mix and match these facilities in novel and creative ways.
A gravity-based structure (GBS) is a massive rectangular, prismatic caisson that rests on the ocean floor. LNG tankers would dock alongside or in tandem and offload into a tank in the caissons interior. Regas equipment on the structure would feed the product to a submarine pipeline tied into the onshore gas network. "The GBS is an attempt to deploy onshore technology in an offshore environment," says Max H. Krekel, senior naval architect at Bluewater Offshore Production Systems (USA) Inc., Houston.