The Spanish shipyard group Izar Construcciones Naval is to build the barge which will carry the process equipment for the Snøhvit project's gas liquefaction plant at Melkøya in the north of Norway.
The operator Statoil and its partners in the Snøhvit licence have signed a contract with the yard, today, 28 June. The contract is worth about NOK 170 million.
The barge – 154 metres long, 54 metres broad and nine metres high – will be built at Izar's yard in Ferrol, Spain. Following completion in August 2003, the barge will be towed to an outfitting yard where about 24,000 tonnes of process equipment for the gas liquefaction plant will be installed on its deck.
The gas liquefaction plant will convert natural gas from the Snøhvit field into liquefied natural gas (LNG). Snøhvit will start production in 2006. About 70 cargos of LNG per year will be shipped out from Melkøya.