Italy’s FSRU Toscana unhooks and is taken in tow to first repairs docking

Vessel-owning and management company OLT Offshore LNG Toscana has completed the unhooking of its floating storage and regasification unit off Livorno in Italy in preparation for a tow away for maintenance work.

Italian FSRU to be taken out of service for seven-month repair job

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The FSRU Toscana, which has a maximum authorised regasification capacity of 5bn cbm per year, has been uninstalled successfully, the operator said.

It will now be towed, with the support of two tugs, to the port of Genoa, where it will remain at the dock for about a month.

The unit is to undergo the first phase of what is being described as an “extraordinary maintenance intervention”.

This is designed to replace the bearing of the anchoring system, which ensures the rotation of the FSRU around its geostationary turret that is permanently anchored to the seabed.

The contract for this job has been awarded to Italy’s San Giorgio del Porto (SGdP).

OLT said that in early June, the FSRU Toscana terminal will be towed to the port of Marseille, where further maintenance will be completed at SGdP yard.

“Shipyard activities are expected to be completed by the middle of September, to be followed by operations to reinstall the terminal in its current site offshore Livorno,” OLT said.

“It is expected that FSRU Toscana will resume operations from mid-October 2024.”

Snam and Igneo Infrastructure Partners-controlled OLT first flagged up the impending repair job in January.

The unit’s owning and management company said the FSRU Toscana will undergo extraordinary maintenance at a shipyard, resulting in a shutdown of its plant.

OLT said it took the decision to go ahead with the work as a result of technical monitoring activities.

The FSRU, which is moored about 22 km off the coast between Livorno and Pisa and connected to the grid by pipeline, started commercial operations in December 2013 and has now been on site for over 10 years.