CVA at Shell's "Olympus" TLP

ABS has been named the design certified verification agent (CVA) for the Shell "Olympus" TLP, intended for installation on the Mars B field in the Gulf of Mexico's (GOM's) deepwater. The tension leg platform (TLP) will be built at Samsung Heavy Industries, Co. Ltd. in Korea. ABS was also selected as the fabrication CVA for the hull and topsides and the installation CVA for the hull, topsides, piles and tendons.

Renamed "Olympus" (originally Mars B), it will be Shell's biggest and the first platform of its type installed in the GOM since Shell completed a wave of five similar TLP installations during the 1990s. It will also be the first four-column TLP to be built under new storm criteria implemented after hurricanes Rita and Katrina in 2005.

The "Olympus" is to be capable of supporting production of about 100,000 barrels per day of oil and more than 100 million feet3 per day of gas. The "Olympus" is scheduled to commence operation in 2015.