Tokyo: Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) is investing in its fourth FPSO. The Japanese line has teamed up with compatriot Mitsubishi Corporation and SBM Offshore to convert a tanker for the Shell-led Stones project, an ultra-deepsea field in the Gulf of Mexico 2,900 m below the surface and approximately 320 km off the shore of the US state of Louisiana.
The Stones field will be the deepest an FPSO has ever operated.
NYK, Mitsubishi and SBM Offshore have been working together on FPSO projects, mainly in Brazil, since 2011.