Marine facilities and dredging for Gladstone LNG

GLNG is a multibillion dollar project to convert coal seam gas to LNG for marine export from Curtis Island in Gladstone, Queensland, Australia. HR Wallingford was first appointed in 2008 for concept definition of marine facilities requirements and we have continued support GLNG in the role marine advisor as the project has progressed from feasibility stage to construction.

Broad range of marine technical support

Marine support by HR Wallingford has ranged from definition of shipping and tankage requirements to provision of a dredging observer to oversee GLNG’s portion of dredging and disposal, approximately 22Mm³ of material. HR Wallingford provided wide ranging support in relation to the marine facilities. This included:

• Navigation assessment and assurance testing including navigation simulation
• Definition of navigation area requirements (channel upgrades) and outline operating procedures for LNG traffic in Gladstone
• Mooring and loading requirements and analysis including vessel motions under ship passing
• Marine site characterisation
• Preparation of functional specifications for marine facilities
• Definition of berth location and layout
• Dredging assessment and dredging disposal management plans
• Environmental management plans
• LNG shipping operations simulation and sizing of the LNG storage tanks to give assurance that operational integrity meets required levels
• Ship routing analysis (Gladstone to market)
• Secondment of lead marine engineer into owner organisation
• Support with environmental permitting and permit compliance
• Evaluation of EPC tenders for the marine works and dredging
• Specialist support during EPC marine works construction
• Draft port operating plan
• Observation of the dredging operations.

Feasibility to construction

HR Wallingford has been retained by GLNG as marine advisor since first involvement on the project in 2008 through pre-FEED, FEED and EPC phases. This demonstrates the value provided by HR Wallingford in supporting successful delivery of this large and complex project.