Hanwha Ocean wins global classification approvals for low-carbon standard FPSO design

Hanwha Ocean said Tuesday it has received approval in principle from Norwegian classification society DNV for the design framework of its low-carbon standard FPSO (floating production, storage and offloading) unit.

The shipbuilder also secured approval in principle from American classification society ABS, along with a certificate for a Project Sustainability Execution Plan.

Environmental competitiveness has been emerging as a key evaluation criterion for FPSO project orders in the global market.

Major energy companies are tightening carbon-reduction requirements when awarding new projects, prompting leading offshore plant firms to expand their low-carbon design capabilities and sustainability execution frameworks.

In response, Hanwha Ocean has been building a low-carbon standard FPSO platform based on its existing standard FPSO design — one that systematizes applicable low-carbon technologies and can be configured to meet the specific requirements of individual projects.

Hanwha Ocean has been pursuing an FPSO standardization strategy for several years. In 2024, it developed a standard FPSO applicable across West Africa and obtained certification from ABS and French classification society Bureau Veritas. This year, it developed a standard FPSO optimized for South America and secured certification from both ABS and DNV.

The latest approvals give Hanwha Ocean a critical foundation for designing low-carbon standard FPSOs and applying them to actual projects.

DNV validated a low-carbon design framework that systematically incorporates emissions-reduction technologies for major greenhouse gas sources into FPSO design.

ABS confirmed a sustainability execution framework capable of implementing and managing carbon-reduction and energy-efficiency goals throughout the project delivery process.

Hanwha Ocean plans to apply the validated low-carbon design and project execution frameworks across customer consultations, bidding, front-end engineering and design, and overall project delivery going forward.

"We plan to develop the validated results into a reusable low-carbon technology package and sustainability execution framework for future projects, strengthening both our order competitiveness and project execution capabilities," a Hanwha Ocean official said.