Three subsea structures fabricated by Navantia UK have been installed offshore Trinidad and Tobago as part of infrastructure being delivered for Shell’s Manatee gas development.
Navantia UK said on July 17 that a pipeline end termination structure and two adjustable pipe supports are now secured on the seabed. The equipment was installed about 100 kilometers off Trinidad’s east coast.
The structures were manufactured at Navantia UK’s Arnish yard on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland. They form part of McDermott International’s engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning work for Manatee.
The pipeline end termination provides the connection point between the end of the subsea pipeline and the wider field infrastructure. The two pipe supports hold the pipeline in position as it approaches the termination structure.
Their adjustable height allows the equipment to compensate for variations in the seabed. This helps maintain the alignment required to connect the pipeline safely and accurately.
Navantia UK said the three structures were fabricated and assembled at Arnish. They also underwent system integration testing at the yard before being transported to nearby Stornoway Port.
The equipment was loaded out from the port and shipped across the Atlantic Ocean to the Manatee installation site.
Navantia UK worked with McDermott’s offshore installation team throughout the project. The company confirmed that all three structures have been placed in their final positions on the seabed.
The fabrication contract was awarded to Navantia UK’s Arnish facility by McDermott Trinidad Limited in February 2025. Work began after the first steel was cut at the yard in April 2025.
McDermott is delivering the offshore platform, pipeline, and associated subsea infrastructure under a contract awarded by Shell Trinidad and Tobago Limited in 2024.
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Shell approved the development of Manatee in July 2024. The field is located in the East Coast Marine Area and forms the Trinidad portion of the cross-border Loran-Manatee gas accumulation shared with Venezuela.
Manatee holds an estimated 2.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Shell is developing the Trinidad portion independently under an agreement between the two countries.
The development includes an offshore production platform and wells that will supply gas through a 32-inch pipeline. The line will transport production to the Beachfield gas processing facility on Trinidad’s southeast coast.
Shell initially designed the pipeline to transport up to 700 million cubic feet of gas per day. Its design capacity has since been increased to about 1 billion cubic feet per day.
Production from Manatee is expected to begin in 2027. The gas is intended to support Trinidad and Tobago’s domestic energy market, petrochemical facilities, and Atlantic LNG operations.
