PARAMARIBO, SURINAME – The GranMorgu FPSO, being developed by SBM Offshore and Technip Energies for Block 58, will be the eighth unit built using SBM’s standardized hull, a strategy designed to accelerate delivery timelines while improving long-term operational performance.
Speaking during the “A New Dawn – The GranMorgu Project” panel at SEOGS 2025, Dirk Niers, Managing Director Turnkey at SBM Offshore, explained how the company’s Fast4Ward® program has developed since its launch in 2015.
Topside module fabrication for the GranMorgu FPSO will begin in the second half of 2025 | OilNOW
Niers noted that standardization improves efficiency not only during engineering and construction, but also during operations, particularly for companies managing multiple FPSOs across different fields.
But beyond speed and cost control, Niers pointed to operational efficiency as one of the main benefits of repeatable FPSO design. “If you’re an operator, and you go from one FPSO to another, you know the hull already, because you’ve been on board, you know the equipment. And as a result, we see higher uptimes, we see more efficiency.”
He added that continuous improvements are built into the design process: “Because you continue to build a similar design, you start collecting lessons learned, and you can immediately implement them in the next, so your standard becomes better and more efficient.”
With work advancing on the GranMorgu development, the FPSO’s standardized design is expected to deliver operational familiarity and reliability from day one, drawing on years of experience from previous Fast4Ward® units.
