FPSO stands for Floating Production Storage and Offloading. It is a vessel type that extracts, processes and stores hydrocarbons at an offshore location and periodically offloads the stored oil to shuttle tankers.
They are among the more complex and interesting vessels in the offshore sector and employ a diverse workforce from both maritime and oil and gas backgrounds.
What an FPSO Does
Hydrocarbons extracted from the seabed through risers arrive on the FPSO. The processing system separates oil, gas and water. Oil is stored in the vessel’s cargo tanks. Gas is either exported through a pipeline, used as fuel or flared. Water is treated and discharged.
Periodically, a shuttle tanker arrives and offloads the stored crude. The FPSO is a production facility, a storage tank and an offloading terminal all in one vessel.
The marine department keeps the vessel on location and manages the offloading operations. The production department operates the processing plant. These are different disciplines that co-exist on the same vessel.
Maritime Roles
Master: command of the vessel. An FPSO master manages the marine operations, mooring systems, offloading operations and interfaces with both the production department and the vessel management company.
Chief Officer: marine department head. Mooring system management is a central responsibility. FPSOs use single point mooring systems or spread mooring arrangements depending on location and vessel design. The chief officer owns the mooring inspection and maintenance programme.
Dynamic Positioning: not all FPSOs use DP. Many are permanently or semi-permanently moored. Some turret-moored FPSOs have DP assistance. Roles vary accordingly.
Chief Engineer: machinery management including the power plant, cargo pumps, offloading systems and accommodation services.
The Production Side
Process operators, instrument technicians, electrical technicians, chemical engineers, HSE officers: the production workforce on an FPSO comes primarily from onshore oil and gas backgrounds. These are not maritime roles.
On large FPSOs the total workforce is one hundred to two hundred or more people. Maritime crew may be twenty to thirty. The production crew far outnumber the marine department.
How to Get In
For maritime roles, the route runs through offshore crewing agencies and direct applications to FPSO operators and managers. SBM Offshore, BW Offshore, MODEC, Altera Infrastructure (formerly Teekay Offshore) and Yinson are among the major FPSO operators.
Maritime officers with offshore experience and relevant certificates are the target profile. Experience on tankers with cargo system responsibility is valued for FPSO chief officer positions because the cargo storage and offloading operations require genuine understanding of cargo systems.