hundreds of kilometres from land buried beneath the earth's surface an untapped energy source that could help reduce carbon emissions natural gas but these fields were too remote to be accessed until now it's gonna be a city of its own a game-changing vessel is being built unlike any other [Music] one is about 2035 metric on it extracts liquefies in stores natural gas in far-flung offshore locations and in the future could eliminate the need for undersea gas pipelines is 132 thousand tons of steel will be capable of pumping gas from 200 meters below of the ocean National Geographic reveals the world's first floating natural gas facility [Music] around 180 kilometers off the shores of Sarawak Malaysia like the cumin canna wit gas reserves trapped in Rock beds almost a hundred metres deep remote gas fields like these make up nearly a third of the world's gas reserves till today they remain hard to reach using conventional methods but that's about to change [Music] Petronas is building a massive floating facility that stands 10 stories high a game-changer on how this precious resources mind Petronas have been looking in trying to monetize small and send the gases for a while since 2006 it's a very bold and courageous move that is made there are no references and no bench one global fortune 500 company Patronus is Malaysia's state-owned oil and gas company they have to address a huge challenge that the industry faces [Music] volatile and highly flammable gas to make natural gas safer to work with massive processing plants on land will first to cool it to a negative 162 degrees Celsius where it turns to LNG liquid natural gas LNG takes up six hundred times less space making it easy to store and transport large volumes but it's never been done at sea one of the major challenges basically we will be operating equipment that SB is compared to the onshore plan and this is the mega factory that will achieve the impossible it's called the P of LNG satu for the last year this has been her home an extensive deep-sea port on go J Island South Korea and in 14 months this mega vessel needs to be ready to sail this 365 meter long gas processing plant took ten years to conceptualize and design the first problem how to store dangerous liquid gas at sea and keep it cool in the tropical heat the solution to design colossal tanks within the giant Hall [Music] it will be the first in the world but it needs to do more than just store the gas what is apparently project the hull that we designed is basically to support the module to be operated for 20 years with good fatigue condition [Music] this hall has to withstand over 48,000 tons of steel that will make up the processing plant [Music] once the hall is finished the construction team needs to build the tanks that will store the liquid natural gas okay I want me to hide this is basically the best time to enter the tank so this time gonna be a dangerous thing because we will store LNG at minus 163 degrees Celsius so nobody can entertain the cavernous interior can hold nearly 22,000 cubic meters of liquid the volume of almost nine Olympic sized swimming pools it takes twenty shipments of gas to power almost 700 thousand households across mega city Tokyo for a whole year putting the tanks in the hall is an innovative solution when it comes to saving space but there's a danger especially when it's partially filled the vessels movement could create an immense unstable sloshing of the liquid the slashing effect is basically if you have a cup or a pill right you fill it with water right and you start rocking the the field you can see there water sloshing back and forth with enough force the one millimeter thin membrane separating the LNG from the hall could break if that first layer in the tank is damaged the liquid could escape and embrittle any structure it touches for lead hole engineer Fahmy Mahmood this is a nightmare scenario that must be avoided if aren t come culture in the house is very big disaster first the house can collect and the structure also we follow a gas leak could lead to an explosion and if that happens at sea it could turn into a catastrophe how the gas will be contained on board is crucial to prevent masses of liquid gas from sloshing the team came up with a unique new design two parallel rows with four tanks in each will help minimize the risk of destabilizing the vessel it is the first operational hall design of its kind in the world [Music] after months of construction the tanks are finally complete now it's time to build a processing plant on top of the hall to do that 21 massive prefabricated modules need to be moved onto the ship and assembled the last one to arrive is a 2,000 ton mega block that will purify the gas this is our last module to be transported from the progression area to the key site where the final location before we live up onto the flow test maneuvering these mega bloks requires a heavy-hauler with 112 axles [Music] even the slightest jolt during the move could damage the cargo above meant to move slowly because we need to make sure that the ground condition synchronize an automatically level to avoid any movement to the models [Music] [Music] okay alhamdulillah I would you already arrived or no major issue during the transportation now we are waiting for the transporter to setting down and then after that we already scheduled our lifting to lift these towering blocks onto the vessel a 3,600 ton floating crane is needed but the ship needs to turn around to receive the next batch of modules easier said than done it's like a puzzle we need to plan early the sequence of your action on module so we can limit our hull turning turning the hall is going to be a huge operation for the team the ship is yet to be balanced out properly and turning the vessel leaves everyone on edge at a height of 10 storeys strong wind could see the vessel on balance a potential disaster Janka contingent on the convoy is enough Fahmy Mahmood and the team is gearing up for the turn and the clock is ticking fast we have to complete the heartening activity before any because of from 10 a.m. the the we speed stop pick up after 15 hundredths of a second in order to turn the platform all neighboring vessels have to keep a minimum distance of 100 meters making sure that the conditions are right is causing worry to the safety officer this looks like a car like but in reality the whole condition is different it's a see the risk factor is really high one mistake everything can go wrong so you got to get it right at first time a massive black vessel is too close for comfort there's no telling how long it will take to be moved away and time is running out yes so what does ideal win-win sweet we expect five knots the team has to start soon or endanger the vessel construction on the world's first floating natural gas processing facility is almost done the next step is to lift the remainder of the 21 processing blocks onto her hall [Music] [Music] one side of the vessel is fully loaded [Music] now she has to turn around to receive the remaining blocks [Music] we have a concern about the distance between this apparent G with another mega Blok [Music] after a few hours the vessel causing the holdup is finally towed away and the vessel can now turn without obstruction with a vessels current weight of 112 thousand tonnes for tugboats gently move her at one nautical mile per hour [Music] turning the vessel on the first try is a success everybody for the great effort now she is ready to receive the last three components under her Hall [Music] project engineer Knicks Eiffel oversees and ensures that everything runs according to plan okay we come to the last three heavy lifting for this project at the moment there it is the module we're going to leave it over there and then the second hability which is the flat our will be directed here and then the last module will come in between the module and a flat our in order to lift all three components within one week the operation has to run perfectly to time [Music] to load the gigantic module onto the hall the work crew first has to attach it to the crane with giant shackles it's a lot of weight to be balanced on a floating crane and construction engineer Osman salmon is nervous now we are worried about the clash point where so many scuffle underneath so we also afraid that when the excessive boom and you will break someone to our fittings underneath of this module with almost six thousand tons hanging off the floating crane the atmosphere is tense wind and movement could cost the module to swing and damaged his underside it would take months to repair and a huge delay to the construction schedule okay okay I'm relaxed no problem it's a big achievement [Music] now I'm already completely lifted up it's away from the support stool now they will detach the memory line then the particular will move up from this area the first stage went smoothly but the danger is not over yet it still needs to be placed on the vessels deck the work crew is standing by to receive the module the success of this lift will determine whether the next walk can be lifted in on time [Music] but as it reaches the deck a colossal challenge he cannot fit under the hall and 2,000 tons of steel is suspended in midair this is wrong people we cannot do these our problems on but they are not stuck into the bottom part the petronas team has to think fast the longer the 2,000 ton module suspends in midair the higher it risks experiencing bad weather which may cause the module to swing damaging the vessel and injuring the crew at the moment we are trying to rectify by cutting the structure and refit it so once that has been cut and we will it to be original location which is about 200 mm apart yeah it seems like a simple welding job but with huge ramifications know what you have to do the module has been hanging for three hours and every minute increases the danger before you [Music] the world's first floating liquefied natural gas facility PF LNG satu is well into its final year of construction the vessel is beginning to take on her final shape but there's a problem otherwise the dead body a massive 2,000 ton block cannot fit onto the deck and is hanging as workers race to cut and reweld new legs it's a dangerous situation and the team's work through the night it is 8:30 a.m. and time to check if the new welds mean the module can fit on the deck [Music] [Music] [Music] okay nine for the day ass non can heave a sigh of relief after overcoming a major hurdle they are one stage closer to the final phase of construction next they need to connect the modules with a massive network of pipes like veins in a body they are a vital part of the processing plant it's through these that gas flows through the platform to the storage tanks I know the piping work is a big boon on the project currently we are at ninety seven percent of construction just another three percent for completion but in anywhere in the project the last person is very difficult pipe spools are preassembled lengths of pipe and each spool has to be inspected tested for cracks cleaned and then installed if cracks are found the whole spool will have to be replaced sounds simple enough but the ship has 35,000 separate pipe spools and making it pretty hard to keep track of it all [Music] okay have you confirmed the join room is ready I heard yesterday still not they still working on the cleaning process is already done so they call us to witness the preparation the task of keeping track of all 35,000 pipe spools falls under the expertise of engineer Sherif of Farah let's see one piping is not connected then I'd assistant killer enough we have 21 modules in this project so it's not an easy job you need to be on your foot all the time with so many spoons to keep track of it's a huge job and she's one of the few women in the team I think it's interesting because you are dealing with a lot of kind of people and you need to be fair with your decision I did give them a chance to treat me differently she is testing a huge cryogenic pipe the welds themselves are the weakest part and if LNG escaped the warm air could turn it quickly back to natural gas making it potentially explosive yes in the cracks underworld giant basically it has heavy walking us 20.6 me meter so Wow is the best method to touch with us the Kratt story pout or the phased-array ultrasonic testing uses probes to send a pulse into the weld joint if there is even a slightest crack the pipes will need re welding so we just monitor the welding and the cryogenic pipe passes the inspection and fara can move on to another over 35,000 pipe spools now they are closer than ever to completion the next step is a crucial series of tests if the vessel passes them all she will get its license to be at sea and be commissioned and the job of ensuring that the vessel functions at sea his chief commissioner Kai rule and hua Yue knows the commissioning basically like handing over the house like when you buy out okay the commissioning team will be the last team that will make sure the life all in order during the commissioning stage every little detail must be looked into the team testing the electro chlorination module has a leak in the pipes its function to clean seawater and make it safe for human use is it possible to tie knot with Ebola okay okay never mind we keep it like this so we did all the water from the drain okay all right back at the control room operators are monitoring the progress but the leak points to a greater problem if the team is not careful the water pressure could damage crucial parts of the vessel keep on monitoring what we're gonna do is we're gonna get a team with the proper tools so we're gonna arrest that lead if the team cannot find out why it's leaking the sail off date could be delayed we have a leak from the labor class and also from the level transmitter so we can opposite this activity so we stop all the testing [Music] when we stop [Music] PF LNG satu the world's first floating natural gas facility is well into her third year of construction in four months she is scheduled to sail to her new home 180 kilometers offshore of Sarawak Malaysia the men who will ultimately be in command of this platform is equal on a Shack in laymen terms I'm the captain of the Father once it arrives at the final destination he will be taking control of the platform [Music] but first he needs to know the ins and outs of everything on board this is a crucial part of the facility here natural gas gets turned into liquid gas through a process known as liquefaction well a liquefaction process the whole process is essentially like a refrigerator you have compressors to increase the pressure of the refrigerant then you have the refrigerant going through coils behind your F theater box but to turn gas into LNG safely honey so I've had to design a brand new system in nonchalance we typically use propane and mix refrigerant which has to be produced in liquid form in a crap space like a floating energy the equipment's are so compactly built a single expression can cause severe damage July 1988 oil and gas platform Piper Alpha exploded when liquid gas leaked from faulty pipe work it resulted in large oil fires that eventually triggered further explosions that engulfed Piper alpha within two hours the platform collapsed and 167 men lost their lives til today it still holds them a Cobb record of the deadliest offshore accident today is the arrival of the compander this crucial part will help turn gas into liquid for this particular liquefaction process without the compendious we don't get the temperature to cool down the natural gas we don't get the LNG [Music] the designer of this crucial part has arrived to help install his one-of-a-kind machine I was the principal machinery designer when these containers that are used on this ship which was a you know a very challenging project so it took about proximally one year of design work wonderful opportunity for me to actually you know install the product that I've worked on for a long time twenty seven and a half really yeah let me check one more time this piece of equipment weighs four tons and needs to be installed perfectly in position [Applause] [Music] a little bit more oh stop stop okay 26 and a half [Applause] [Music] all right looks good guys let's put four nuts on it and light them up [Music] with a critical part of the vessel installed they are closer than ever to being seaworthy but the vessel is still not ready to sail back at the office chief commissioner Kai rule is getting an update from the commissioning team on how the final tests are going commissioning so we will compute their generation perspective okay the team has yet to complete checks on all of the machinery let's support policy to get this one Soviet our the team has only two months before the weather turns too rough for her to set sail delays on a mega structure of this size can cost a fortune yeah I think there is a pressure on me because I'm the one who coordinating with the concept we Commission in with QC and of course the construction if I sleep they do means the commissioning also has to postpone she needs to sail on time and it has to be a team effort now [Music] after a series of delays the world's first floating liquefied natural gas facility is 30 days away from leaving its docks in South Korea heading to the open ocean its mission is to tap into untouched gas reserves off the coast of Malaysia there is still much outstanding construction work the team hopes to complete as much as they can while the vessel is docked when its offshore conditions will be tougher project engineer Nix Eiffel has hundreds of decisions to make before she can set sail [Music] yeah look like a splash with the cable trail would clash with these pipes you don't have time to repay another 30 days from now are you t me as possible you don't have access to the material do we have enough material they see you are panting down still a lot of work to do before we sell you it is a pressure on everybody you know one vital part the team has left to do testing the marine loading arms within these giraffe like extensions are pipes that will transfer LNG gas from the platform to another vessel this has never been tried at sea before and it's all in the hands of these remote controls volatile if you go to pump station and you want to feel your car with the diesel or you know petrol you know it's the same here the only thing is you know we are transferring LNG you know loading led to want to achieve so the operators of the arms need as much practice as possible Hedy their tail connectors are now so these are still your ISP form is running us off the path [Music] with one more item off the list the journey to build this mega floater is about to end after a decade's worth of dedication and hard work it's time to take the world's first floating gas platform out to sea the vessel is preparing to set sail from Malaysia and the tug masters have arrived to finalize details tomorrow zero seven zero zero we will cool all the way out into the basin then we will turn around so nothing else thank you very much let's be clear [Music] today captain equinox on the challenge of a lifetime right he is about to sail the world's first floating liquefied natural gas facility a huge maritime achievement so now we're gonna bring her the next stitch of her life where she gonna be offshore for 20 years [Music] Atanas was now once she on birth there is no turning back it's a big day for us for the project team for the operation team as well so today is a moment of truth we're going to start our voyage [Music] the vessel will be connected to two tugboats which will tow her for nearly two weeks to her new home at cumin Kanna wit 180 kilometers offshore from Sarawak Malaysia and once she's there the stakes are about to get even higher this one-of-a-kind vessel will be put to the test [Music] [Music] after two weeks of sailing the world's first floating liquefied natural gas facility has finally reached her home off the coast of Malaysia [Music] the vessel is safely anchored with the help of offshore engineering partners now the final stage will begin to tap offshore gas reserves from the bottom of the ocean it will be the first time P of LNG satu will be put in action in the moment when their vision would become reality but first they need to connect to a pipeline 74 metres below there is a line already three-point-something kilometers there goes that seabed so we will we will connect at that end of the pipeline and bring the end over here it takes for other boats to connect the platform to the gas field first divers will work underwater to connect a long hose to a pipeline at the ocean floor the dive boat which carries the hose will move towards the platform finally it will be hauled up to the platform to be connected but before they can begin there's a problem a storm has hit causing the vessels to be thrown around and work to be halted with a break in the weather it's time for the teams to get back to work around 74 metres below the ocean divers are preparing the first half of the pipeline working in cold and dark conditions for 8-hour shifts breathing in a cocktail of helium and oxygen offshore diving is one of the world's most dangerous professions so as we see we got the both divers working here this is diver diver two and diver one right here number seven remove that's number seven bolt removal I just gave one offshore rush out to get him fired up on the on the tensioner so we can lower the flexor you know dick Foreman Jimmy key will lower the next section for the divers to connect them together and the next 30 minutes or so we'll be ready to start lowering down the flexible riser which we have a pump wait - big yellow wait right here in a pool the way to the riser down [Music] the divers are ready Jimmy unspools the 169 meter long hose down to the seabed it's a 24-hour round-the-clock job for the divers and the team [Music] the two hoses beneath the surface are now connected [Music] and the completed pipeline is ready to be attached to the vessel this is the most crucial moment of the whole procedure the end of the hose is still on the dive boat to transfer the host of the vessel the boat needs to come nearer we're gonna do our connection with our winch now to the pudding head when we do the transfer you're gonna see significant load on the edge of the giichi you keep me posted if it starts eating sharp edges but with rough sea conditions the vessels are at risk of hitting each other [Music] they have succeeded the hose has been hauled up to the vessel once we went very well we've got the riser now that will be the first production line connected to the vehicle [Music] once the pipeline is tested she will finally be able to tap the undersea gas fields from her design to the execution P of LNG satu charters waters that no other vessel has done before she is slated to deliver her first cargo of liquid natural gas in just a matter of weeks her journey which has taken more than a decade finally comes to fruition as she moves in the waters off the shores of Sarawak Malaysia P of LNG satu shines as an accomplishment that has truly transformed the world of natural gas extraction
