Stress Corrosion Cracking Solved on FPSO Project

Collaborative Success: How Swagelok Harnessed Global Expertise to Deliver a Turnkey FPSO Rectification

The Challenge: Uncovering Critical Corrosion Risk Ahead of Dry Dock

Off the west coast of Australia, on a mature floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, a Swagelok customer uncovered a potentially serious problem: a small number of small-bore tubing (SBT)-related failures due to stress-corrosion cracking. This finding prompted a full survey, as the vessel's mechanical principal was concerned about the FPSO’s general installation quality and SBT integrity.

Ahead of a scheduled dry dock in Singapore, the customer engaged Swagelok Australia to conduct a complete fluid system evaluation, drawing on Swagelok's reputation as an expert in SBT inspections and installation quality. The resulting survey uncovered widespread corrosion and numerous compliance issues within the vessel’s hydrocarbon transfer systems. Among the key findings were extensive corrosion in critical infrastructure, evidence of improper installation practices, and insufficient preventative maintenance.

These issues posed a significant threat to the vessel’s operational integrity and safety. The customer acknowledged the problem and wanted to rectify it in the upcoming dry dock. But their schedule was already full, and internal resources were stretched thin. They lacked both the engineering bandwidth and project management capacity to incorporate a complex SBT rectification into the scheduled scope.

While the risks were clear, the path to resolution required experts with the proper fluid system engineering knowledge, plus the ability to take ownership of the entire problem and coordinate across multiple countries.

The Solution: A Turnkey Approach Rooted in Collaboration

Swagelok Australia responded with a solution designed to manage the entire project lifecycle from start to finish by partnering with Swagelok Singapore. Taking responsibility of fixing the small-bore issues turned into a complete engineered solution—from supply materials, manufacturing custom panel, to ensuring proper installation by the customer-selected contractor during dry-dock.

Swagelok Australia and Swagelok Singapore worked together to conduct a follow-up offshore design survey, followed by engineering to detail the scope of work. Together, they produced a comprehensive work pack, generated system drawings, and designed 34 grab sample panels—eight for gas and 26 for liquid service. All panels were prefabricated and tested in Singapore before being supplied with the full bill of materials for installation once the vessel was docked at the Singapore shipyard.

This collaborative approach enabled the customer’s SBT rectification to proceed without disrupting the larger dry dock schedule, a critical concern.

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Seamless Onsite Technical Leadership for Offshore Engineering

Ensuring continuity at the customer site, Swagelok Singapore deployed three technical specialists to the shipyard to help educate installers on topics such as tube bending best practices and to implement a helmet sticker system to verify skill proficiency. They also provided real-time oversight, technical guidance, and mentoring for the contractor crews.

Their role evolved rapidly from simple oversight to active technical leadership as the customer expanded their work to include all SBT-related activity across the vessel. Swagelok Singapore’s ability to train the customer in proper routing methods, stress reduction, and material capability became instrumental to the success of the overall scope.

Swagelok Singapore became the de facto technical lead for SBT-related work, supporting a broader range of activities than originally scoped. Proactive collaboration avoided delays, enhanced quality, and identified essential material upgrades and new panels needed to address corrosion risks for future dry docks.

In one instance, the team rebuilt a damaged gas compressor instrument panel—critical for operation—in just eight days, preventing a delay in leaving the shipyard. This success led to the customer selecting Swagelok Australia, rather than the compressor OEM, to build two new instrument panels.

Additionally, Swagelok Singapore identified widespread stress corrosion cracking during disassembly of legacy tubing. This discovery prevented potential future failures, saving the customer significant unplanned downtime and cost. This led to a design change from 316 stainless steel to 6 Moly alloy across all process gas lines in the next scheduled dry dock, minimizing the chance of similar corrosion taking place in the future.

Looking Ahead: Continued Partnership and Project Momentum

The customer selected Swagelok not just because they trusted the products, but because they trusted the company’s fluid system expertise, engineering discipline, and ability to deliver a complete, high-quality solution under tight time constraints. The results far exceeded their initial expectations.

What began as an offshore inspection and evaluation of minor concerns evolved into a fully integrated, high-impact engagement, unearthing real problems. In total, between Swagelok Company and the two Swagelok sales and service centers in Australia and Singapore, 25 associates collaborated globally, working as a single unit to manage operations, engineering, and logistics across multiple territories. In the process, they provided services ranging from design and fabrication to technical mentoring and rapid problem solving.

If you are seeking to maximize uptime, safety, and reliability in industrial fluid systems, especially on aging FPSO, find an authorized Swagelok sales and service center near you.

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