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Playing a role in bringing clean burning natural gas to Massachusetts and New England is ABS as the third-party Certifying Entity (CE) on behalf of the United States Coast Guard (USCG) for the Northeast Gateway Energy Bridge™ deepwater port offshore Massachusetts Bay.

This is the first project for which the USCG has designated ABS as a CE. The role of the CE is detailed on the Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circular (NVIC) no. 03-05 a document issued by the USCG. The class society has extensive experience in working on behalf of the USCG in shipping and offshore installations, and has performed a similar certification role as Certified Verification Agent (CVA) for the Minerals Management Service (MMS), a bureau in the U.S. Department of the Interior. This federal agency manages the nation's natural gas, oil and other mineral resources in American territory including on the outer continental shelf (OCS).

ABS is familiar with the Energy Bridge gas transport system  having classed the first offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) deepwater port buoy, the Gulf Gateway Energy Bridge™ Deepwater Port  some 116 miles offshore Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. A key component of this gas transport is the Submerged Turret Loading (STLTM) system, a single-point mooring system (SPM) from Advanced Production and Loading AS of Norway (APL).  ABS has classed more than 40 SPMs and has worldwide expertise with buoy mooring technology.   

In the role of CE for the USCG ABS is reviewing the design, surveying fabrication and witnessing offshore installation of all components of the deepwater port. The design was approved by the ABS Houston Offshore Engineering Department and the fabrication took place in several different countries: STLs in Sweden, piles and manifolds in China, mooring chains in Spain, wire ropes in Norway, risers in Denmark and umbilicals in the United Kingdom (UK).   

The project offshore Massachusetts Bay consists of two similar systems.   System A and B are located about 1.2 miles from each other. Each system consists of one subsea Submerged Turret Loading™ buoy (STL Buoy) moored by lines to eight suction piles embedded into the sea floor. The gas from the regasification vessel is discharged through the STL turret into a flexible riser, then to a subsea manifold connected to the major natural gas pipeline for New England, Algonquin. The subsea manifold is controlled by an umbilical also connected to the STL.    

Installation offshore Massachusetts is ongoing as of mid-May and is being witnessed by an ABS surveyor to certify that all components will be installed in accordance with the approved plans and procedures.

Upon completion of each phase of the project (design, fabrication and installation), ABS submits a CE report with a comprehensive description of the main features and procedures utilized on that phase and provides any recommendations to the USCG.