After 4 and a half years in construction
and with a workforce of about 5,000,
Prelude is almost ready to leave the shipyard in South Korea.
The world's largest Floating Liquefied Natural Gas facility
will be towed all the way to a remote gas field
off North West Australia -
no mean feat,
considering it weighs 425,000 tonnes.
For me to really feel comfortable
with it sailing away,
I want to make sure
that it is as complete as it can possibly be,
there are no safety issues,
that we have done what we said we would do.
Final work is underway to ensure Prelude is ready for the journey.
There are many jobs ongoing at the minute,
to prepare for towing,
which is going to start later in the week.
We've finished the markings on the heli deck
so, if you like, we're clearing from top to bottom at the moment.
Before Prelude can leave,
the team have to be confident
that there are no marine stowaways clinging to the hull.
We actually had oysters about the size of my hand here.
They're probably about 50 euros each on the Champs-Élysées.
What we're actually doing on this barge
is cleaning the last of the marine growth off of the hull
because we are not allowed to transport invasive marine species
from this geographic area to the field location.
Divers and remotely-operated vehicles have spent the last few months
painstakingly cleaning an area the size of six football pitches.
It's actually using high-pressure water feed.
The water pressure is about 70 bar pressure,
and that's what detaches the marine growth from the hull.
It kind of washes it off, for want of a better term.
On deck, the last of Prelude's seven cranes
is being tested to ensure its functionality.
This is the last piece of the jigsaw
for construction and commissioning.
Coming up on the hook.
We're testing the main winch to 66 tonnes, to 110% of safe working load.
The easiest way to do it is to use the water bags.
Yeah, keep coming down on the hook.
So there we have 66 tonnes.
Is everybody happy?
We've done it.
-It's great. -Mr Liam, well done.
You can open the valves.
This is the end for the construction phase.
It's been a privilege to be on it, and I think we've done rather well.
We are in very good shape for sailing away.
We are in a very high level
of completeness,
probably more than I have seen any facility before.
All the utilities, all the power, of course all the marine systems,
all the ballasts, etc...
Approximately, half the facility is running.
It's mainly the facilities we can't run until we get hydrocarbons on board
that are not running.
I think it's incredibly important when you hand something over,
that the person you're giving it to also has confidence in what they're receiving.
The only way to do that is seeing is believing.
I think we're very proud of it. Everything's finished.
For now, it just looks like an LNG plant.
For some on the construction team, the sail away will be tinged with sadness,
as their role in this epic endeavour comes to an end.
In eight and a half years there are a lot of people
that I've got close to.
We've worked together, solved problems, laughed and partied together.
These are my favourite painters in the whole world,
Mr O and Mr Jo.
These guys have painted the "yellow forest".
There are a lot of individuals that I have a lot of time for that I will miss.
It's difficult to say goodbye to them.
They're the ones that get you!
Prelude will be staffed by 160 people during its journey to Australia,
and there's no chance to re-stock supplies along the way.
The kitchen staff need to be confident they have everything they need.
This is probably 2 tonnes of sugar.
That's 4 tonnes of whole chicken.
We've got 300 kilos of one particular type of rice.
Getting the meals right and serving popular things is, in my opinion,
one of the most important things on the facility.
Let's see. We've got 80 kilos of Vegemite. Aussie's love their vegemite.
I think it will be enough.
It's time for the offshore team to check out their new digs.
It's the prettiest cabin I've seen off-shore.
We're pretty lucky to be doing some days and weeks in here, actually.
I'll be very comfortable.
My wife would be proud.
That's how you do it. Home sweet home.
But, before Prelude sets sail, there's some paperwork to be done,
as the new owners' sign on the dotted line.
Big moment.
So we now move to the last phase of the project and cooperation.
For Installation Manager Steve Kidd, this moment could not have come soon enough...
I am just super excited.
The crew we have here
are operations people.
We love operations.
Getting our hands on the toys is fantastic.
We're just itching to get out there.
Everything is set for Prelude's journey to Australia.
At half a kilometre long, with no propulsion of its own,
it will be towed the 6,000-kilometre journey.
Prelude will not stop.
From five o'clock tomorrow morning when we start,
she will not stop until we are in the station.
It will take 3 of the world's strongest tugs to pull the 425,000-tonne facility.
The tug has 16,000 horsepower.
If you compare that to a Formula 1 car, it has 1,000 horsepower,
so we have quite a bit of power.
First, we will take Prelude safely off the berth,
and then we're into the ocean towing which takes us from Korea, to Japan,
then past the Philippines, through Indonesia, and then to Australia.
Tomorrow's the day.
It should be.
As dawn breaks on sail away day, there is barely a breath of wind.
It's about ten past five and it's just pulled away from the quayside.
It's fantastic to see it leaving after so many years of work.
You can feel it amongst everybody here.
There's a great sense of satisfaction by everybody.
Yes, we did it! We did it, yes. Eureka!
The whole vision of FLNG,
from the drawing board,
has been translated into a magnificent project here.
Down to Australia, finish the hook up,
and into commissioning and start-up...
Just a fantastic day.