Key turnaround works completed at offshore terminal serving Petromidia refinery

 A key stage of technical turnaround works at the offshore marine terminal operated by Midia Marine Terminal (MTT), which serves the Petromidia refinery - Constanta County, have been completed, KMG International announced in a statement on Monday."The works carried out, which lasted around 10 days, provide us with full guarantees for uninterrupted operation of the only offshore terminal in Romanian territorial waters. This asset plays an important role in supplying the Petromidia refinery, and equipment maintenance is essential for achieving operational objectives under full safety and environmental protection conditions," said Mihai Branzoi, General Manager of Midia Marine Terminal.According to the company, the turnaround involved the replacement of four critical floating hoses - two 12-meter hoses, the first connected to the terminal and bearing the full movement of the flexible string under varied environmental and operating conditions, and another two hoses of about 9 meters each, the last in the string, which connect to the ship's manifold."The four hoses were manufactured by the Japanese company Yokohama specifically for the terminal, located 8.6 km offshore in the Black Sea. Each hose section weighs approximately 5 tons, features a double carcass, and can withstand a nominal pressure of 19 bar. Midia Marine Terminal operates the terminal at 8 bar. At the same time, during the works, the other hoses were cleaned of hydrocarbons, while about one-third of the marine equipment was tested to verify and guarantee operational safety. The connection between the terminal and the vessels is made through two floating strings, each over 250 meters long, and two subsea strings, each 33.5 meters long. The full terminal turnaround is carried out once every 8 years, but components subject to higher levels of mechanical stress, such as floating hoses, are replaced every 2 years," the release states.The maintenance works involved over 40 people from MMT and Rominserv, the general contractor of the KMG International Group (Rompetrol)."Throughout the turnaround, the supply of raw materials to the Petromidia refinery remained unaffected, with the marine terminal continuing to unload operations on a single line. In August alone, five vessels were unloaded, totaling over 400,000 tons of crude oil, 80% of which originated from Kazakhstan," the company notes.The terminal operated by MMT is a Single Point Mooring (SPM) system, consisting of a static part fixed to the seabed by an anchoring system and a second part to which the vessel is connected, allowing it to freely rotate around the static part in response to wind, current, and waves.The maximum operating throughput is 7,000 m?/h, which means that a vessel carrying between 80,000 and 160,000 tons can be unloaded within 24 to 36 hours.