Samsung Heavy Industries Strengthens FLNG Standard Lineup with New Deepwater Model

Certification by the Global "Big Three" Classification Societies
at OTC 2025 in the United States

Samsung Heavy Industries announced on May 7 that its deepwater floating LNG (liquefied natural gas) production facility, MLF-O, has received basic certification from DNV of Norway, LR of the United Kingdom, and ABS of the United States at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC 2025) held in Houston, United States.

Jang Haeki, Head of Technology Development at Samsung Heavy Industries (left), and Torgeir Sterri, Senior Vice President of DNV, are posing for a commemorative photo. Photo by Samsung Heavy Industries

MLF-O is the second standard model developed following the coastal FLNG (floating liquefied natural gas production facility) 'MLF-N' in 2023. While MLF-N was designed for LNG production in coastal areas with an average wave height of less than 2 meters, MLF-O is optimized for deepwater LNG production in areas with an average wave height of over 9 meters.

LNG is stored in a liquid state and is typically subject to sloshing, a phenomenon where the liquid moves like waves. The company explained that MLF-O is designed with a two-row cargo tank structure to minimize internal impact from sloshing. Samsung Heavy Industries added that with this certification, it has completed a lineup of standard LNG production facility models optimized for both nearshore and deepwater environments.

MLF offers advantages of faster delivery and economic efficiency compared to onshore plants. In practice, by standardizing the LNG cargo tank and hull, MLF can increase cargo tank capacity from a basic 180,000 m³ up to a maximum of 220,000 m³.

Samsung Heavy Industries plans to leverage the strengths of standardization, flexibility, and high efficiency in MLF-O and MLF-N to win overseas gas field development projects. Jang Haeki, Head of Technology Development at Samsung Heavy Industries, stated, "MLF-O is an innovative solution that minimizes operating costs and dramatically shortens delivery times to meet customer needs," adding, "We will maintain our first-mover advantage and a significant technological lead in the FLNG market."