Challis Venture Terminal (AUCHV)

The port is currently closed for commercial operations. Information for the port is retained should the port reopen. FPSO Challis Venture has ceased operation in 2010. Challis Venture Terminal consists of a floating production, storage and offloading facility (FPSO), the purpose built 115,000DWT barge "Challis Venture". An exclusion zone is centred on the facility and extends out to a 5nm radius.

South Indian Ocean Seasonal Tropical Area, Tropical May 1 to Nov 30, Summer Dec 1 to Apr 30.

The Challis oil field is in the Timor Sea 400nm WSW of Darwin and 120nm WNW of the North Western Australia coastline.

Tankers of 25,000DWT to Max size 150,000DWT. Max BCM 130m. Max displacement 175,000t.

Outer anchorage: Restricted and cautionary areas surround the terminal. Vessels which cannot berth on arrival must anchor within the permitted anchoring area. Contact should be made with the Facility Master for information and guidance. Permitted anchorage area, lies 3nm S of the terminal. Anchorage is prohibited within the 5nm exclusion zone.

AUS 314, BA 1047, BA 942A, Admiralty Pilot NP17, NP286(4).

There is no coastguard available.

Preparations for berthing and mooring: On arrival aboard the offtake vessel, the Pilot assisted by Berthing Superintendent shall conduct a general inspection of the following: ..... 1. Bow mooring arrangement 2. Anchor and cable security 3. Cargo loading manifold 4. Cranes, derricks and associated gear 5. Poop deck arrangement 6. Cargo control room 7. Any other areas the initial inspection may indicate Mooring requirements: The offtake tanker will moor astern of the FPSO in line ahead and connected by a mooring arrangement consisting of 2 chafing chains and floating nylon hawser. This arrangement will be picked up by the offtake tanker. A messenger attached to a 72mm diameter circumference pick-up rope will be hove onboard. A main winching drum (not a drum end) previously cleared will be used to pull the mooring arrangement onboard for the chafing to be secured in an OCIMF recommended chain stopper. The offtake vessel should be fitted with an enclosed chock and a bow chain stopper capable of handling 76mm diameter chafing chain. The bow winch used to haul the 72mm messenger line must be capable of pulling 15t and should have its main drum empty to take the rope. The drum must have a good hauling lead from the enclosed chock, directed through the chain stopper in order to retrieve the chafing chain and hawser. Under no circumstances will the drum end be used to heave in the mooring arrangement. Vessel Bow Mooring Arrangements: Master and vessels should comply with latest OCIMF recommendations. It is compulsory to use a winch storage drum to handle and stow the entire length of the pick-up rope. The use of a warping drum for the pick-up rope is hazardous and therefore prohibited.The vessel should be moored to a mooring hawser using a 76mm chafe chain. Master should be aware that any vessels not complying with the above will be rejected for berthing and unloading. Adverse Weather Mooring/Unmooring Weather conditions and forecast are closely monitored before the arrival of the offtake vessel and during the actual offtake. In the event of deteriorating weather conditions or the approach of a cyclone, mooring may be delayed. If an offtake vessel is already moored, the offtake vessel may be unmoored in a timely manner. For berthing operations the limiting significant wave height is 1.8m. For offtake vessels already moored, the design limits for the hawser will be approached when the significant wave height reaches 2.8m and the wind speed reaches 36kts. The recommended criteria when offtake vessels should be unmoored is: ..... Three occurrences of a peak mooring hawser tension greater than 100t force within one hour. A single occurrence of a peak mooring hawser tension greater than 150t force The Marine Supervisor shall have absolute discretion to determine the suitability of weather condition for mooring operations to be conducted and offtake operations to continue. This does not in any way derogate from the offtake vessel Master's responsibility for the safety of the offtake vessel and other responsibilities. Unmooring and departure: ..... 1. The Marine Superintendent and Pilot shall decide when unmooring is to commence. 2. The weight in the mooring hawser shall be slackened by use of the offtake vessel's engine. The chafe chain can then be released from the bow stopper. Offtake vessel anchor shall not be unsecured until outside the exclusion zone. 3. Once out of the exclusion zone, the Pilot and facility personnel can disembark using the pilot ladder.

Pilotage is compulsory for all vessels. Mooring Master boards 3nm from the terminal.

The terminal is equipped with a non-directional radio beacon which transmits on request on 404kHz (callsign "XCHA") range 100nm.

On arrival both the facility and the offtake tanker will be subject to a safety check by the facility personnel to ensure that safety standards are met before delivery of crude oil begins. This safety check will be carried out as per the International Safety Guide for Oil Tankers and Terminals. Propeller and rudder should be fully submerged and trim should not exceed 10% of the aft draught. This draught is to safely manoeuvre the offtaking tanker to the FPSO. It should be noted that vessels with too light a draught and/or excessive trim may not be able to be berthed. There is no max draught since depths in the area are in excess of 73m.

Not available.

Prevailing winds are S'ly May to Oct. NW'ly from Nov to Mar. Wind velocities are generally low except during summer months when the Timor Sea is subject to occasional cyclones. The wet season is during the summer months, Nov to Apr and at that time prevailing winds are N'ly. In Jan and Feb in particular, weather and sea states may prevent mooring and or loading for periods of a few days.

Call: Challis Venture Terminal (VLV4720) VHF Frequency: Ch 16, 72. RT Frequency (kHz): 2792 4592 8070 10158 Tel: +61 (0)8 94839461 or +870 761942477 (Inmarsat mini-M), Fax: +61 (0)8 92262104. Owners/Operator: Tel: +61 (0)8 94839483, Fax: +61 (0)8 94839440.

The documents required for Customs, Immigration and Quarantine department formalities may be summarised as follows: ..... Document 1. Ship Pre Arrival Report (Customs Form 13) 2. Crew Report (Customs Form 3B) 3. Passenger Report (Customs Form 2A) 4. Passenger Report (Customs Form 2B) 5. Advanced Person Processing (APP) of crew and passengers list to be submitted electronically to Immigration Web site www.immi.gov.au/sea 6. Quarantine Pre-arrival Report for Vessels (QPAR) - (AQIS Form 006) 7. Additional Quarantine Pre-Arrival Report for Cruise liners and Navy Vessels (AQIS Form 028) 8. Live Plants Vessel Log.(Attached to AQIS Form 028) 9. Notification of Sign-off if any (Customs Form B521) 10. Notification of Sign-on if any (Customs Form B522) 11. Load Goods (other than cargo) onto ship (Customs Form 43) 12. Remove Goods (other than cargo) from ship (Customs Form 44) 13. Ballast Water Log to Quarantine (AQIS Form 026) 14. Crew Effects Declaration (Customs Form 5 Part Two) 15. Report of Ship's Stores (Customs Form 5 Part Four)

Vessel's ETA must be advised 5 days in advance to the Production Manager, Perth, and confirm or vary 72, 48 , 24 and 12 hours prior to arrival and provide information outlined on the Offtake Vessel Information Facsimile (Form TS-MO-03-101-F01 at Appendix A). In addition to the information required, the Master shall fax a complete Crew List to the company's Perth office and the facility. ETA should be confirmed or varied, as appropriate, at 24 and 12 hours before arrival. When within 100nm of the facility, offtake vessels shall switch to VHF Ch 16 and endeavour to establish contact as early as possible.

There are no surface hazards to navigation. However, Masters should be aware of the presence of undersea pipelines in the vicinity. Tank Inspection & Dry Certificate: The facility does not carry out tank inspections or issue dry certificates in relation to offtake vessel's cargo tanks.

A request for radio pratique should be sent to the agents not more than 24 hours prior to arrival.

Arriving offtake vessels may not tender NOR until they have arrived 2nm from the FPSO and until otherwise in all respects ready to approach, moor and offtake in accordance with the "Berthing Handbook" and the "Terminal Conditions". Furthermore, NOR will only be accepted during the hours 0700-1600hrs local time.

The following is a standard message which is sent to each vessel: quote: Subject: Requirements for mooring and loading For your information: ..... 1. The facility keeps time on UTC + 9 hours and 30 minutes 2. The facility will maintain watch on VHF Ch 16 and a working channel as listed. The facility may also be contacted by facsimile as listed below: Challis Venture VHF Ch 72 Fax: +61 8 9226 2104 Jabiru Venture VHF Ch 06 Fax: +61 8 9226 2105 3. Anchoring is not permitted within 5nm of the following field well locations. Refer to the Timor Sea Berthing and Terminal Handbook for further details. Challis Venture Lat 12°07'S Long 125°01'E Jabiru Venture Lat 11°55'S Long 125°00'E 4. Your vessel's propeller and rudder are to be fully submerged for the berthing operation and at all times whilst the vessel is berthed at the Facility. Arrival trim should not exceed 0.015L where 'L' is the length of your vessel. 5. Your vessel's port/starboard side derrick or crane will be required (SWL 10t) if your vessel has a hand slewing derrick then your stores crane may be used to transfer equipment and should be ready for use. 6. For pilot boarding please have the pilot ladder rigged on the lee side approx 2.0m above the water line. The actual ladder height will be checked before transfer of personnel. The ladder should be rigged in accordance with the SOLAS Chapter 5 Regulations. Transfer of personnel and equipment may be from either a 50m supply boat or a smaller work boat. 7. On the forecastle one winch barrel, with a direct lead from the fairlead to the chain stopper, should be empty ready to take a 24mm messenger line and then a 72mm line. The 24mm messenger line is approx 220m and the 72mm line is approx 110m in length, please confirm that the barrel to be used can accommodate both these lengths of line. 8. Tug's line will be used for the supply boat connection. On the poop deck a direct lead is required from a fairlead to a set of bits and then on to either a drum end or a winch barrel. If a winch barrel is to be used it should be empty to accommodate the tug's messenger line. The fairlead to be used must face astern and be right aft. 9. Throughout the period that your vessel is moored astern of the facility your engines must be on standby ready for instant use. Your engines may be used intermittently or continuously astern as required to maintain position astern of the facility. A supply boat may be used to assist in keeping your vessel in position astern of the facility. 10. Good communications on the facility VHF channel shall be maintained between the bridge and the facility representative who is on duty on your vessel. An hourly check of communications between the duty facility representative and the bridge of your vessel is required. 11. The floating hose connection is by way of 16in Camlok coupling. 12. Your vessel's cargo control room is required to have a VHF set for communications with the Facility's cargo control to co-ordinate the transfer operation. 13. Please arrange to have accommodation and victualling for 5 people. Please note that due to shift work, the facility representatives are to be given priority for single berth accommodation. 14. Please advise the facility by facsimile: 1. Name of your Master for inclusion on the shipping documents 2. Max receiving rate from one manifold connection 3. Confirmation required in point 7 4. If your vessel has hand slewing derrick at the cargo manifold. Best Regards Master/Marine Supervisor unquote