The four month tow by deepsea tugs from the Smitwijs consortium took the vessel through the South China Sea, Java Sea, Selat Sunda, the south Indian Ocean and via the Suez Canal. The 305m vessel, built in South Korea by Samsung Heavy Industries is destined for operations for Shell in Nigeria.

Bonga entered the record books as the largest object ever to pass through the Canal under tow.

Arrival in the UK was held up by bad weather in the North Sea and the convoy had to take shelter for a short time in Rotterdam.

Smit is now providing extensive inshore lifting and installation services during the outfitting phase of the £300m project at AMEC's Wallsend facility.

Beginning in late January, Smit started to perform a series of lifts using the 3,200t capacity floating sheerlegs, Asian Hercules II, which will lift 17 process modules from delivery barges or the quay, transport them to the FPSO and position them on deck supports, using a 35m fly-jib and dedicated lifting frames and spreader beams. Among the heaviest lifts are the power generation and starboard process modules at about 2,600 tonnes each. Five of the modules also have large dimensions and weigh between 1,600 tonnes and 2,300 tonnes.

Bonga will stay on Tyneside for up to 12 months before being towed to the Bonga oilfield, 120 miles off the coast of the Niger Delta, to be moored in 1,000m of water. The FPSO will have storage capacity for up to two million barrels of oil.