Ithaca Energy has reported that, following months of delays, the FPF-1 floating production platform has sailed away to the Stella field, located in the UK sector of the North Sea.

Ithaca informed on Friday that the production platform sailed away after it completed the final marine system trials offshore Gdansk.

It will take the unit around 10 days to arrive from Gdansk to its location in the UK North Sea. According to the company, the anticipated period from sail-away to Stella first hydrocarbons is approximately three months.

To remind, the FPF-1 completed the required inclination test in July. The unit was moved from the Remontowa shipyard in Gdansk, Poland, where the modifications program on the platform was being done by Petrofac, to a deep water location offshore Gdansk for its final marine system trials.

The Ithaca operated Greater Stella Area is located in the heart of the Central Graben area of the Central North Sea, on the UK Continental Shelf. The Greater Stella Area licenses contain the Stella and Harrier fields, approved for development in April 2012.

The development is centered on the drilling of subsea wells tied back to the FPF-1 floating production unit, with the onward transportation of processed hydrocarbons to nearby existing oil and gas export infrastructure.