By
Saraswathi Muniappan
KUALA LUMPUR: Petronas’ Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (PFLNG) Dua vessel is
nothing short of an engineering marvel and the nation’s pride, especially for
Malaysians who are directly involved in it.
Aini Haryati Mohd Saleh, 39, from Selangor is one of the many engineers who have played a part in what is seen as a game-changer in the LNG industry.
“I am always grateful to Petronas because my journey as an engineer started with the national oil and gas company’s scholarship from A-Levels to a degree at Imperial College, London,” she told Bernama in an interview recently.
Aini, who comes from a family of engineers, started her career with Petronas’ Gas Processing Plant in Kerteh, Terengganu and is now a maintenance manager in the PFLNG Dua.
“The exposure with any project is abundant, especially with PFLNG Dua as it crosses multiple segments, work culture, as well as new technologies in constructing the facility,” she said.
The PFLNG Dua, which is 100 per cent owned by Petronas, is being constructed by a consortium made up of Japan’s JGC Corporation and South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries, which are responsible for the engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning of the floating LNG facility.
Construction of the PFLNG Dua at the Samsung Shipyard in Geoje, South Korea, which started in 2015, is progressing on schedule for completion and sail away in February 2020.
As Aini’s work is more towards the commissioning of the PFLNG Dua, she has been travelling back and forth from her base in Miri, Sarawak, where the PFLNG Satu is located, to Geoje.
“My work is more at the commissioning of the floating facility and I am here to adapt and learn on the handling of PFLNG Dua, as once it is in Malaysian waters, we would be managing it,” she said.
While Aini is involved more in the commissioning part, Tracie Elma Marcus, 30, is part of the PFLNG Dua pre-commissioning team.
A Mara scholar from the University of Southampton, the United Kingdom, she has been attached to JGC Corporation since 2013 and was deployed to work on the PFLNG Dua in 2014.
“I am a Kadazan from Sabah, I studied MEng Electronic Engineering in London and towards the end of my studies I applied for the job in JGC and in 2014, I was deployed to work in the Petronas’ project,” she said.
Tracie said the work culture in Japan is absolutely different from what she has seen in Malaysia.
“PFLNG Dua is a challenging project as it involves a lot of specification.
“But as the Japanese use the Kaizen (continuous improvement) concept, they always try to improve their work, as well as each other (continuously), and they are also hands-on in teaching other engineers, it was easier to adapt to those challenges.
“The open concept office used means my managers and senior engineers do not have specific rooms, making communication seamless,” she said.
The Japanese work culture is also admirable. “They are always on time and this teaches you discipline,” said Tracie, who is the first engineer in her family.
Going forward, Aini opined that more women should come on board the engineering world.
“Time has changed. My mother is also an engineer, it was much harder for her before as she had experienced blunt rejection for being a woman engineer. When I first joined Petronas there was only a handful of us. Now we have four or five futsal women’s teams,” she said.
Aini, who leads a team of seven engineers and 19 technicians at any point of time, said opportunities now are far better than before as many things could be done online.
“Never give up on your dreams. Being a mother and wife, they can still put their heart into to any project with the help of the Internet,” she said. – Bernama
