A Hebron homecoming: Abigail Fewer's dad only NLer on ship as massive module arrives

It was windy and chilly on Signal Hill Friday afternoon, but Abigail Fewer was warmed by the thought of seeing her father for the first time in three months, as a module for the Hebron project arrived from Korea.

"I'm feeling really good. Excited," Fewer said, as she glanced over her shoulder at the unusual and amazing engineering spectacle looming in the distance.

The 30,000-tonne utilities/process module, better known as the UPM, arrived in Newfoundland waters strapped to the deck of the massive Blue Marlin heavy lift ship.

• Hebron in the homestretch: $14B project 80 per cent complete, says ExxonMobil Canada VP

Its arrival followed more than two months at sea, and three years of construction at a yard in South Korea.

'It's been a while'

The module's arrival was yet another important milestone for the Hebron project, and Newfoundland and Labrador's oil and gas industry.

The Hebron Project was sanctioned in 2012 at an estimated cost of $14 billion, though the final price tag is expected to be higher.

The UPM, meanwhile, will form the heart of the Hebron oil platform, providing power to the rig. It will also separate the oil, gas and water that is pumped from the Jeanne d'Arc Basin when its operational late next year.

It will be the final module to arrive at Bull Arm, allowing the integration process with other, smaller modules to begin in earnest.

Officials with the project say the modules will be placed atop the concrete gravity structure early next year.

The Hebron topsides will stretch 50-metres higher than Confederation Building in St. John's when completed, according to the Hebron website.

That's impressive, but for Abigail Fewer, there are more important things to consider.

"It's been awhile," she said of the last time she saw her father.