A South Korean shipyard has ceremonially bid bon voyage to a floating facility for producing and storing liquefied natural gas, which will be put to work off the coast of northern Mozambique, Lusa reports.

The Portuguese news agency says the facility is due to start operating in the Coral gas field in the Rovuma Basin in the first half of next year.

The report says the facility is the first of its sort built to operate in deep water, and the first built specially for working off Africa.

Chinese state-owned China National Petroleum Corp., Mozambican state-owned Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos, and Galp Energia SA of Portugal are involved in putting the facility to work, the report says.

The departure ceremony was held on Monday, Lusa says.

Separately, the South Korean state-backed news agency, Yonhap, reports that Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi and South Korean President Moon Jae-in attended the ceremony.