GTT nets Zvezda order for five Arc7 LNG carriers

France’s GTT has won an order from Russia’s Zvezda shipyard for the tank design of five ARC7 ice-breaking LNG carriers.

The LNG containment specialist said Zvezda awarded the deal at the end of June on behalf of a Russian shipowner.

This represents the first order following the technical assistance and license deal between the duo.

These 172,600-cbm vessels will be able to navigate in ice-covered waters and will serve Novatek’s projects in the Arctic, GTT said.

All of the vessels will feature GTT’s Mark III membrane containment system.

GTT added that delivery of the vessels is scheduled between the first and the fourth quarter of 2023.

The shipowner behind the order is Sovcomflot that formed a shipping venture with Novatek last year to focus on Arctic LNG carriers.

The Russian shipping giant also ordered a pilot LNG carrier for Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 project at Zvezda earlier in 2019.

It inked financing deals with Russian financial institution VEB.RF Group for the LNG vessel.

Earlier this year, the Sovcomflot-Novatek venture also secured funds from VEB.RF for four additional Arc7 LNG carriers.

All of these vessels will serve Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 project, but also Yamal LNG and other planned projects.

The Arctic 2 project located on the Gydan peninsula includes the construction of three LNG trains.

The trains will have a capacity of 6.6 mtpa, each, using gravity-based structure platforms.

Novatek recently said that the project is about 19 per cent complete, with concrete casting of the first GBS platform about 37 per cent complete.

The Russian company expects to launch the first LNG train in 2023, with trains 2 and 3 to follow in 2024 and 2026, respectively.