Russia’s Yamal LNG project adds two Arc7 carriers as first shipment nears

The Novatek-operated Yamal LNG export project in Russian Arctic has taken delivery of two Arc7 ice-class liquefied natural gas carriers.

The 172.410-cbm LNG carriers named Boris Vilkitsky and Fedor Litke, both built by South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding Marine Engineering, have been delivered during November, the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping said in a statement.

The 299.9m long Arc7 vessels are capable of breaking through thick 2.1m ice to deliver the Yamal LNG volumes via the Northern Sea Route.

The new vessels are capable of all year round operation at temperatures up to minus 50 Celsius and are equipped with three Azipod propulsion units of 45 MW joint capacity, according to RS that classed the ships.

They also feature a new membrane-type gas containment system GT NO96 GW built by France’s GTT.

Boris Vilkitsky and Fedor Litke are owned by a joint venture made up of two Chinese companies and Greek-based Dynagas.

Sinotrans, a subsidiary of state-owned Sinotrans & CSC Holdings has a 25.5 percent share of the joint venture. China Merchants’ unit, China LNG Shipping also owns a 25.5 stake in the JV, while LNG shipper Dynagas has a 49 percent stake.

The JV will in total build five Arc7 ice-class vessels for charter to Yamal LNG. The price tag of these ships is around $1.59 billion.

Daewoo has in total received 15 orders for Arctic LNG carriers, all to serve the Yamal LNG project.

Fedor Litke damaged?

According to reports in Russian media, the brand new Fedor Litke suffered damage to the vessel’s hull after a contact with bunker tanker Zaliv Amerika on November 14.

The reports suggest that the bunker tanker allided with Fedor Litke while unmooring in the port of Nakhodka in Russia.

LNG World News contacted Dynagas for a comment but we did not receive a response by the time this article was published.

Vessel-tracking data by the marine data provider, VesselsValue, shows that the Fedor Litke was on Tuesday docked at Daewoo’s Okpo shipyard in South Korea.

On the other side, Boris Vilkitsky is expected to arrive at the port of Sabetta, where the Yamal LNG plant is located, around November 26.

First Yamal LNG cargo

Yamal LNG is expected to ship its first cargo of the chilled fuel by the end of this month.

Sovcomflot’s LNG tanker Christophe de Margerie, the world’s first ice-breaking LNG vessel, arrived at the Yamal berth on November 7 and is waiting to load the first cargo, its AIS data shows.

The 172,600-cbm LNG carrier is the first of 15 ice-class tankers built to ship cargoes from the Yamal LNG project.

The three-train Yamal LNG plant, designed to produce about 16.5 million tonnes per year, will liquefy natural gas from the South Tambey field on the Yamal Peninsula.

The $27 billion project is a joint venture between Novatek, the operator with a 50.1 percent stake, China’s CNPC and Total of France with a 20 percent stake, each and China’s Silk Road Fund with a 9.9 percent stake.

LNG World News Staff