Zvezda cuts steel for third Arctic LNG 2 tanker

The Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex in the Russian Far East has cut the first steel for a new Arc7 ice-class LNG tanker for the Arctic LNG 2 project.

The shipyard noted that the construction of the third vessel in the series is financed by VEB.RF. Zvezda shipyard and VEB.RF signed a deal for the construction of 15 Arctic LNG tankers.

The vessels will be operated under long-term time charter agreements between Sovcomflot and Smart LNG, a joint venture between Novatek and Sovcomflot, and the Arctic LNG 2 project.

The new Arc7 ice-class tankers are designed to ensure year-round navigation along the Northern Sea Route, including its Eastern part, and will have increased icebreaking and maneuvering characteristics as compared to the previous type of Arctic tankers currently used by the Yamal LNG project.

Once completed the vessel will be 300 meters long and will have the capacity to transport up to 172,600 cubic meters of the chilled fuel, and feature Mark III cargo containment system.

The Novatek-led Arctic LNG 2 project envisages constructing three LNG liquefaction trains of 6.6 million tons per annum each, as well as a cumulative gas condensate production capacity of 1.6 million tons per annum.

The total LNG capacity of the three liquefaction trains will be 19.8 million tons.

The project utilizes gravity-based structure (GBS) platforms to reduce overall capital cost and minimize its environmental footprint in the Arctic zone of Russia.

The project’s participants include Novatek (60 per cent), Total (10 per cent), CNPC (10 per cent), CNOOC (10 per cent) and the consortium of Mitsui and JOGMEC (10 per cent).