Zvezda lays keel for SCF’s new LNG-fueled MR tanker

Russia’s Zvezda shipyard held a keel-laying ceremony for a new LNG-fueled MR tanker ordered by the country’s largest shipping company Sovcomflot (SCF).

Sovcomflot ordered the new 51,000-deadweight tonnage MR product carrier to transport gas condensate in the Baltic.

The ship, an LNG-fueled MR tanker, is under a 20-year time charter to Novatek, Russia’s largest independent LNG producer.

It will use LNG as its primary fuel, therefore enabling a reduction in vessel ghg emissions.

Moreover, SCF has ordered three such tankers from Zvezda in total. The tankers are expected for delivery between 2022 and 2023.

At the same time as the keel-laying, the Russian shipping giants signed a ship repair deal.

Sovcomflot, Smart LNG (Sovcomflot’s and Novatek’s joint venture), and Far Eastern Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Center (FESRC, a subsidiary of Rosneft) entered into a trilateral agreement to cooperate on the development of a ship repair cluster.

In short, this agreement relates to cooperation on servicing and repairing vessels and equipment using ship repair cluster’s facilities.