An Arc7 LNG carrier owned by Sovcomflot has undertaken a test mooring operation for a planned new ship-to-ship (STS) transfer site in northwestern Russia.
State nuclear authority Rosatom said the test operation off Kildin Island to the north of Murmansk, involving the 172,600-cbm Christophe de Margerie (built 2017), was to check the readiness of the anchorage for the acceptance and mooring of LNG carriers in the area. Safety checks were also carried out.
Rosatom said the icebreaker Ob and icebreaking tug Yuribey also took part in the exercise in the Kildin Strait. These two vessels are part of FSUE Atomflot’s Portoflot project, where they help provide year-round operation for LNG carriers operating out of Yamal LNG’s Sabetta port.
Novatek-Western Arctic is overseeing the implementation of this STS site project, Rosatom said.
Parent liquefaction developer Novatek plans to use the area to transship cargoes exported from its Arctic Yamal LNG plant on its existing 15-ship Arc7 LNG carrier fleet.
Work base
The cargoes will be transferred from the specialised ice-breaking vessels onto conventional LNG tonnage for onward shipment, freeing up the Arc7 fleet to shuttle shipments in and out of the plant.
Aside from an area for mooring LNG carriers, a multi-functional vessel will be on site to provide a work base and accommodation for personnel working on transshipment.
The Kildin Island anchorage is on the eastern part of the Kildin Strait, between Kildin Island and the Murmansk coast of the Kola Peninsula.
It had been due to be used in this last winter season for the STS operations. But at the time, those working closely with the companies involved said Novatek was still in the process of securing tax exemption under cabotage trading regulations.
Purpose-built FSUs
Instead, earlier this year, LNG transfer operations for Yamal cargoes resumed at Honningsvag in northern Norway, where they have previously been taking place.
In the longer term, Russia is building two larger transshipment bases on the Northern Sea Route (NSR) — at Ura Bay near Murmansk in the west and at Kamchatka in the east. They will use purpose-built giant floating storage units.
The 360,000-cbm FSUs were ordered at DSME in June by Russian state transport leasing company GTLK for delivery in 2022.
Russia wants to open up the NSR to commercial shipping traffic on a year-round basis from 2024 as it pushes to expands its LNG production in the Arctic to a projected 80 million tonnes per annum.
