A first giant floating storage unit for Russian energy giant Novatek has started its long sea voyage under tow to the western part of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) off Murmansk.
Kpler data shows the 361,600-cbm FSU newbuilding Saam FSU is moving in a south-westerly direction from the South Korean coast at a speed of around 4.8 knots, after leaving Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering’s Okpo Shipyard earlier this week.
The Panama-flagged unit is moving under tow with several vessels in attendance.
The FSU is understood to be heading for Ura Bay off Murmansk at the western end of the NSR but will not be taking the shorter Arctic sea passage at this time of year, when ice cover is at its highest level.
A second sister ship, the Koryak FSU, is expected to head to Bechevinskaya Bay on the eastern side of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula before the end of 2023.
The two FSUs will form a pair of transshipment hubs at western and eastern points on the NSR and will be used to take on cargoes from Russia’s specialised Arc7 LNG carrier fleet as it ships cargoes out of the operational Yamal LNG project and later the country’s under-construction Arctic LNG 2 development.
Conventional or lesser ice-classed LNG carriers will then load from the FSUs to take cargoes on bound.
The two giant FSUs — the largest purpose-built storage units ever constructed for LNG — were ordered by Russian state-owned State Transport Leasing Co (GTLK) but are now under the control of compatriot energy giant Novatek.
In September 2021, Mitsui OSK Lines, which has been providing technical and engineering support for the FSUs’ construction, said it had signed a letter of intent with GTLK to acquire 49% stakes in the units.
