New LNG carrier finds way through Russian Arctic route to Chinese port

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The 299 meter long vessel appears to have met no major troubles on its passage through the rough waters of the Northern Sea Route. The Arc7 ice-class LNG carrier made it without icebreaker escort from the Yamal Peninsula to the Bering Strait in only 7,5 days.

The ship around 20th October loaded liquified natural gas at the Sabetta terminal and subsequently headed eastwards across the NSR. Twenty days later, it arrived in the Fujian LNG Terminal in China.

It is the first shipment from the Yamal LNG plant to the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), project operator Novatek informs.

«We expanded our customer base in China by shipping our first cargo of LNG to CNOOC, CEO Leonid Mikhelson says in a comment.

According to the Novatek leader, never before has a shipment of the kind been made along the Northern Sea Route via the Eastern direction in November.

«The LNG cargo required no ice-breaking support and was shipped to its final destination in a very short period of time at a commercially viable speed, once again confirming the effectiveness of our logistical model allowing for competitive LNG deliveries to the key consuming markets of the Asian-Pacific Region,» Mikhelson says.

The «Rudolf Samoylovich» was delivered by shipyard Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in September this year. The ship have a 172,600 m³ capacity. It is built for the Yamal LNG project and can operate without icebreaker support in the icy waters along the Russian Arctic coast.

According to shipowner Teekay, the «Rudolph Samoylovich» was delivered from the yard almost three months earlier than plans following a request from Novatek.

The powerful ship is the company’s second of six Arc-7 carriers to be provided to the Yamal LNG project by 2020. Teekay’s first project carrier, the «Eduard Toll», set a new Arctic shipping record when it in early January 2018 sailed through the Bering Strait and all the way to Yamal.

The ships and can operate without icebreaker support in the icy waters along the Russian Arctic coast.