World’s first ice-breaking LNG tanker starts sea trials

The ship has docked in Zeebrugge, Belgium, where it is to undergo testing ahead of its official delivery to the Russian shipping company Sovcomflot, Neftegaz reports.

The «Christophe de Margerie» is built in Daewoo Shipbuilding Marine Engineering (DSME) in Korea. It will be the world’s first LNG carrier with ice-class Arc7. It is designed for deliveries from Sabetta, the new Russian port in the Yamal Peninsula.

The vessel has the capacity to break through 2,1 meter thick ice and will be able to operate without icebreaker assistance during major parts of the year. It can be loaded with up to 172,600 cubic meters of liquified gas.

The shipping company says that the LNG tanker has the engine power of 45 MW, which is «comparable with a nuclear powered icebreaker».

«We are completing the construction of an innovative vessel, of which there today is no analogue in the world», Sovcomflot leader Sergey Frank said in connection with a financial deal over the ship building in June 2016. 

During its testing in Zeebrugge, the «Christophe de Margerie» will be loaded with minor volumes of LNG from the local LNG terminal.

ADVERTISEMENT

The ship is named after the Total CEO who died in a plane accident in Moscow in 2014.