New gas tanker. Russian record of a ship with a Cypriot flag from South Korea

There are two views on the Northern Sea Route. Supporters of the first argue that it will never become profitable and no one will use it en masse, while supporters of the second argue that this is just the beginning: the ice will melt even more and let this one be the most profitable in certain circumstances. It seems to me that the latter are winning so far. It’s not for nothing that such topics are thrown about

The gas tanker Christophe de Margerie (shipowner PJSC Sovcomflot) successfully completed its first commercial voyage on August 17, 2017, delivering a shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) along the Northern Sea Route (NSR) from Norway to South Korea.

During the voyage, the ship set a new record for crossing the NSR - 6.5 days. At the same time, the Christophe de Margerie became the first merchant ship in the world that was able to navigate the NSR without icebreaker support along the entire length of this route.

While crossing the NSR, the ship covered 2,193 miles (3,530 km) from Cape Zhelaniya on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago to Cape Dezhnev on Chukotka, the easternmost mainland point of Russia. The exact transition time was 6 days 12 hours 15 minutes.

During the voyage, the ship again confirmed its exceptional suitability for working in high latitudes. The average speed during the passage exceeded 14 knots - despite the fact that in some sections the gas carrier was forced to go through ice fields up to 1.2 m thick. It is noted that the total duration of the voyage from Hammerfest (Norway) to Boryeong (South Korea) with using the Northern Sea Route was 22 days, which is almost 30% less than it would have taken to travel along the traditional southern route through the Suez Canal. The results of the voyage made it possible to once again confirm the economic efficiency of using the Northern Sea Route for the transit of large-capacity vessels.
Christophe de Margerie is the world's first and so far only icebreaking gas carrier. The unique vessel was built by order of the Sovcomflot group of companies for year-round transportation of LNG as part of the Yamal LNG project. The vessel was put into operation on March 27, 2017 after successful completion of ice trials, which took place in the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea.

The gas carrier is capable of independently breaking through ice up to 2.1 m thick. The vessel has an Arc7 ice class - the highest among existing transport vessels. The propulsion power of the gas carrier is 45 MW, which is comparable to the power of a modern nuclear icebreaker. High ice-passing ability and maneuverability of the Christophe de Margerie are ensured by Azipod-type rudder propellers, while it became the first high-ice-class vessel in the world to have three Azipods installed at once.
The gas carrier is named after Christophe de Margerie, the former head of the Total concern. He played a key role in developing investment decisions and the technological scheme of the Yamal LNG project and made a significant contribution to the development of Russian-French economic relations as a whole.

The Sovcomflot Group of Companies (SCF Group) is the largest shipping company in Russia, one of the world's leading companies in the maritime transportation of hydrocarbons, as well as servicing offshore exploration and production of oil and gas. Its own and chartered fleet includes 149 vessels with a total deadweight of more than 13.1 million tons. Half of the ships have an ice class.

Sovcomflot participates in servicing large oil and gas projects in Russia and the world: Sakhalin-1, Sakhalin-2, Varandey, Prirazlomnoye, Novy Port, Yamal LNG, Tangguh (Indonesia). The company's head office is located in St. Petersburg, with representative offices located in Moscow, Novorossiysk, Murmansk, Vladivostok, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, London, Limassol and Dubai.

sources

The world's first ice-class gas tanker arrived at the Arctic port of Sabetta (located on the western shore of the Ob Bay of the Kara Sea) in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The construction of the vessel was completed by Daewoo Shipbuilding Marine Engineering (DSME) in South Korea in November 2016. Less than two months ago it left the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. On February 12, the tanker Christophe de Margerie (named after the CEO of Total, who died in a plane crash in 2014), filled with a test volume of liquefied natural gas (the ship is fueled by stripped LNG), entered the Kola Bay, heading to Murmansk. Two days later, the gas carrier continued its journey east to the Gulf of Ob for testing in ice conditions. The vessel will be included in the time charter of Yamal Trade.

According to Rosmorport, this is the first call to the port of Sabetta for ships of this type (length - 299 meters, width - 50 meters, draft - 11 meters): “The vessel will undergo sea and mooring tests at the technological berth within a month. It is also planned to carry out edging in ice conditions in the limited space of the turning basin in the water area of the seaport. In addition, technological processes for loading and unloading liquefied gas will be worked out.”

Christophe de Margerie is the first of fifteen Arc7 ice-class gas tankers for the Yamal LNG project. Capacity - 172.6 thousand cubic meters. According to Sovcomflot, in terms of power plant power, 45 MW, the gas carrier is comparable to a nuclear icebreaker. The tanker became the founder of a new type of vessel - YAMALMAX, associated with the transportation of large volumes of gas in the shallow Gulf of Ob.

LNG will be delivered from Sabetta to the Asian region via the Northern Sea Route during summer navigation. This will significantly reduce the time required compared to traditional routes, as well as reduce fuel consumption by ships and reduce harmful emissions into the atmosphere. Each vessel will cost approximately $350 million. The schedule for commissioning the production capacity of the LNG plant provides for the delivery of ships from 2017 to 2021.

Let us recall that earlier Yamal LNG held an international tender with the participation of nine leading shipowners with relevant experience and qualified as operators of gas tankers. As a result of the competitive selection, the winners were: Sovcomflot (Russia), Teekay (Canada) in partnership with CLNG (China), MOL (Japan) in partnership with CSLNG (China), Dynagas (Greece) in partnership with CLNG and Sinotrans (China) . At the same time, only the Russian company has real experience in year-round operation of shuttle tankers in the Arctic and subarctic seas - within the framework of the Sakhalin-1, Sakhalin-2, Varandey, Prirazlomnoye and Novoportovskoye projects.

The Yamal LNG natural gas liquefaction complex is being implemented by Novatek in partnership with Total (20%), CNPC (20%) and the Silk Road Fund (9.9%). The plant will be built on the resource base of the South Tambeyskoye field (proven and probable gas reserves - 927 billion cubic meters). The plant's capacity is 16.5 million tons of LNG, the total investment volume is 1.27 trillion rubles. Commissioning is planned for 2017. Almost the entire volume has been contracted - 96% of the future LNG volume. Last November, Novatek CEO Leonid Mikhelson invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to the first LNG filling, which will take place no later than November 2017.

Christophe de Margerie is the world's first and so far only icebreaking gas carrier. The unique vessel was built by order of the Sovcomflot group of companies for year-round transportation of LNG as part of the Yamal LNG project. The vessel was put into operation on March 27, 2017 after successful completion of ice trials, which took place in the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea.

The gas carrier is named after Christophe de Margerie, the former head of the Total concern. He played a key role in developing investment decisions and the technological scheme of the Yamal LNG project and made a significant contribution to the development of Russian-French economic relations as a whole.

"Christophe de Margerie", the world's first icebreaking tanker for transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG), successfully made its first mooring to the gas terminal in the port of Sabetta (Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug). The tanker of PJSC Sovcomflot is designed to service the Yamal LNG project and year-round transportation of LNG in the difficult ice conditions of the Kara Sea and the Gulf of Ob.

On March 30, during a live teleconference from Arkhangelsk to Sabetta, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin accepted the ship's captain's report Sergei Zybko on the successful completion of ice tests and the first mooring to the Yamal LNG terminal in the port of Sabetta. The Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation took part in the ceremony Maxim Sokolov, First Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Alexey Teksler, Chairman of the Management Board of PJSC NOVATEK Leonid Mikhelson, President of the Total concern Patrick Pouyanné, Deputy Director of the State Energy Administration of the People's Republic of China Li Fanrong, General Director and Chairman of the Management Board of PAO Sovcomflot Sergey Frank.

“I would like to congratulate you all on today’s event - both the Russian participants and our foreign partners. The arrival of a new ice class tanker is a major event in the development of the Arctic. The same, in fact, as the construction of the port of Sabetta itself, where the tanker entered today - a port that was built in an open field, as we say, from scratch,” he said in his welcoming speech Vladimir Putin.

“I would like to draw attention to the fact that when developing the enormous riches of the Arctic, we, of course, proceed from the main principle - do no harm - and from the fact that the ecosystem of this region is very sensitive to any human intervention. But I know, I know for sure, because I am familiar with your work in detail, I know that the port of Sabetta itself, the ships (the first of which arrived at this port today, and a total of 15 of them should be built, including with the involvement of Russian shipbuilders) and itself the method of extraction, then transportation - all this is built on the highest technical, technological and environmental standards,” Vladimir Putin emphasized.

“I am very pleased to note that the new ice-class vessel, which, in fact, has no analogues in the world, is named in honor of our great friend, French entrepreneur and former head of Total, Christophe de Margerie, who tragically passed away,” he said in conclusion. President of the Russian Federation in his speech.

In terms of its characteristics, the icebreaking gas carrier Christophe de Margerie has no analogues in the world. It was assigned ice class Arc7 - the highest among existing transport ships. The gas carrier is capable of independently breaking through ice up to 2.1 meters thick. “Christophe de Margerie” can follow the Northern Sea Route west of Sabetta all year round and for six months (from July to December) in the east. Previously, the period of summer navigation in the Northern Sea Route waters was limited to four months and only with icebreaker support.

The propulsion power of the gas carrier is 45 MW. This is one and a half times the power of the world's first nuclear icebreaker Lenin (32.4 MW). In one voyage the vessel is capable of transporting 172,600 cubic meters. meters of LNG - this volume is enough to completely supply a country like Sweden with gas for four weeks. The length of the vessel reaches 299 meters (the height of the Eiffel Tower is 300 meters). The height of the vessel from keel to keel is 60 meters (comparable to the height of a 22-story building).

The crew consists of 29 people and is entirely staffed by Russian sailors. The full-time officer staff of the gas carrier includes 13 people, each of whom has significant experience in Arctic shipping and additionally underwent specialized training at the Sovcomflot training center in St. Petersburg.

“Today’s events are the result of painstaking collaboration between Sovcomflot, NOVATEK and Yamal LNG, which took about ten years. A project of such scale and complexity required deep study of all the details. This is justified: the Arctic does not forgive haste and lack of professionalism. The starting point was the successful projects of Sovcomflot in the Barents and Pechora Seas, as well as experimental transit flights along the Northern Sea Route, which Sovcomflot and NOVATEK jointly carried out in 2010-2011 with the support of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation and Atomflot. We have proven that using high-latitude routes as a transport corridor for large-tonnage vessels is not only technically possible, but also economically feasible. These results laid the foundation for the successful implementation of the Yamal LNG project, which would not have been possible without an effective and safe logistics scheme for sea transportation of LNG,” said Sergey Frank.

“The construction of the port of Sabetta is carried out on the principles of public-private partnership and, in terms of its scale, is today the largest infrastructure project in the world implemented in the Arctic latitudes. The total investment is 108 billion rubles, of which 72 billion rubles. - These are funds from the federal budget, and a third are private investments. Now the port is actually operating normally.<…>The implementation of this project on a full scale made it possible not only to carry out the construction of an LNG plant, but also strengthened the position of the Russian Federation in the Arctic and contributed to the development of the Northern Sea Route,” noted Maxim Sokolov.

“This region is the richest place in terms of its reserves. It is possible to produce more than 70 million tons of LNG here. Here it is possible to create a hub with a global market share of more than 15% by value. The created infrastructure will help to accomplish this in the shortest possible time,” emphasized Leonid Mikhelson.

Christophe de Margerie is the pilot vessel of a series of 15 gas carriers that are expected to be built to service the Yamal LNG project. The appearance of this gas carrier marked the emergence of a new class of vessels on the market - the Yamalmax. The propulsion system "Christophe de Margerie" includes steering columns of the "Azipod" type. They provide high ice penetration and maneuverability and allow the use of the stern-first principle (Double Acting Tanker, DAT function), which is necessary to overcome hummocks and heavy ice fields. At the same time, the Christophe de Margerie became the world's first Arctic ice-class vessel to have three Azipods installed at once.

The ice-breaking ability and maneuverability of the new vessel were fully confirmed by ice tests, which took place from February 19 to March 8 in the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea. During the tests, the ship managed to exceed a number of indicators:

The vessel has proven the ability to move stern first in ice 1.5 meters thick at a speed of 7.2 knots (target - 5 knots) and bow at a speed of 2.5 knots (target - 2 knots);
The turning radius of the vessel in ice 1.7 meters thick was 1,760 meters compared to the planned 3,000 meters.

Representatives of the shipyard (Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering), key equipment suppliers (primarily ABB, the manufacturer of Azipods), leading specialized research and design organizations, both Russian (Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, Krylov State Scientific Center) took part in the ice tests ), and international (Aker Arctic Research Center, Hamburg Ship Model Basin).

During its first call to the port of Sabetta, the gas carrier also successfully made a test passage through a specially created sea channel. This is the most difficult section of the Ob Bay in terms of navigation. The canal was laid in order for large-tonnage vessels to overcome the bar (underwater sandbank) at the confluence of the Ob River and the Kara Sea. The engineering structure, unique for the Arctic basin, is planned to be operated in difficult conditions of constant ice drift. The canal has a depth of 15 meters, a width of 295 meters, and a length of 50 km.

The tanker was built taking into account all the requirements of the Polar Code and is characterized by high environmental safety. Along with traditional fuels, the ship's propulsion unit can use stripped liquefied natural gas. Compared to traditional heavy fuel, the use of LNG can significantly reduce emissions of harmful gases into the atmosphere: sulfur oxides (SOx) by 90%, nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 80% and carbon dioxide (CO2) by 15%.

Press service of PAO Sovcomflot

Sovcomflot Group of Companies(SKF Group) is the largest shipping company in Russia, one of the world's leading companies in the maritime transportation of hydrocarbons, as well as servicing offshore exploration and production of oil and gas. Its own and chartered fleet includes 147 vessels with a total deadweight of more than 13.1 million tons. A third of the ships have a high ice class.

The unique vessel is also the world's first ice-class tanker and was built to transport liquefied gas produced by the Russian enterprise Yamal LNG in the Far North.

The tanker is capable of independently passing through ice up to two meters thick and at the same time transporting 172.6 thousand cubic meters of liquefied gas at a time. For comparison: this is the monthly demand for blue fuel in a country like Sweden, and Krasnodar consumes approximately the same amount of gas over the course of a whole year.

The displacement of the gas tanker is more than 80 thousand tons, and its length is almost 300 meters (the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov is also 300 meters long and the same height as the Eiffel Tower). The tanker was named in honor of Christophe de Margerie, the head of the French energy concern Total, who tragically died in a plane crash in October 2014. Margery was a consistent supporter of cooperation with Russia and an opponent of the introduction of anti-Russian sanctions.

During the tanker's naming ceremony, Valentina Matvienko, Chairman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, was elected the ship's "godmother".

However, before mooring in St. Petersburg, the tanker Christophe de Margerie underwent various sea and ice tests for almost a year, first in the South Korean Sea and then in the ice-covered Kara Sea. Sergey Gen and Sergey Zybko were appointed captains of the vessel, each of whom has almost twenty years of experience in managing vessels of this type. Captains replace each other at the helm of the ship every four to five months. And they are given the same amount of time to rest “on land.”

Sergey Gen, appointed one of the captains of the tanker, was born, raised and now lives in Krasnodar, graduated from local high school No. 37, and then from the State University of Maritime and River Fleet named after Admiral S. O. Makarov in St. Petersburg.

During ice tests in the Kara Sea, our tanker showed characteristics close to the capabilities of nuclear icebreakers in passing ice,” Sergei Gen told the Rossiyskaya Gazeta correspondent. - The gas carrier will deliver blue fuel from the Gulf of Ob, where Yamal LNG is located, via the western sea route to Europe. And by the Eastern Sea Route, through the Bering Strait, to the ports of Japan and China. Thanks to the unique capabilities of the tanker, the Eastern Sea Route is accessible for navigation almost all year round.

It is planned that the gas carrier Christophe de Margerie will be the first in a line of similar ships of 15 vessels. Tankers of this series are called YAMALMAX ("Yamalmax") and are designed to transport liquefied gas from Russia's richest fields in the Ob Bay area in the Far North.