Moscow: Russian energy group Sovcomflot has taken delivery of the country's first Arctic shuttle tanker - 'Vasily Dinkov' from Samsung Heavy Industries. The 70,000dwt vessel is the first in a series of three enhanced ice-class tankers, designed to transport oil from the Varandey oil field within the Arctic Circle (operated by Naryanmarneftegaz - a joint venture between Lukoil and ConocoPhillips). All three vessels will be entered in the Russian International Shipping Register and will fly the Russian Federation flag
The Vasily Dinkov, along with its sister tankers- the 'Shturman Albanov' and 'Kapitan Gotsky', have an ice-enhanced hull structure, designed in accordance with LU6 (1A Super) ice-class, under the classification of the Russian Register of Shipping. They will be able to operate in temperatures of minus 40°C, breaking ice of up to 1.5mtr thick without an icebreaker escort. The ships are also equipped with two Azipod propulsion units, with a total power output equivalent to 20mW. They all have a dynamic positioning system for use in ice and a helicopter pad.
Sovcomflot, which has 31 vessels on order, has also commissioned similar tankers - 'Kirill Lavrov' and 'Mikhail Ulyanov' - designed to ship oil from Prirazlomnoye (another Arctic oil field operated by Sevmorneftegaz, the subsidiary of Gazprom). These are being constructed in the oldest Russian shipyard - the Admiralty Shipyards in St Petersburg. [19/12/07]
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Seatrade, a trading name of Informa Markets (UK) Limited. Add Seatrade Maritime News to your Google News feed.
