Sovcomflot, through a joint venture with NYK, has signed long-term time-charter contracts with NOVATEK Gas and Power Asia, a subsidiary of PAO NOVATEK, for four new 174.000 cub. metres LNG carriers.

The ceremony was held on 30 September via videoconference and was attended by: Sovcomflot’s President & CEO Igor Tonkovidov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of PAO NOVATEK Evgeniy Ambrosov, Chief Executive of Energy Division at NYK Akira Kono.

The new gas carriers will load cargoes produced in the Arctic projects of PAO NOVATEK at two FSU’s (floating storage units), which will be located near Murmansk in the west and Kamchatka at the eastern end of the Northern Sea Route, to provide LNG shipments to final buyers in Europe and Asia, as well as for regular trade operations in the global market.

Sovcomflot and NYK, through a joint venture (50/50 share), have been selected to contract the vessels following a tender process launched earlier this year.

The vessels will feature modern design that meets the latest environmental requirements. The propulsion system, a low-speed X-DF dual-fuel diesel engine with superior fuel-consumption efficiency, able to operate on boil-off gas stored in the cargo tank. Each LNG carrier will be equipped with a membrane-type tank of an advanced GTT Mark III Flex cargo containment system, which has insulating materials to suppress the boil-off rate up to 0.085 % per day and minimise cargo losses during transportation. A re-liquefaction unit on board each ship will return gas to the cargo tank.

Sovcomflot’s President & CEO Igor Tonkovidov noted:

“We are grateful to our partners in NOVATEK for their trust in us and appreciation of services delivered by Sovcomflot – a global maritime provider, providing offshore oil and gas transportation for Russian and international charterers.

“Sovcomflot’s development strategy envisages further expansion of its industrial business segment, which is a guarantee of steady income from fleet operations. The newly built gas carriers will meet all the current environmental requirements and will be compliant with the most stringent IMO[1] rules and will contribute to further development of the Russian LNG export to the global markets.

“The contracts signed are an important step in the development of our cooperation with NYK – a long-term partner of Sovcomflot. Together we are already implementing two LNG transportation projects – Sakhalin 2 and Tangguh.”