Russia's new Arctic tanker will circumnavigate sanctions
A first domestically built LNG carrier with ice classification Arc7 has been handed over to buyers at the Zvezda Yard. The Alexei Kosygin will join a growing fleet of carriers used to circumnavigate sanctions in the Russian Arctic.
The 300-metre-long tanker was handed over to shipping company Sovcomflot in a ceremony at the Zvezda Yard on December 24. Five days later, the new LNG carrier set out on its first Arctic voyage.
According to the yard, the Alexei Kosygin will sail on the Northern Sea Route towards the terminal of Utrenny on the Gydan Peninsula.
The Alexei Kosygin is Russia's first domestically built tanker with ice classification Arc7. It is named after the powerful Communist leader that for more than three decades held top posts in the Soviet Union. The carrier is designed for sailing in up to two metres thick sea ice and is built specifically for the Arctic LNG 2 project.
The tanker can carry up to 172,000 tons of liquefied natural gas and is to shuttle across Arctic waters with LNG from the remote Gydan Peninsula.
More than one year before its completion, it was added to the sanction lists of the US and Ukraine.
The Alexei Kosygin will join a fleet of tankers that ship LNG from the heavily sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project. From before, the carriers Buran, Iris, Voskhod and Zarya operate for the project.
In addition, the Christophe de Margerie is shuttling to the project terminal of Utrenny. On December 19, the 'shadow tanker' made port call at the Utrenny terminal after a several thousand kilometre-long voyage across the ice-covered Northern Sea Route.
Like the new Alexei Kosygin, the Christophe de Margerie has ice classification Arc7, which enables it to sail across the Arctic waters even in wintertime. The Christophe de Margerie was built in 2016 and is Russia's first tanker of the Yamalmax class.
Following its recent loading of LNG at Utrenny, the Christophe de Margerie sailed to the Kola Peninsula where it reloaded LNG to the Saam FSU, a 400-metre-long terminal ship based in Ura Bay, near Murmansk.
Ship traffic data show that the carrier subsequently again set a course for the Gydan Peninsula and the Utrenny terminal.
The shipments indicate that the Saam FSU now will become a key hub for Russia's shipments of sanctioned LNG and that the Christophe de Margerie will shuttle between Gydan and the Ura Bay. The Saam was built for shipments from the Arctic LNG 2, but has lied idle for more than two years.
The Alexei Kosygin might ultimately join the shipments between the sanctioned natural gas infrastructure objects.
