Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) held a naming ceremony for an ice-breaking LNG carrier, which was jointly ordered by MOL and COSCO , at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME).
The newbuild vessel was named “Vladimir Rusanov”. The choice of the name was made after the Russian Arctic explorer and geologist.
‘Vladimir Rusanov’ is the first of three newbuilds for MOL and COSCO’s fleets in the Yamal LNG Project. The vessel will start operation at the end of March 2018, after being delivered at the end of December and conducting ice-breaking sea trials in Arctic waters.
‘Vladimir Rusanov’ and its sister ships will be able to perform ice-breaking operation , thus sailing in seas with ice up to 2.1m thick.
“The vessels will transport LNG from the Yamal LNG plant at Sabetta on Russia’s Yamal Peninsula to worldwide LNG markets during next year. They will also sail on the Arctic Sea Route to transport LNG to East Asia via the Bering Strait during the summer months. They are expected to make major contributions from various aspects such as improvement of LNG transport efficiency, establishment of a new transport route, and further reduction of CO2 emissions by shortening sailing distances,” MOL said in an announcement.
In addition, MOL has had the long-term charter contract for four conventional LNG carriers serving the Yamal LNG project. The conventional vessels will be launched from 2019 to 2020.
YAMAL LNG is an integrated project encompassing natural gas production, liquefaction and shipping. The Project consists of construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant with an output capacity of around 16.5 million tons per year, using the South Tambey Field as a resource base. The field’s proven and probable reserves, by PRMS standards, are estimated at 926 billion cubic meters. Extensive transportation infrastructure is being built in the scope of the Project, including a sea port and the Sabetta Airport.
