SCF initially placed the order for the three tankers with the Zvezda Shipyard (Primorsky Krai) on 28th December, 2018. The delivery of the vessels is scheduled for 2022-2023.
Each tanker will have a deadweight of 51,000 tonnes and they are intended to transport petroleum products and gas condensate, operating under 20-year timecharter to NOVATEK. The vessels will have an Ice Class 1B classification.
The vessels' technical specifications were designed to meet international regulations on emissions, which come into effect in 2020.
Sergey Frank, SCF President and CEO of Sovcomflot, said: "Sovcomflot is one of the world leaders in the implementation of ‘green’ technologies in the transportation of energy by sea. The company already successfully operates six new-generation Aframax tankers, which are powered by LNG fuel.
“Five more LNG-powered vessels have been ordered by Sovcomflot from the Zvezda shipyard and will be built over the next few years. We welcome the plans of Russian shipbuilders to create modern large-tonnage LNG-fuelled vessels which, of course, represent the future of world shipping.
"We are pleased that our history of positive co-operation with VEB.RF Group has been further developed with this project. VEB Leasing previously participated in financing the construction of a number of Sovcomflot’s leading vessels in Russia, such as the Arctic shuttle tankers of the ‘Mikhail Ulyanov’ series, as well as new-generation Aframax tankers built at Zvezda,” he concluded.
"Shipbuilding is one of the largest engineering industries, with a significant scientific and technical component. Support for this industry is one of the priorities of VEB Leasing and VEB.RF, to assist the industrial development of Russia," said Artem Dovlatov, VEB-Leasing CEO.
SCF and Gazprom Neft Marine Bunker have also signed a co-operation agreement to implement projects for bunkering ships with LNG.
Igor Tonkovidov, SCF’s Executive Vice President and COO/ CTO said; "We are confident that LNG fuel is the optimal solution from both environmental and economic perspectives for large tonnage sea transportation, primarily in areas of the world’s oceans with existing regulatory restrictions on emissions and a high intensity of shipping movements, such as in the Baltic and North Seas, as well as in the Arctic Sea basin.
“Sovcomflot has been systematically working on switching its tanker fleet to LNG fuel for a number of years, and we welcome the opportunity to expand co-operation with Gazprom Neft in this area, combining the efforts of our companies to introduce advanced environmental standards into the Russian shipping sector," said Tonkovidov.
Andrey Vasiliev, CEO of Gazprom Neft Marine Bunker, added: “The stringent tightening of environmental standards under the international MARPOL convention presents a serious challenge both for market players in maritime transportation, and for water-transport fuel-supply companies.
“Gazprom Neft’s response to this challenge has been a project to develop Russia’s first LNG bunkering barge, and become actively involved in the process of developing Russian regulation governing the use of LNG as a marine fuel. I have every confidence that joining forces with Russia’s largest shipping company –which already has extensive experience in using LNG-powered vessels – will prove a further step forward in developing a domestic LNG bunkering market and allow Gazprom Neft to take the lead in this new market sector,” he said.
In another move, SCF has chosen Orange Business Services to fit a maritime VSAT solution on eight of its vessels.
The first ships to receive the system during its initial rollout phase are the Arctic shuttle tankers ‘Mikhail Ulyanov’ and ‘Kirill Lavrov, which are the largest oil tankers built in Russia.
Three other tankers operating in the Arctic will also be connected, along with three supply vessels, operating with offshore platforms in the Russian Far East.
SCF will use the network to transmit the vessels’ telemetry data from on board cameras and sensors to its Fleet Operations Centre in St Petersburg.