Mitsui OSK Lines, the Japanese shipping company, said it signed charter agreements for three ice-breaking liquefied natural gas carrier for the Arctic II LNG project in the Gydan Peninsula of northern Siberia being developed by Russian natural gas company Novatek.
The three vessels are being built by the South Korean shipbuilders, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, and are scheduled for delivery in 2023.
“The vessels will mainly transport LNG from a loading terminal on the Gydan Peninsula in the Russian Arctic to the floating LNG storage units (FSU) to be installed at the trans-shipment terminal in Kamchatka (eastbound) and Murmansk (westbound) via the Northern Sea route,” explained MOL.
The Arctic LNG II project being developed by Novatek with three gravity-based platforms and the estimated capital expenditure for the joint venture is now put at the equivalent of US$21.3 billion.
Arctic LNG will produce 19.8 MTPA of LNG as well as gas concentrate from the principal feed-gas resources, the Utrenneye gas field.
Novatek holds 60 percent of the Arctic LNG project and four other 10 percent stakes are shared between various shareholders.
The 10 percent holdings belong to French major Total, which is also a shareholder in the Novatek company, China National Petroleum Corp., China National Offshore Corp. and a Japanese investor group comprising Mitsui & Co. and the government institution, the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. (Jogmec).
“Compared with MOL's previous icebreaking LNG carriers, which can only sail eastbound in the Northern Sea Route during mostly summer and autumn period of time when the ice is thin, the new vessels will have a narrower width, hull form optimized for ice breaking, and an increased propulsion engine output which will enable the vessels to sail east via the Northern Sea Route all year round,” stated MOL.
MOL added that combination of these three ice-breaking LNG vessels, which can transport LNG to the FSUs in the east and west throughout the year, and conventional LNG carriers that will transport LNG from the FSUs to their final destinations, will enable efficient year-round transportation.
“The eastbound transportation route will reduce the distance of the voyage by approximately 65 percent compared to the westbound route via the Suez Canal for Asian destinations, thereby making a significant contribution to a reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions by vessels,” said the Japanese company.
MOL noted that it had already been engaged in transporting LNG using three icebreaking LNG carriers on the Northern Sea Route since March 2018 for the Yamal LNG Project in Russia.
“These new contracts were concluded in recognition of MOL's proven track record and technical expertise in the Northern trade, and the experience and resources which the company has built over many years of LNG transportation,” said the company.
