LNG

The European Commission said it was again pursuing plans to end Russian liquefied natural gas supplies being sold in the European Union and has asked the 27 member states not to sign any new supply contracts.

March 15 (LNGJ) - Belgium is scheduled to receive two LNG cargoes from Russia this week. The “Nikolay Urvantsev”, a vessel with 170,000 cubic metres capacity, was scheduled to berth on March 15 at the Belgian import terminal at Zeebrugge, according to shipping data. The cargo was lifted on March 8 from the Yamal plant in northern Siberia.

   A second Russian cargo was due at Zeebrugge on March 19 on board the 172,000 cubic metres capacity “Vladimir Voronin”. The shipment was lifted on March 11 from the Yamal Peninsula export terminal.

Feb 28 (LNGJ) – The Belgian Zeebrugge LNG import terminal is scheduled to receive three Russian trans-shipment cargoes in the next week. The first is due to arrive on March 1 from the Yamal export plant in Arctic Russia onboard the “Vladimir Voronin”, according to shipping data. The ship with 172,000 cubic metres of capacity lifted the cargo from the Russian Sabetta export terminal on February 22.

   The 177,000 cubic metres capacity carrier “Eduard Toll” is expected at Zeebrugge with a second cargo on March 2 while the “Vladimir Rusanov” with 172,000 cubic metres capacity will berth on March 5 at the Belgian facility with a third shipment lifted on February 26, data showed.

June 10 (LNGJ) - The laden LNG carrier “Vladimir Voronin” with 172,000 cubic metres of capacity was heading for northwest Europe. The cargo was lifted by the Bahamas-flagged vessel on June 3 from the Russian Yamal LNG plant in northern Siberia. Departures from the Yamal loading port at Sabetta have risen over the past week, according to shipping data.

Feb 8 (LNGJ) - Two LNG carriers, one from Russia and one from the US, are heading for the UK import facilities at the Port of Milford Haven in Wales, according to the port authorities. The Russian cargo from the Yamal plant in Siberia will arrive on February 10 on board the 172,000 cubic metres capacity tanker “Vladimir Voronin” and will unload at the Shell-run Dragon terminal. A second vessel, the 155,000 cubic metres capacity “Marvel Pelican”, is scheduled to arrive at Milford Haven’s South Hook terminal on February 14 with a shipment from the Cove Point plant in Maryland.

Oct 26 (LNGJ) - The laden 172,600 cubic metres capacity “Vladimir Voronin” is scheduled to arrive on October 30 at the UK Dragon import terminal at the Port of Milford Haven with a cargo from the Yamal export plant in northern Siberia, according to the port authorities.

   The Russian cargo is due as the UK National Balancing Point natural gas price is at a seasonal high of the equivalent of $5.65 per million British thermal units compared with the main continental European price, the Dutch Title Transfer Facility, which was last at the equivalent of $5.35 per MMBtu.

The Russian government has reduced its target for energy cargo transportation to China and Asian nations by the Northern Sea Route with only shipments of LNG close to meeting projected volumes and cargoes of coal and oil falling short.

Shipments of LNG are continuing unabated on a small fleet of Arc-7 ice-class carriers from the Russian Yamal export plant in northern Siberia along the Northern Sea Route to North Asian destinations such as China and Taiwan.

Novatek, the natural gas company and operator of the Yamal LNG export plant in Arctic Russia, said the Arc7 ice-class LNG tanker “Christophe de Margerie” of Sovcomflot successfully transited the eastbound and ice-covered part of the Northern Sea Route and reached the Bering Strait in only 12 days.

Two more Arc7 ice-class liquefied natural gas carriers are entering service to transport shipments produced at the Yamal liquefied natural gas plant in northern Siberia, operated by Russian natural gas company Novatek, taking the number in the Yamal fleet to 13 vessels.

Executives said the next two ships to join the fleet are the “Nikolay Urvantsev” and the “Vladimir Voronin” after they complete sea trials.

All the ships delivered so far have been built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering in South Korea and have capacities of between 170,000 cubic metres and 172,600 cubic metres.

The “Nikolay Urvantsev” is owned by the Japanese company Mitsui OSK Lines. Other vessels are owned or operated by a variety of companies, including Bermuda-based Teekay LNG, Greek shipping line Dynagas and Russia's Sovcomflot.

All but one of the tankers are named after Russian Arctic explorers or scientists.

The first Arc7 tanker, the “Christophe De Margerie”, is named after the late Chief Executive of French energy major Total who died in a plane crash near Moscow in 2014.

Total is a major investor in Novatek and in the Yamal plant.

The 11th completed vessel, the “Nikolay Yevgenov”, underwent sea trials in April and delivered its first cargo in early June.

A 14th vessel of the 15 on order, the “Yakov Gakkel”, is at the DSME yard and is also set to begin trials. The 15th ship is as yet unnamed.

The tankers have been delivering Yamal shipments since the facility began operations in December 2017.

The plant comprises three liquefaction Trains with a total nameplate capacity of 16.5 million tonnes per annum, or 5.5 MTPA per LNG train.

Yamal is dependent on the ice-breaker tankers to ship LNG from Arctic waters to Western Europe and Asia.

Novatek said it had asked DSME to speed up construction and delivery of the tankers after production at the LNG plant ramped up faster than expected.

Many of the carriers have conducted ship-to-ship LNG transfers to conventional carriers, particularly offshore Norway, though during the summer months they can traverse the Northern Sea Route eastwards to North Asian countries.

Other ships in the fleet include the “Georgiy Brusilov”, delivered in November 2018 and the “Boris Davidov” in December and they are operated by Dynagas.

Among the other ships in the Arc7 fleet are the “Boris Vilkitsky”, the “Fedor Litke”, the “Eduard Toll”, the “Vladimir Rusanov”, the “Rudolf Samoylovich” and the “Vladimir Vize”.