LNG

The Zvezda Shipyard in the Russian Far East is building up its portfolio of LNG-powered vessels with a keel-laying ceremony just held for a chemical tanker and the modernized complex has also started constructing LNG carriers.

Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French designer of liquefied natural gas maritime and onshore storage, has received approval for the No. 96 containment system application as an LNG fuel tank for Ultra-Large Container Vessels from the European classification society DNV GL as the number of LNG-powered ships increases.

The Zvezda Shipyard in the Russian Far East is moving ahead into a new era with the first ever construction programme for liquefied natural gas carriers, ordered for the Arctic LNG II export project in northern Siberia.

Gaztransport and Technigaz, the French designer of liquefied natural gas maritime and onshore storage systems, has reived an order from the Korean shipyard Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering for equipping six ARC-7 ice-breaking LNG carriers after receiving previous orders in October from a Russian shipyard.

Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French designer of liquefied natural gas maritime and onshore storage systems, has been fined by the Korea Fair Trade Commission, the country’s anti-trust regulator, for unfair tie-in sales to South Korean shipbuilders.

Gaztransport and Technigaz, the French designer of liquefied natural gas maritime and onshore storage systems, has received a second order from the Zvezda Shipyard in the Russian Far East for the tank designs of 10 ARC7 ice-breaking LNG carriers.

GTT said each vessel would offer a capacity of 172,600 cubic metres capacity and be fitted with the Mark III membrane containment system.

GTT technologies have been adapted for heavy environmental conditions, allowing LNC carriers to operate and navigate safely in ice-covered waters.

“These ARC7 vessels will contribute to the projects of the Russian LNG producer Novatek,” said GTT.

The 10 carriers are scheduled to be delivered between the second half of 2024 and the end of 2025.

“We are very pleased to work with Zvezda and look forward to continuing this partnership through this second order for 10 ARC7 ice-breaking LNG carriers,” said Philippe Berterottière, Chairman and Chief Executive of GTT.

The Zvezda complex is located at Bolshoi Kamen on the coast of the Sea of Japan and about 12 miles northeast of the city of Vladivostok.

Zvezda signed a technical assistance and license agreement with GTT in June 2020.

The new generation of carriers built by Zvezda will serve the new plant of Russian natural gas company Novatek and partners from France, China and Japan.

GTT said these unique LNG carriers are intended to transport cargoes from the project being developed on the Gydan Peninsula in northern Siberia.

Zvezda is owned by a consortium of Russian energy companies, including Rosneftegaz, Rosneft and the financial affiliate of Gazprom, Gazprombank.

The Russian shipbuilder obtained its GTT licence after a qualification process that began in September 2017, including the construction of a Mark III technology mock-up.

The shipyard plans to specialise in the construction of large-capacity vessels, ice-class ships, special vessels and marine equipment or offshore platforms.

Construction of LNG carriers is one of the priority directions of the production programme at the shipyard.

The first vessel for Arctic LNG II will be constructed at the Zvezda shipyard for Russian shipping line Sovcomflot and be financed by the Russian VEB Group, a development bank.
The first carrier and its sister ships will be capable of traversing the Northern Sea Route.

The newbuilds will be designed for year-round operations in the ice conditions of the Kara Sea and the Gulf of Ob and will be able to sail independently through ice over two metres thick.

Sovcomflot LNG carriers currently deliver cargoes for Yamal plant of Russian natural gas company Novatek and for Gazprom’s Sakhalin plant in the Russian Far East.

Major shipbuilders in South Korea are expecting huge orders for new liquefied natural gas carriers to be placed in the second half of 2019 from the expansion of the Qatar LNG plant at Ras Laffan and from the advance of projects in Mozambique, the US and Russia.

Russian shipping line Sovcomflot has placed an order at Zvezda Shipbuilding for construction of three new generation product carriers powered by liquefied natural gas as their primary fuel.

Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French liquefied natural gas storage tank technology company, has signed a cooperation agreement with the new Zvezda shipyard complex in the Russian Far East where there are plans to build LNG carriers.