Sergey Frank News

A group of Russian maritime stakeholders have agreed to develop ship repair cluster in the country’s Far East.The trilateral agreement between PAO Sovcomflot, SMART LNG (a joint venture between PAO Sovcomflot and PAO NOVATEK) and Far Eastern Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Center (FESRC, a subsidiary of Rosneft) was signed by: Andrey Shishkin, CEO of FESRC and Vice-President for Energy, Localization and Innovation of Rosneft; Igor Tonkovidov, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sovcomflot, and Sergey Frank, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SMART LNG.

Russian energy shipping company Sovcomflot reported a net profit for the first half of 2020 of $226,4 million, a 148.8 percent increase to last year's first-half income of $91 million. The first half 2020 revenue was $951,3 million, up from $794,1 million in the first half of 2019.Igor Tonkovidov, President and CEO of SCF Group said  Friday that the company had achieved its targets with an optimal balance of long- and short-term charter contracts, together with a rational geographic distribution of vessels.

Russian state-controlled shipowner Sovcomflot (SCF) has named the 174,000m³ SCF La Perouse - the first of three LNG tankers on order with South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI).The LNG carrier named after Jean-François de la Pérouse, a French explorer of the Pacific.The vessel will operate under a long-term time charter agreement with Total. The event was held at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries’ shipyard, Republic of Korea. Fleur-Eve Durin le Foll, the spouse of Total’s Country Chair Russia, is the vessel’s sponsor.Sergey Frank, Chairman of the Board of Directors of PAO Sovcomflot, said: “Sovcomflot and Total have enjoyed a strong partnership for many years, and we are happy to have an opportunity to expand this cooperation.

Russia's state-owned tanker carrier Sovcomflot (SCF Group) reported improvements on both the top and bottom line in the third quarter benefiting from a stronger tanker market.The energy shipping company posted a net profit of  $26m as revenue increased in the third quarter.Sergey Frank, Chairman of the Board of Directors of PAO Sovcomflot, said: “We are satisfied with the Group’s performance over the third quarter. Sovcomflot steadily follows through on its strategy of increasing the share of large-scale industrial shipping projects in its portfolio."He added: "During the reporting period, Sovcomflot achieved a major strategic milestone when we agreed with NOVATEK to establish a new joint venture, SMART LNG.

On October 6, 2019, a naming and flag raising ceremony was held in Vladivostok for Sovcomflot’s latest Arctic shuttle tanker. The vessel was named after Mikhail Lazarev, a prominent Russian admiral and explorer known for his discovery of Antarctica. The tanker was ordered by Sovcomflot to transport crude oil for the Novy Port project, under a long-term agreement between Sovcomflot and Gazprom Neft.The ceremony was attended by Oleg Melnikov, Vice-Governor of Primorsky Region and Sergey Frank…

On September 24, 2019, the Board of Directors of PAO Sovcomflot elected Sergey Frank as its new Chairman. Igor Tonkovidov was appointed as the company's new Chief Executive Officer. Both appointments are with immediate effect.The meeting was attended by Maxim Akimov, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, who noted in his address: "Through consistent implementation of Sovcomflot's Strategies 2005-2011 and 2012-2018, the company has transformed itself into a global leader in energy shipping and offshore services. Over the past 15 years, Sovcomflot fleet has grown more than threefold.

PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group), which serves the energy shipping and offshore services to the oil and gas industries, reported in the first half of 2019 revenues rose 16.6% ($828m vs. $710.1m), TCE revenue rose 19.1% ($609m vs. $511.3m) and EBITDA rose 42.4% ($381.2m vs. $267.7m) as compared to the first half of 2018.Highlights from the first half included:• Korolev Prospect, Vernadsky Prospect and Samuel Prospect LNG-fuelled 114,000 DWT Aframax tankers added to the fleet.•In March 2019, the Group celebrated the 10th anniversary of the start of LNG shipments from the Sakhalin-2 project.

Russian maritime shipping company PAO Sovcomflot approved transactions with Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex (Primorsky Region) and a subsidiary of JSC VEB Leasing to place orders for the construction of three new-generation MR product carriers using LNG as their main fuel.The vessels will be chartered to a subsidiary of PJSC NOVATEK under twenty year time-charter agreements, said a press release from the state-owned firm specializing in LNG shipping.Sergey Frank, President and CEO of Sovcomflot, said: "We are grateful to PAO Sovcomflot’s shareholder and our partners PJSC NOVATEK and VEB.RF for supporting SCF’s environmental initiative that…

Russian maritime shipping company specializing in petroleum and LNG shipping, PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group) held a traditional meeting of the company’s management with masters of Sovcomflot vessels on the eve of Russia’s Day of Marine and River Fleet Workers, celebrated on the first Sunday of July.The state-owned corporation said in a press note that in the lead-up to this day, Russian Ministry of Transport has awarded 43 masters and 48 chief engineers of Sovcomflot vessels its Badge for Accident-Free Work in Maritime Transportation.During the meeting, Sergey Frank, President & CEO of Sovcomflot, expressed his gratitude to the company’s senior fleet officers for their operational excellence and significant contribution to ensuring safe and reliable sea transportation of cargo for the company'

Gagarin Prospect, an LNG-fuelled Aframax crude oil tanker owned and operated by Sovcomflot (SCF Group), has won Next Generation Ship Award 2019, which was announced at Nor-Shipping 2019.President & CEO of Sovcomflot Sergey Frank has received the award from Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry Torbjørn Røe Isaksen in the presence of His Majesty King Harald V of Norway.With a focus on innovation, the Next Generation Ship Award honors the most promising design for ships that will be at sea in the coming decade, according to Nor-Shipping.Gagarin Prospect is the lead ship in the ‘Green Funnel’ series of 114,000-dwt Aframax crude oil tankers designed to use LNG as a primary fuel.Switching to a cleaner-burning fuel enables to significantly reduce vessel emissions…

Sovcomflot, a Russian maritime shipping company specializing in petroleum and LNG shipping,  and VEB.RF Group announced the signing of agreements whereby VEB Leasing will finance the construction of three new LNG-fuelled MR tankers.Sovcomflot initially placed the order for these three tankers with the Zvezda Shipyard (Primorsky region) on 28 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 time charter agreements with Novatek.The vessels will have an Ice Class 1B classification…

Russia's second largest natural gas producer Novatek, Russian maritime shipping company specializing in petroleum and LNG shipping Sovcomflot, Chinese state-owned shipping and logistics services supplier company COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited, and the Chinese government owned investment fund Silk Road Fund, signed a four-party agreement to establish a joint venture Maritime Arctic Transport LLC.The focus of the Maritime Arctic Transport joint venture is to manage an icebreaking tanker fleet of Arctic ice-class vessels, comprising existing and new vessels, engaged in the transportation of LNG for current and planned NOVATEK projects…

Russian maritime shipping company specializing in petroleum and LNG shipping, PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group) has posted $70.1m in profit for the first quarter ended 31 March 2019.Sergey Frank, President and CEO of PAO Sovcomflot said: “Sovcomflot started 2019 with a strong Q1 performance, boosted by a return to profitability in our conventional crude and product tanker markets following an upswing in the first months of 2019. Profits from our crude fleet in particular increased 53 per cent year-on-year compared to Q1 2018."“Although spot market rates for conventional tankers have yet to reach their historic averages, they have come off the low levels witnessed in the  2017-Q3 2018 period and…

The energy shipping company PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group) has managed to increase its revenue base and achieved a profit of USD 11.9 million against a USD 106.2 million loss in 2017.The annual results reflected a strong contribution from the industrial shipping business (comprising offshore services and LNG transportation). These activities now account for 57.2 per cent of the Group’s TCE revenues (up from a 50.9 per cent share in 2017).Taking into account the challenging conditions in the conventional tanker markets, and in accordance with IFRS accounting standards, SCF Group undertook an impairment review of vessel values for the year ended 31 December 2018.

Shell delivered its first ship-to-ship bunkering of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from specialized LNG bunker vessel Cardissa in the Port of Rotterdam on Tuesday, marking a number of key milestones as the maritime sector increasingly turns toward cleaner burning LNG fuel.The bunkering of the Sovcomflot's Aframax tanker Gagarin Prospect with LNG is the first operation under a fuel supply agreement between Shell and Sovcomflot signed in 2017, which helped pioneer the expansion of LNG fuel into the tanker industry and…

Though the tanker market has been a global maritime laggard in 2018, with overcapacity cited as the chief culprit, apparently it could not dissuade PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group) from inking a deal wih Rosneft, Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex and VEB Group for a pair of Aframax tankers. VEB-Leasing will finance the construction, and Rosneft signed a 20-year time-charter for the pair.The 114,000 dwt ships will be LNG fueled and 1A/1B ice class, able to operate year-round in areas with difficult ice conditions, including sub-Arctic seas and Russian ports of the Baltic regio“We welcome the plans of the Russian shipbuilders, from Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex…

The new Vessel Electric Propulsion Training Center at the Admiral Nevelskoy Maritime State University in Russia will help to prepare seafarers for work on vessels equipped with Azipod propulsion systemsThe center will be used to train MSUN cadets, as well as to provide advanced training to commissioned officers of the merchant fleet. It is also planned to conduct research, including scientific and experimental activities, in the area of automation of electric propulsion and vessel power supply.The establishment of the center follows the trilateral research…

Russian oil company Rosneft announced it has ordered two Aframax crude oil tankers to be built at Russia's far eastern Zvezda shipyard for scheduled delivery in 2022.The Russian-flagged vessels will have a deadweight of 114,000 metric tons and a 1A/1B ice class, which makes them able to operate in icy conditions year round, including in sub-Arctic seas and Russian ports of the Baltic region, said Russian shipping company PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group).According to the documents, Arctic Leasing will place orders for construction of the two Aframax tankers at the shipyard…

Leonid Mikhelson, Chairman of the Management Board of PAO Novatek and Sergey Frank, General Director of PAO Sovcomflot have signed a Strategic Cooperation Agreement on developing a strategic partnership to transport hydrocarbons (LNG and gas condensate) produced at Yamal LNG, Arctic LNG 2 and other Arctic projects of the Company. “Our unique partnership with Sovcomflot will optimize our LNG transport model through the Arctic zone by efficiently and effectively using ice-class tankers” according to Novatek's Chairman of Management Board Leonid Mikhelson. “To implement our long-term development strategy to produce more than 55 million tons of LNG by 2030, we need to establish an efficient Northern Sea Route shipping model.

PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group), one of the world leaders in energy shipping and marine services to offshore oil and gas upstream projects, said that its gross revenue for the full year to 31 December 2017 grew by 3.4% to $1.43 billion. According to the statement, 2017 proved to be one of the worst years for the conventional tanker market in the last quarter of a century, with similar conditions experienced to those seen in 2011 and 1992. Conventional tanker freight rates fell by almost 50 per cent year-on-year, reflecting an oversupply of speculative orders following the 2015 market spike, as well as the effect of sustained production cuts by OPEC and other oil producing nations and a backwardation in the oil trade.

A ceremony raising the flag of the Russian Federation and naming a new multifunctional icebreaking platform supply vessel, Yevgeny Primakov, took place on February 3, 2018 in Saint Petersburg. The vessel was built by Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, a subsidiary of the United Shipbuilding Corporation; technical supervision was carried out by the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS), which assigned the vessel a high ice class – Icebreaker6. Yevgeny Primakov’s design and construction…

On 8 December 2017, the icebreaking LNG carrier Christophe de Margerie completed her first loading at the Port of Sabetta, on the Yamal Peninsular, with her first cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) produced at the Yamal LNG plant. The ceremony was attended by: the Russian President Vladimir Putin, together with Sergey Belousov, Aide to the President; Sergey Donskoy, Russia’s Minister for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection among others. Vladimir Putin said: “This is a remarkable day for us all. I congratulate all those who worked on this project, on this wonderful occasion, the first loading of a new tanker named after our friend Mr. de Margerie. Unfortunately, he is not with us today but we have a tanker named after him. He was one of the pioneers of this project.

PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group) reported a $6.8 million loss for the first nine months of 2017, citing the adverse impacts of low spot market freight rates in the conventional tanker sectors. “This year has proven to be a very challenging period for the tanker industry and the situation now faced by many conventional tanker ship owners is especially severe,” said Sergey Frank, President and CEO of PAO Sovcomflot. “An oversupply of tonnage and reduced demand, resulting from oil capacity cut-backs led by OPEC…