New Arctic Tanker Class Builds Underway
Construction has begun on a new series comprising six Arctic shuttle oil carriers (project 42K Arctic Shuttle Tanker) in South Korea. The steel cutting ceremony for the first ship was held on April 1, 2015 at Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in the presence of the representatives of PAO Sovcomflot, Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) and Lloyd`s Register (LR).
The series is constructed to dual RS and LR class. RS class notation: KM Arc7 AUT1-ICS OMBO LI CCO ECO-S BWM BLS-SPM Oil tanker (ESP) CSR.
Main particulars:
- Length: 232 m
- Breadth: 34 m
- Draught: 9.5 m
- Gross tonnage: 42,000
The new tankers are designed to complete a set of tasks of hydrocarbons transportation from Novoportovskoye field. It is planned to put the first ship into operation in June 2016.
It is the fifth largest shipbuilding project under survey of the RS Branch Office in the Republic of Korea since a specialized Design and Newbuilding Support Centre in Busan was opened by RS in March 2012.