Sovcomflot Orders 3 LNG MR Product Tankers

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 provides for the gradual transfer of our large-capacity tanker fleet to using more environmentally safe LNG fuel."

"The introduction of "green" technologies for energy shipping is one of the priorities provided for by the development strategy of our company for the period up to 2025. The company already successfully operates a series of the world's first Aframax-class tankers to use LNG fuel. Five more of SCF’s "green" series vessels will be built at Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex and put into operation from 2022 to 2023," he added.

Meanwhile, Igor Tonkovidov, Executive Vice President and CTO/COO of Sovcomflot, said: "In 2022, our company will accept the world's first product carriers operating on with LNG fuel. We welcome the localisation of new civil shipbuilding technologies that envisage the manufacturing of advanced marine equipment in Russia, the operation of which will help reduce the environmental footprint of humanity."

"I am confident that the serial construction of new-generation LNG-fuelled large-capacity vessels at the facilities of Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex will contribute to strengthening the leadership and increasing the competitiveness of Russian shipping companies in the world market," he added.

Sovcomflot (SCF Group) is one of the world's leading energy shipping companies, specialising in the transportation of crude oil, petroleum products, and liquefied gas, as well as the servicing of offshore oil and gas exploration and production. The company’s fleet includes 146 vessels with a total deadweight of over 12.8 million tonnes. More than 80 vessels have an ice class.

Sovcomflot is involved in servicing large oil and gas projects in Russia and around the world: Sakhalin-1; Sakhalin-2; Varandey; Prirazlomnoye; Novy Port; Yamal LNG, and Tangguh (Indonesia). The company is headquartered in Saint Petersburg, with offices in Moscow, Novorossiysk, Murmansk, Vladivostok, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, London, Limassol, and Dubai.