Aker Arctic WinsShuttle Tanker Contract

Aker Arctic Technology of Finland and the St. Petersburg based FSUE Admiralty shipyards signed a contract for a license and design including classification package of two 70,000 dwt double-acting Arctic shuttle tankers, which the yard is building for ZAO Sevmorneftegaz for the Prirazlomnoye oil field in the Arctic Ocean. The ships are the largest tankers so far built by the yard and will be delivered towards the end of 2007 and respectively 2008.

The tankers are capable for worldwide operations, but they are specifically intended to operate independently between the offshore oil production platform and a transhipment terminal in Murmansk area. The tankers to fly Russian flag and to be built into Russian regulations, including ice class LU6, will be fitted with twin pod drives, dynamic positioning system, a helideck and a bow loading facility for the Arctic conditions.

"This demanding tanker contract based on the Aker Arctic novel design was achieved as a result of an international tender competition and it further enhances Adimralty shipyards position as a leading tanker builder in Russia and Europe", says L.V. Alexandrov, General Director of Admiralty shipyards.

"The Admiralty shipyard contract for Sevmorneftegaz, a subsidiary of Rosneft and Gazprom, is a breakthrough for our double acting concept in Arctic oil transports and a result of our long term co-operation efforts in Russia", comments Mikko Niini, Managing Director of Aker Arctic Technology of Finland, a member in the Aker Yards group. "This new concept has lowered the transport costs in harsh environments and we believe this example will be thoroughly monitored by the whole oil industry. With our design capabilities and licence co-operation policy several new cases are to be expected both for Russian and Canadian developments and not only for oil but for LNG transports as well."

The tankers will have an overall length of 260 metres, breadth of 34 m and draft of 13.6 m. The diesel-electric power plant consists of four main diesels providing 25 MW total power. The propulsion is arranged by twin pod drives, each 8.5 MW.