"Russia Orders 10 More LNG Carriers to Expand Arctic LNG Operations"

From Marine Executive:

As part of Russia’s ongoing efforts to develop its northern oil and gas fields and promote Arctic shipping, Sovcomflot (SCF Group) and NOVATEK announced a deal to build 10 additional icebreaking Arc7 LNG carriers at the Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex. As part of the agreement, it was also announced that SMART LNG, a joint venture of SCF Group and NOVATEK, signed long-term time charter agreements for the vessels with Arctic LNG 2, the operator of the Arctic LNG 2 project.
This latest contract is part of a program that was launched in October 2019 to develop Russia’s LNG shipment capabilities. Initially, one LGN vessel was ordered domestically followed by four additional orders in January 2020. The SCF Group said that the orders were part of its growth strategy with a special focus on operations in challenging climatic and ice conditions.

“Shipbuilding and time charter contracts for 15 Arc7 LNG carriers, signed between 2019-2020, enable the Russian shipping community to play a role in transporting cargoes of strategic importance for the Russian economy,” commented Igor Tonkovidov, President and CEO of SCF Group, in the company’s press release. “We are pleased to see that this new generation of Arctic LNG carriers, which will contribute significantly to growing the cargo traffic along the Northern Sea Route, was designed based on SCF’s long-standing experience of safely operating vessels in ice conditions. Equally significant is the fact that the cooperation between SCF, NOVATEK, VEB.RF Group and Russian shipbuilders paves the way for establishing the domestic production of LNG carriers, which entails adopting advanced technologies and engineering solutions.”...

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