First up, a view of the ice at the top of the world via the Danish Meteorological Institute:
Looks doable based on thickness. It was only three years ago that we posted Arctic Doings: "Teekay’s New Icebreaking LNG Carrier ‘Eduard Toll’ Makes Historic Northern Sea Route Passage" so there is not a lot of experience with these Arc7 icebreaking LNG haulers in the middle of the winter. This was the state of the ice the day of that post:
The Yamal peninsula is the thumb of land sticking out under the smaller chart, next to the gigantic Ob estuary.
And from High North News, January 14:
Record Cold Winter in Asia Sends Russian LNG Via Arctic to Japan
Cold temperatures and traffic congestion at the Panama Canal has resulted in a shortage of natural gas and exploding prices in parts of Asia. Now, Novatek aims to send LNG from the Arctic to Japan during the middle of winter in an untested high-risk, high-reward strategy.
Russian energy company Novatek is planning to send LNG shipments to Asia via the Northern Sea Route (NSR) to take advantage of record natural gas prices following a cold snap in the region. Traditionally the company only ships LNG to Asia during the summer months when the route is mostly free from ice.
However, a natural gas shortage as a result of a cold winter and ongoing maritime congestion at the Panama Canal has resulted in LNG spot prices in Northern Asia to increase 18-fold in the past nine months.
Now Novatek hopes to deliver its LNG to Japan where spot market prices are manifold higher than in Europe, Russian newspaper Kommersant reports.
The company plans to cooperate with Atomflot, operator of Russia’s nuclear icebreakers, to begin shipping the cargo starting in February. Novatek and its shipping partners use specialized ice-capable Arc7 LNG carriers.
During certain ice conditions these ships can navigate the route independently but during the heart of winter when sea ice is thickest they require icebreaker escorts. For this reason the company so far has only shipped LNG to Asia during the summer and fall months, as early as May and as late as December.
The company’s first shipment of LNG to Japan via the NSR only came in July of 2020.
Trial transit may be followed by more winter deliveriesLast week Novatek sent two Arc7 carriers on a trial voyage to see if the ships can make the trip safely and expediently. However, ice conditions will be substantially more challenging in February and March compared to January as sea ice continues to build throughout the winter months....
....MUCH MORE
If interested we have quite a few posts on the ice class 7 ships.
