The 7th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) on 7 September 2022 will host an important event for the shipbuilding industry and Russian commercial shipping – the official ceremony to name and hoist the Russian state flag on the lead ship of a series of new generation large-tonnage Aframax oil tankers that primarily run on liquefied natural gas.
The vessel is being built at Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex as part of a package of agreements that Sovcomflot signed with Rosneft Oil Company and Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex. Under the agreements, Sovcomflot placed an order with Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex for the construction of a series of two new generation large-tonnage Aframax oil tankers, with the subsequent chartering of these vessels by Rosneft based on 20-year time charter agreements.
The new vessel was designed in compliance with the strictest environmental safety standards and the conventional limits on emissions of sulphur oxides, nitrogen, and greenhouse gases that are in force in the basins of the Baltic and North Seas. The tanker is 250 metres long and 44 metres wide, and has deadweight tonnage of 114,000 tonnes and ice class of 1A/1B. This ice class allows it to transport oil year-round from areas with difficult ice conditions, including the subarctic seas and Russian ports of the Baltic region. The tanker’s main and auxiliary power plants can operate both on traditional types of marine fuel as well as on liquefied natural gas. An LNG-fuelled tanker significantly reduces emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere, including carbon dioxide by 26%, nitrogen oxides by 94%, and sulphur oxides and fine particles (soot) by 100%, compared with similar ships that run on heavy fuel.
Sovcomflot is a pioneer in the global tanker industry in terms of introducing cleaner LNG fuel for large-tonnage tanker transportation. In 2018, the company became the first in the world to start operating the green series of Aframax tankers that primarily run on LNG.
The new vessel, which is the best in its class in terms of energy efficiency and technical solutions, will export goods from Russian ports for Rosneft.
The ship will be named after one of Vladivostok’s main streets, Okeansky Prospekt, thus continuing the practice of naming Sovcomflot’s ships that transport Russian export cargo after significant streets in Russian cities: Nevsky Prospekt, Ligovsky Prospekt, Liteyny Prospekt, Moskovsky Prospekt, Olimpiysky Prospekt, Primorsky Prospekt, and Suvorovsky Prospekt.
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