Page 4 - FSUOGM Week 50 2020

FSUOGM COMMENTARY FSUOGM

Russia near to launching

first LNG bunkering vessel

Russia wants to gain a slice of the LNG bunkering market, leveraging its
growing status as a leading LNG producer

RUSSIA RUSSIA will soon become another supplier in LNG transport and storage had been installed
the growing market for ship-to-ship LNG bun- on the bunkering vessel. The ship will conduct
WHAT: kering in Europe, with construction of its first ship-to-ship bunkering primarily in the Baltic
Gazprom Neft has almost bunkering vessel now almost complete. Sea starting next year, equipped with two 2,900
completed Russia's first LNG has grown in popularity as a bunker- cubic metre storage tanks.
LNG bunkering vessel. ing fuel in recent years, in large part thanks to The vessel is 100 metres in length and 19
stricter International Maritime Organisation metres in depth. It has an Arc4 ice-class classi-
WHY: (IMO) rules on the sulphur content in ship- fication, meaning it can navigate through ice up
The company wants a ping fuel. This is especially true in the Baltic Sea to a year old or 80 centimetres thick without sup-
position in the growing region, where many countries have extensive port. Its storage tanks were manufactured using
market for LNG bunkering access to natural gas. a nickel-iron-based alloy, with high durability
in northern Europe. Russia is eager to gain a slice of this market, and resistance to ultra-low temperatures. This
leveraging its growing status as a leading LNG means that the LNG can be stored safely at tem-
WHAT NEXT: producer. Private player Novatek already offers peratures as low as -165 degrees Celsius. It will be
Long-term prospects bunkering services at its 660,000 tonne per year able to refuel ships in eight hours.
for LNG bunkering (tpy) in Vysotsk on the Baltic Sea. But Gazprom Pipe-fitting and installation of cargo-han-
depend greatly on how Neft, the oil-exporting arm of Gazprom, wants dling equipment is ongoing, and the next step
shipowners choose to to expand into LNG bunkering markets beyond will be the fitting of its cargo deck.
address their emissions. Russia, building on its existing global maritime “The best international technologies – both
refuelling operations. in shipbuilding and in LNG storage and trans-
Gazprom Neft announced on December 11 portation – are being used on Russia’s first LNG
that tanks and other cryogenic equipment for bunkering project,” Gazprom Neft said. “70%

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