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In December last year, Russia’s Zvezda, located in Primorsky Krai, delivered this ice-class Arc7 172,600-cbm LNG carrier to Sovcomflot.
Sovcomflot announced in a statement on Wednesday that Alexey Kosygin successfully completed its maiden voyage from Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 plant on the Gydan Peninsula to the 361,600-cbm Saam FSU at the site in Ura Bay near Murmansk.
The LNG carrier carried out its first loading of Arctic LNG 2 on January 28, and it unloaded the cargo to the FSU on February 3, Sovcomflot said.
During the voyage, the vessel sailed the Northern Sea Route in winter navigation conditions, including its eastern sector, which is characterized by the most difficult navigation and ice conditions. Sovcomflot said.
Sovcomflot said the average speed when navigating in ice under the guidance of an Atomflot icebreaker from Cape Dezhnev to the Ob Bay was 8.7 knots, the distance covered was 2,488.9 miles, and the duration of the crossing was 12 days, 4 hours, and 12 minutes.
The shipping firm said that the vessel is the flagship of a new generation of Arctic transport fleet.
It was developed as a continuation of the Christophe de Margerie series of vessels, taking into account the unique experience of their operation in difficult climatic conditions, it said.
Arctic LNG 2
The construction of this LNG carrier at other vessels at Zvezda will ensure year-round transport of LNG along the Northern Sea Route to the Asian Pacific region.
However, the Arctic 2 LNG project has been severely impacted by sanctions from the EU and the US.
In August 2024, Novatek delivered the second gravity-based structure platform from its yard near Murmansk to the site of the Arctic LNG 2 project located on the Gydan peninsula.
The company completed the second GBS despite sanctions by the US, the EU, and the UK related to the Arctic LNG 2 project and LNG carriers.
The first GBS left the Belokamenka yard in July 2024, and Novatek completed the installation on the underbase foundation on the seabed at the Utrenniy terminal in August.
The first and second GBS each have a capacity of about 6.6 mtpa.
According to several reports, Novatek started producing LNG at the second unit earlier last year.
Last year, sanctioned vessels continued to load LNG at the Arctic LNG 2 plant, with the first delivery arriving on board Arctic Mulan at PipeChina’s 6 mtpa regasification terminal in Guangxi on August 28.
In October 2025, the UK government imposed sanctions on China’s Beihai LNG terminal, as it has been importing LNG from the sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project.
