Russian Zvezda shipyard has held a keel-laying ceremony for the second out of fifteen ice-class Arc7 carriers that will serve Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 export project.
Russia’s largest shipping firm Sovcomflot said Zvezda would complete this 172,000-cbm vessel in 2023, according to a statement issued on Friday.
The LNG carrier is the first in a batch of 14 vessels Sovcomflot had ordered together with independent LNG producer Novatek as part of the SMART LNG joint venture.
To remind, Zvezda held a keel-laying ceremony for the first vessel in June but Sovcomflot ordered this vessel directly at Zvezda.
All of the LNG carriers will operate under the Russian flag. They will be 300 meters long, 48.8 meters wide, and will have a cargo capacity of 172,600 cbm.
In addition, the propulsion system includes three azimuth propulsion units, with a total capacity of 45 MW.
The construction of these LNG carriers will ensure year-round transport of LNG along the Northern Sea Route to the Asia-Pacific region.
The Arctic 2 project located on the Gydan peninsula includes the construction of three LNG trains with a capacity of 6.6 mtpa, each, using gravity-based structure platforms.
Novatek expects to launch the first LNG train in 2023, with trains 2 and 3 to follow in 2024 and 2025, respectively.
Besides operator Novatek, the project partners include TotalEnergies, CNPC, CNOOC, and the consortium of Mitsui and JOGMEC.