Russia’s Zvezda lays keel for second Arctic LNG 2 vessel

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.

Russia’s Zvezda lays keel for second Arctic LNG 2 vessel
The keel-laying ceremony for the second LNG carrier (Image: 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.

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