Today, at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Sovcomflot and VEB.RF Group announced the signing of agreements whereby VEB Leasing will finance the construction of three new LNG-fuelled MR tankers, press center says in a press release.
Sovcomflot initially placed the order for these three tankers with the Zvezda Shipyard (Primorsky region) on 28 December 2018. The delivery of the vessels is scheduled for 2022-2023. Each tanker will have a deadweight of 51,000 tonnes, and they are intended to transport petroleum products and gas condensate, operating under 20-year time charter agreements with NOVATEK. The vessels will have an Ice Class 1B classification, enabling them to provide safe and reliable year-round transportation for hydrocarbons in challenging ice conditions, in particular within the Baltic Sea.
The vessels' technical specifications have been designed to meet international regulations on emissions, which come into effect in 2020. In comparison with conventional bunkers, the use of LNG fuel can significantly reduce the amount of vessel emissions, for example: sulphur oxides (SOx) reduced by 100%; nitrogen oxides (NOx) reduced by 76%; carbon dioxide (CO2) reduced by 27%; low-dispersed particles eliminated completely.
Sergey Frank, President and CEO of Sovcomflot, said:
"Sovcomflot is one of the world leaders in the implementation of "green" technologies in the transportation of energy by sea. The company already successfully operates six new-generation Aframax tankers, which are powered by LNG fuel. Five more LNG-powered vessels have been ordered by Sovcomflot from the Zvezda shipyard and will be built over the next few years. We welcome the plans of Russian shipbuilders to create modern large-tonnage LNG-fuelled vessels which, of course, represent the future of world shipping."
"We are pleased that our history of positive cooperation with VEB.RF Group has been further developed with this project. VEB Leasing previously participated in financing the construction of a number of Sovcomflot’s leading vessels in Russia, such as the Arctic shuttle tankers of the Mikhail Ulyanov series, as well as new-generation Aframax tankers being built at Zvezda,” commented Sergey Frank.
"Shipbuilding is one of the largest engineering industries, with a significant scientific and technical component. Support for this industry is one of the priorities of VEB Leasing and VEB.RF, to assist the industrial development of Russia," said Artem Dovlatov, CEO of VEB-Leasing.
PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group) is Russia's largest shipping company and one of the world's leading energy shipping companies, as well as a provider of service to offshore exploration and oil and gas production. The company's owned and chartered fleet includes 146 vessels with a total deadweight of 12.8 million tonnes. More than 80 vessels are of ice class.
Sovcomflot serves the following major oil and gas projects in Russia and elsewhere: Sakhalin-1; Sakhalin-2; Varandey; Prirazlomnoye; Novy Port; Yamal LNG; Tangguh (Indonesia). The company's head office is in St. Petersburg, and it has representative offices in Moscow, Novorossiysk, Murmansk, Vladivostok, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, London, Limassol and Dubai.
‘Green Funnel’ series of large-tonnage SCF tankers. To date, SCF Group's fleet includes six oil tankers of the Gagarin Prospect type (deadweight of 114,000 tonnes, Arc4 ice class). In 2019, Gagarin Prospect, the lead ship in the series, won the international Marine Propulsion Award for Ship of the Year 2018 and Nor-Shipping Next Generation Ship Award 2019. In December 2018, SCF Group won a Lloyd's List Global Award - 2018 in the Environmental Award – Individual Company category. It was the initiative of Sovcomflot to introduce LNG as the main fuel for large-tonnage tankers that received high praise from industry experts.
Sovcomflot is one of the largest customers of the Russian civil shipbuilding industry and contributes to localising the production of high-tech vessels in Russia. In recent years, domestic shipbuilders have built more than 20 vessels for Sovcomflot, with a total cost of about USD 1.3 billion. SCF Group successfully cooperates with Russian enterprises such as the Zvezda shipbuilding complex, Admiralty Shipyard, Vyborg Shipyard, etc.
Joint Stock Company VEB Leasing is a member of VEB.RF group. The core activities of the company are the leasing of modern aircraft, high-tech equipment, rolling stock, sea and river vessels, cars, and specialised equipment. According to VEB.RF Financial Policy Memorandum, one of the priorities is the development of the domestic economy with the help of leasing tools, promoting the implementation of major infrastructure projects, growth of the economy of cities, including through the development of transport systems, modernization of housing and communal services.