STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co. Ltd shipyard on November 4 2012 hosted a keel-laying ceremony for the lead LNG carrier “Veliky Novgorod" for Russian shipping company Sovcomflot (SCF Group). The order for two LNG carriers was placed with the South Korean shipyard under a long-term charter agreement with Gazprom Global LNG (a Gazprom’s unit), the SCF press release said. The vessel delivery is scheduled for December 2013.
The South Korean shipyard at the end of June of the year held steel-cutting for the series second LNG carrier "Pskov”, which is scheduled for delivery in 2014.
The ultramodern design Atlanticmax LNG carriers have Ice2 (1C) class, carrying capacity of 170,000 cbm and a set of equipment for operations in low-temperature conditions. This will enable the vessels to exercise year-round transportation of gas from almost all existing LNG terminals, and, in particular, from Russia's first LNG project - "Sakhalin-2".
Currently, SCF fleet includes 8 LNG and LPG carriers, which are engaged in the Russian and international projects ("Sakhalin-2” and Tangguh). There are six more gas carriers under construction on long-term time charter agreements with major international oil companies.
St.Petersburg-headquartered Sovcomflot (SCF Group), the biggest shipping company in Russia, ranks the fifth top tanker company in the world. The Company specializes in global transportation of crude oil, petroleum products and other energy sources. The Group's fleet comprises 156 vessels of total deadweight of nearly 12 million tons, the average age of the tanker fleet is 6.6 years. SCF’s newbuildings program includes 15 vessels of total deadweight of about 1.73 million tons. The Group has offices in Moscow, Novorossiysk, Murmansk, Vladivostok, London, Limassol, Madrid and Singapore.