On February 19, a naming ceremony for a 70,000-dwt icebreaking tanker built for Sovcomflot OJSC was held in Samsung Heavy's Geoje Shipyard, press center of Primorsk Territory reports. The ceremony was attended by Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, representatives of RF ministries and agencies, Sovcomflot BOD members and Primorsk Territory Governor Sergei Darkin. The tanker named TIMOFEY GUZHENKO is to be used for transportation of oil from Varandei oil terminal (Barents Sea). The vessel will be put into operation on February 24 and will start regular transportation of crude oil from Varandei to the port of Murmansk in spring of the current year. All arctic shuttle tankers of Sovcomflot Group are registered with the Russian International Register of Vessels in the port of St. Petersburg and fly the flag of the Russian Federation.
Earlier the Varandey and the Toboy icebreakers were built in Keppel Singmarine (Singapore) on the order of Lukoil to work in the area of Varandei export terminal in the Barents Sea.
Sovcomflot OJSC is Russia’s largest shipping company and the world’s fifth-largest tanker company. Its fleet comprises 132 vessels with total deadweight of some 9.4 million tonnes. The Group’s current backlog of orders numbers 31 vessels with total deadweight of 2.7 million tonnes. The average age of the Group’s tanker fleet is six years. Total value of contracts signed by Sovcomflot Group with Russian shipbuilding companies – members of United Shipbuilding Corporation OJSC exceeds $500 mln. Sovcomflot Group owns the world’s largest ice fleet and holds the top position in the product carrier, Aframax tanker and Arctic shuttle-tanker market segments, and is the leading ice-class tanker operator for the transportation of liquefied natural gas (LNG). These market segments are the most in demand for Russia’s foreign trade and its oil and gas companies.
The Varandey oil export terminal is designed for offshore export of the oil extracted by LUKOIL in Timan-Pechora oil and gas province. The terminal is located in the Barents Sea some 23 km off the coast and is connected with coastal installations and nearby oil fields with pipelines. Annual terminal capacities are 12 million tonnes.