No fuel for Mistral ships in Russia – Dmitri Rogozin (+expert commentary)
Russia may face problems when operating ships of Mistral type. As Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told reporters, Russia does not produce the type of fuel required by such ships. “Probably, our chemists will prepare some special additives to solve this problem,” Rogozin is cited by RIA Novosti. According to him, specialists from Russia and France will discuss issues concerning the Mistral ships, including the fuel problem, during bilateral military talks to be held on February 14-15.
Meanwhile, representatives of Russian bunker fuel suppliers interviewed by PortNews IAA do not agree with the statement on the lack of necessary fuel. Mistral ships can be powered by diesel fuel and heavy fuel oil of IFO-180 grade, PortNews IAA learnt from one of the largest bunkering companies in the North West region of Russia, - so called NATO specification of marine fuel is no different from ISO, GOST or TU standards applied for marine fuel produced in Russia. As for the engine types, a big share of vessels in the world are driven by similar engines. So the persons interviewed by the agency are sure that any bunkering company can actually supply fuel for such a vessel in Russia.
We remind that in November 2009 when a helicopter carrier called on St. Petersburg it was fueled by Baltic Bunker Company LLC which supplied it with 450 tons of diesel fuel (MGO 0,1).