A fleet of dredgers of Luxembourg-registered Jan De Nul Group arrived in the waters of the port of Murmansk on the Kola Peninsula, the company said.
The dredging fleet will be engaged in dredging at the port of Sabetta. The vessels are now passing clearance and then will proceed along the Northern Sea Route. Permissions from the Federal Agency of Maritime and River Transport and the Northern Sea Route Authority have been obtained. Dredging works will commence as soon as the port of Sabetta is clear from ice.
Thirteen dredging vessels, including one of the world's most powerful Cutter Suction Dredger (CSD) with diesel plant rated power 23.5 MW, will have in a short time (2.5 months) to perform dredging and excavate some 10 million cbm of soil.
Jan De Nul Group’s Russian subsidiary, Jan De Nul NV Russia, won in a tendering process with participation of contractors from the Netherlands and Belgium and was awarded the major dredging contract. The tender was carried out by JSC USK MOST which was appointed by the Russian Government decree (№ 1716-r of 17.09.2012) the sole contractor for the state order - the construction of facilities of a seaport in the area of Sabetta settlement.
The dredging project is scheduled for completion in 2016. During the 2014-2016 period, the fleet of Jan De Null is expected to dredge up to 60 million cbm of material. Despite these volumes, the contractor Jan De Nul said it was able to handle the project on its own. The Group has injected in the modern dredging fleet, in construction of new dredgers and hopper barges about EUR 2 billion.
The Sabetta port construction is carried out in the framework of Yamal LNG project, which is implemented by JSC Novatek in conjunction with the French Total. The Yamal LNG project includes the creation of facilities for production, storage and shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Yuzhno-Tambeyskoye field. Proved reserves of Yuzhno-Tambeyskoye field total 418 billion cbm of gas and 15 million tonnes of condensate. Proved plus probable reserves are estimated at 802 billion m2 of gas and 31 million tonnes of condensate. The project also includes the construction of LNG plant of capacity of 15 million tonnes per year and production of up to one million tonnes of condensate. The facility’s Phase 1 start-up is scheduled for 2016.