First cargo ships docked at the quay wall of the port of Sabetta, the facility designer JSC Lenmorniiproekt said Wednesday.
The 975-meter-long quay wall will consist of four dedicated berths. The first one was designed to receive ‘river-sea’ class ships laden with construction cargoes and has a 208m-long adjacent wall, the second berth - for multi-purpose semi-submersible vessels with a 260m-long wing wall. The third berth with a 300 meter-long wall will receive semi-submersible vessels with an open deck, the fourth berth with 207 meter-long wing wall is intended for docking of harbor workboats.
The construction is very complicated for the design engineering firm since the Sabetta port project is being implemented from scratch. The shipping season here lasts only three to four months, very short for the delivery of heavy loads and there are no infrastructure facilities on the coast as well, the company said. Besides, this is the Arctic area with its extremely harsh environment conditions. In September 2013 Lenmorniiproekt obtained the facility project approvals from the state commission.
The port of Sabetta construction is carried out in the framework of the Yamal LNG project. Yamal LNG is a joint venture currently owned by OAO NOVATEK (80%) and Total S.A. (20%). On 5 September 2013 NOVATEK and CNPC concluded an agreement on purchase of a 20% equity share in Yamal LNG by CNPC.
The Yamal LNG project includes the creation of facilities for production, storage and shipment 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.