Gas carrier Sibur Tobol docked for test loading at SIBUR’s terminal in Ust-Luga (photo)
LNG carrier Sibur Tobol, intended for the year-round transportation of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from SIBUR’s terminal, has called at the Port of Ust-Luga, Sovcomflot press center says.
The Sibur Tobol docked at the newly inaugurated terminal of SIBUR for test loading of LNG cargo in the pre-commissioning phase of the terminal launching. Then the LNG-laden tanker will bound for a Sweden port to delivery the cargo to consumers.
Sibur Tobol is the second vessel chartered by SIBUR under long-term contract with Russia’s largest ship owner and tanker operator Sovcomflot. Gas transportation is the priority of SCF the gas carrier fleet of which comprises 10 vessels (including Sibur Tobol and Sibur Voronezh). Four more gas carriers are under construction.
Gas carrier Sibur Tobol was built by Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. Ltd. (South Korea). In early October the vessel left the Korean port and in a 36-day journey covered over 12,000 nautical miles. LNG carrier Sibur Voronezh, first vessel built for SIBUR, commenced operations in September. From that time the vessel made 6 voyages delivering LPG to European consumers.
The naming ceremony for Sibur Voronezh and Sibur Tobol was held on July 4, 2013.
The new LPG carriers were designed in collaboration with SCF Group experts, to SIBUR’s requirements, and are equipped with the latest advanced shipbuilding technology.
The structural design of the vessels includes: a ballast water treatment system, a requirement for all vessels since 2013, and a reinforced hull for non-stop year-round operations in the North Atlantic with an active service life of 25 years, significantly longer if the vessels are used in normal conditions. The design of these 1B ice class vessels (Ice3 in the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping) will allow them to operate effectively in the low temperatures of the Baltic Sea, during their winter voyages.
Navigation equipment and software from Russian manufacturers was used in the construction of these vessels.
Technical specifications of the vessels: Length: 159m, Beam size: 25.60m, Depth: 16.40m, Estimated draught: 10.90m, Deadweight: 22,760 tonnes, Propulsion engine power: 7,780kw.
Sovcomflot Group is Russia’s largest shipping company and one of the world’s leading shipping companies specializing in the maritime hydrocarbons transportation and supporting continental shelf exploration and oil & gas production. The SCF fleet includes 156 vessels with a combined deadweight of around 12 million tonnes. One third of them have a high ice class. The Group specialises in hydrocarbon transportation from regions with challenging ice conditions. Sovcomflot supports large-scale offshore energy projects in Russia and the rest of the world, including: Sakhalin-I, Sakhalin-II, Varandey, Prirazlomnoye, Tangguh, Escobar, and Peregrino.
The company is registered in Saint-Petersburg and has representative offices in Moscow, Novorossiysk, Murmansk, Vladivostok, London, Limassol, Madrid, Singapore and Dubai.
SIBUR is building Ust-Luga LPG transshipment facility, Russia’s largest terminal for transshipment of liquefied petroleum gases with annual capacity of up to 1.5 mln t of LPG and up to 2.5 mln t of light oil products. The construction began in the second quarter of 2012.
SIBUR is a Russian petrochemicals company. The activities of SIBUR include the entire petrochemical process chain from gas processing, production of monomers, plastics and synthetic rubbers to the processing of plastics. SIBUR is a vertically integrated company with its gas processing facilities providing feedstock for its petrochemical production.
As of June 30, 2013 the Group operated 27 production sites, had over 1,500 large customers operating in the energy, automotive, construction, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), chemical and other industries in approximately 60 countries and employed over 28,000 personnel.