The first in a series of ice-class tankers for transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Siberia to Europe and Asia, was launched at South Korea's Okpo Shipyard of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME), reports ABB Group that supplied equipment for the vessel.
SCF Yamal is the most powerful in the world LNG tanker. In March 2016, ABB won the contract from DSME to supply equipment for 16 LNG carriers. The package from ABB included turbochargers, generators, switchboards, transformers, electric drives, propulsion control and the Azipod® propulsion units that will power the vessels through the arctic conditions. The shipbuilding contract includes option for 15 sister ships for Yamal LNG project.
Russian gas producer NOVATEK led consortium joined forces to work on the Yamal LNG for the supply of gas from the Yamal Peninsula, located in the Arctic Circle and ice-bound for most of the year.
LNG will be transported from the port of Sabetta by new powerful ice-going LNG tankers of capacity 170,000 cbm with ice class notation ARC 7. LNG cargo will be delivered to the Asian region along the Northern Sea Route during the summer navigation season. This will greatly reduce the time of delivery in comparison with traditional routes, reduce fuel cost, as well as emissions from ships.