The second vessel in a series of six Arc 7 class tankers the M/V Shturman Malygin was launched. The serials tankers are intended for year-round delivery of export crude oil from Novoportovskoye field, the Company said in a press release.
The tanker capacity is about 38 million tonnes, roughly twice the capacity of currently operated Arc5 tankers.
The vessel is designed taking into account the small depths of Ob and the climatic conditions of the Arctic. Maximum fresh water draft of the tanker is 9.5 meters while its length and breadth correspond to dimensions of the tanker with exceeding capacity.
Unlike Arc5 tankers, Arc7 class ships can sail in the ice independently in a channel cut by nuclear-powered icebreaker. The vessel's increased thickness hull is made of high strength, low resistance temperature steel and is equipped with a fore-deck loading system that allows it to be anchored and to receive oil from Vorota Arktiki (the Arctic Gate) terminal.
The tanker can sail without the assistance of icebreaker in the 1.8-meter-thick ice and in the 1.4-m-thick ice by its bow. The tanker is equipped with a steerable propulsion unit, able to perform a 360-turn on its axis, giving it additional manoeuvrability in moving both forward and aft.
The tanker is named after an outstanding Russian polar explorer Stepan Malygin, who in early 1736 led a team of the Great Northern Expedition, whose main task was to explore the Gulf of Ob.
Anatoly Cherner, Gazprom Neft Deputy CEO for Logistics, Processing and Sales, commented: “The Arc7-class tankers now under construction are second to none in Russia: their loading capacity is twice that of tankers currently in use, they are specifically designed for the conditions of the Gulf of Ob, and can independently navigate pre-cut ice channels. This cuts return-trip lead times and improves the overall logistical efficiency of Gazprom Neft’s operations in the Arctic. Once all six tankers have been brought into operation they will be able to transport about 450,000 tonnes of oil per month, allowing us to despatch up to 5.5 million tonnes of oil from the Novoportovskoye field every year.”
As previously reported, the first tanker Arc7 class for year-round export of oil from the New Port was launched in early March of this year.