On 4 September 2019, the first working meeting of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) Public Council was held in Vladivostok at the 5th Eastern Economic Forum, Sovcomflot says in a press release.
It was attended by: the СEO of Rosatom, Aleksey Likhachev; the President and CEO of Sovcomflot, Sergey Frank; Governor of the Yamalo-Nenetsky autonomous region, Dmitry Artyukhov; Deputy Minister of Transport of Russia - Head of the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport, Yury Tsvetkov; the Special envoy for International Cooperation in the Arctic of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Nikolay Korchunov; Deputy Director General of Rosatom and Director of NSR Directorate, Vyacheslav Ruksha, President at United Shipbuilding Corporation, Aleksey Rakhmanov; Total Country Chair Russia, Arnaud le Fall; Managing Director of Stena Bulk AB, Mats Karlsson; Managing Director of Aker Arctic Technology, Reko-Antti Suojanen; Chairman of the Tschudi Shipping Company AS, Felix Tschudi and others.
The Council includes representatives from resource and shipping companies, scientific and design organisations, the insurance industry, marine registers, and government bodies. In total, ten countries were represented at the meeting, including Japan, China, South Korea, UAE, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France, and Norway.
"Under the auspices of the federal “Northern Sea Route” project we have made the necessary arrangements to reach a target annual traffic of 80 million tonnes along the NSR by 2024. This requires the development of infrastructure, including the Arctic icebreaker fleet, satellite communications, accident prevention measures, port fleet and digital services for shipping. We will be able to meet these challenges together, only with the involvement of all the Council participants: charterers; shipping companies; scientific and project organisations; business representatives and the authorities," said Aleksey Likhachev addressing the meeting.
In his speech Sergey Frank, President and CEO of Sovcomflot noted:
"Maritime transportation along the NSR has to be carried out in full compliance with the highest safety and quality standards, with the focus on the environment. In 2018, freight traffic along the NSR almost doubled to 19.7 million tonnes, in comparison with 2017. There is no doubt that the significant growth in NSR traffic pushes the human element to the fore, where the quality of marine specialists will be crucial to ensure safe shipping. In this light, the arrangement of the Public Council, within the walls of one of the oldest maritime universities in Russia – Nevelskoy State Maritime University – is especially symbolic."
Sovcomflot’s President and CEO informed the meeting that on 2 September 2019, Sovcomflot’s LNG-fuelled Aframax crude oil tanker Korolev Prospect successfully completed a commercial voyage along the NSR using only cleaner-burning LNG fuel, which allowed a significant reduction in vessel emissions.
The inaugural meeting of the NSR Public Council was held in June 2019, in St. Petersburg.
SCF’s vessels have been successfully operating in the Arctic seas for over a decade. During this period, the company has accumulated unique experience of operating advanced marine equipment in the harsh environment of high latitudes, as well as developing and introducing logistical support solutions for large-scale energy projects in the Russian Arctic.
In 2010-2011, Sovcomflot completed several experimental transit voyages along the NSR, proving that using this route as a transport corridor for large-scale cargo ships is both technically feasible and economically viable. These high-latitude voyages involving SCF’s vessels have laid the foundation for the implementation of such projects as Yamal LNG and Novy Port.
In 2017, Sovcomflot introduced Christophe de Margerie, the world’s first icebreaking LNG carrier. She is capable of sailing independently through ice up to 2.1 metres thick. The carrier can travel along the NSR westward from Yamal all year-round, and eastward for six months of the year (from July to December).
Sovcomflot (SCF Group) is one of the world's leading energy shipping companies, specialising in the transportation of crude oil, petroleum products, and liquefied gas, as well as the servicing of offshore oil and gas exploration and production. The company’s fleet includes 146 vessels with a total deadweight of over 12.8 million tonnes. More than 80 vessels have an ice class.
Sovcomflot is involved in servicing large oil and gas projects in Russia and around the world: Sakhalin-1; Sakhalin-2; Varandey; Prirazlomnoye; Novy Port; Yamal LNG, and Tangguh (Indonesia). The company is headquartered in Saint Petersburg, with offices in Moscow, Novorossiysk, Murmansk, Vladivostok, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, London, Limassol, and Dubai.