Naming of Sovcomflot’s new Arctic shuttle tanker held in Vladivostok
A naming and flag-raising ceremony for the new Arctic shuttle tanker of Sovcomflot was held on Sunday, October 6, in the center of Vladivostok, at the passenger terminal. As IAA PortNews correspondent reported from the site, the ice-class tanker intended for operation on the Northern Sea Route was named Mikhail Lazarev.
The ceremony was attended by Sergey Frank, Chairman of Sovcomflot BoD; Oksana Tarasenko, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, member of Sovcomflot BoD; Oleg Melnikov, Vice-Governor of the Primorsky Territory.
When speaking at the ceremony, Chairman of Sovcomflot BoD Sergey Frank emphasized the significance of that day for Russia and for the company as the fleet of Russia has been expanded with a unique ship of Arc7 class, the Mikhail Lazarev. Immediately after the naming and flag-raising ceremony the ship will proceed to the area of operation in the Northern Sea Route waters to perform the tasks on transportation of national economy goods under the Gazprom Neft’s Novy Port project. The ship is named after a legendary Russian seafarer and traveler Mikhail Lazarev. An expedition headed by him discovered the sixth continent, the Antarctica. Mikhail Lazarev brought up a constellation of distinguished seafarers and admirals: Nakhimov, Kornilov, Istomin, Budakov. He took part in three successful round-the-world voyages. I would like to address the master of the ship and its crew. You will make a vital contribution in implementation of the task set by the President of our country and RF Government on expansion of commercial shipping in the Northern Sea Route waters and raising its cargo traffic to 80 million tonnes by 2024”, said Sergey Frank.
According to him, the first three tankers of the series were deployed for operation on the route in 2016. They have already carried over 9 million tonnes of oil. The Mikhail Lazarev will join those vessels as oil production is growing and the demand for the fleet expansion is increasing.
Oksana Tarasenko, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, acted as the Godmother during the naming ceremony.
The Mikhail Lazarev is the forth ship of the Shturman Albanov series. The tankers of the series are intended for year-round operation on the Northern Sea Route, in the area of the Gulf of Ob, for oil transportation under the Gazprom’s Novy Port project. Over the three years of operation on the route, the tankers have carried 9.5 million tonnes of crude oil.
The ships of the series can operate round-the-year in severe conditions. With their Arc7 class the ships can break through ice of up to 1.8 meters and operate in temperature of up to -45 Celsius degrees. The design of the ships takes into consideration their dislocation in the Gulf of Ob: shallow areas of fresh water with thick and dense ice.
The Mikhail Lazarev is equipped with an improved power plant. The tanker runs on diesel fuel and can move stern first. The ship will fly the flag of the Russian Federation with Saint-Petersburg as the port of registration. The crew – 25 Russian seafarers.
The ship’s deadweight — 41,012 t, ice class — Arc7, length — 248.9 m, width — 34 m, loaded draft — 9.5 m. Commercial speed — 16 knots.
