Russian icebreakers complete winter season of pilotage
The most powerful icebreakers Krasin and Admiral Makarov of the Far Eastern shipping company (FESCO) have completed the first winter season of the pilotage of huge tankers across the ice of Tatar Strait (the northern area of the Sea of Japan) to the port of De-Kastri, Khabarovsk Territory, Itar-Tass reports.
Oil produced under the Sakhalin-1 project on shelf of the Sea of Okhotsk by the American Exxon Neftegaz Ltd (ENL) Company is supplied to that harbour via a 220-km pipeline. Hydrocarbon fuel is then shipped from De-Kastri by five 100,000-tonne tankers of the Primorye (maritime territory) shipping compnay and by Sovcomflot.
Tatar Strait is covered by one-metre-thick ice in winter. The two icebreakers cut channels for the tankers in the ice, led them to the pier, and piloted them back to ice-free waters, thereby ensuring an uninterrupted shipment of oil under the Sakhalin-1 project throughout the winter.
According to a FESC announcement, on Tuesday the two icebreakers returned to their registry port of Vladivostok. Next winter they will operate again in Tatar Strait to pilot the tankers. The ENL had leased the icebreakers for ten years.