The Norwegian Kirkenes-based shipping company ShipCargo Kirkenes AS has engaged in a cooperation with the world’s biggest tanker company, the Frontline Ltd. and its subsidiary Sea Production Ltd., about the reloading of Russian oil. The company is now applying for state permission for shipping and reloading of oil from the fjord outside Kirkenes.
Arve Henriksen, CEO of ShipCargo Kirkenes AS, says to BarentsObserver.com that the project cooperation with Frontline is unprecedented. The tanker company, which is the biggest in the world, has previously not been engaged in the Norwegian-Russian north. Frontline is owned by the multi-billionaire John Fredriksen.
The ShipCargo Kirkenes AS is applying for permission to reload oil ship-to-ship as well as for the stationing of a storage (FSO) ship in the fjords Bokfjorden and Korsfjorden outside Kirkenes, a border town to Russia.
It is believed that the Russian partner in the project is oil major Lukoil, which is shipping a growing amount of its oil through the Russian North.
The necessary permission from Norwegian state authorities might not come easy, however. A similar application from the company Tschudi Shipping was recently turned down by the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (SFT). The official reason from the state authority is the local fjords have special protection status because of salmon stocks in the area.
While, the both the Norwegian Coastal Administration and the Norwegian Defence have been positive towards reloading of Russian oil outside Kirkenes, the SFT has been strongly against, and thus blocked attempts to develop the industry.
The local municipality of Sor-Varanger is currently working with a feasibility study on the issue, a study which could possibly prepare the ground for a more positive position of SFT.
The ShipCargo Kirkenes AS, which is owned 50-50 percent by Henriksen Shipping Service and the Danish ShipCargo Ltd. The company applies for a 25 year permission on reloading oil.