海参崴新闻

Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker «Yamal» stoped leading «Christophe de Margerie» gas carrier on May 30th when the vessels reached the east ice edge of the Chukchi Sea. 

«Christophe de Margerie» has successfully finished its commercial passage with liquified natural gas on board from Sabetta’s port in Russia to Jiangsu’s port in China. 

During the passage, the carrier has successfully overcome the Northeast passage and become the first gas carrier in history to hold this type of voyage in May, when the weather conditions stay dangerous for vessels. Traditionally, the navigation starts in the Arctic only in July and ends in November. 

The passage took 21 days, the vessel overcame 6 047 sea miles with the average speed of 11,7 knots. 

The delivery of the similar portion of liquefied natural gas usually takes 34 days via the Suez Canal. The changes of delivery period in the Arctic allow to reduce the delivery time in one third.

During the voyage a lot of information about the Northeast passage has been gathered. The new discoveries will be used for creating new Arctic projects and vessels.  

In 2010-2011, «Sovcomflot» together with «Novatek» held several experimental transit voyages via the Northeast passage that proved the technical possibility and economical benefits of using the Northeast passage for deliveries. These voyages created the base for successful realisation of «Yamal» project and opened a new passage for commercial voyages. 

In 2017 «Sovcomflot» started using the first ever arctic icebreaker gas carier «Christophe de Margerie». This vessel has been constructed for the all-year-round voyages on the Northeast passage. 

The vessel can carry up to 172 600 square litres of gas. This gas carrier has unique characteristics that allow it to be used in extreme weather and ice conditions. 

In December of 2017 «Christophe de Margerie» delivered its first portion of gas. The same year, the vessel was awarded the Engineering Project of the Year of the S&P Global Platts Global Energy Awards. 

The current voyage has become the carrier’s 45th one as a part of «Yamal» project. 

News source: www.vestiprim.ru