Gazprom tests out first LNG tanker through Northern Sea Route
MOSCOW. Oct 3 (Interfax) - Russian gas giant Gazprom will undertake its first attempt to dispatch a LNG (liquefied natural gas) tanker through the Northern Sea Route, Gazprom Marketing & Trading (GMT) said on Wednesday.
Unlike earlier shipments of oil, petroleum products and gas condensate through the Northern Sea Route, the first LNG carrier trip will be a dry run.
GMT has chartered the tanker Ob River after its delivery of LNG to Japan. The vessel was fueled and supplied in South Korea and has started its trip to Western Europe through the Northern Sea Route. The tanker will sail around Cape Dezhnev on October 9 and enter the Chukchi Sea where will rendezvous with the nuclear icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy (50 Years of Victory).
Data will be collected and the technical and commercial feasibility of the Northern Sea Route for LNG trade will be evaluated.
The vessel, now known as the Ob River, was built in 2007 under the name Clean Power. The vessel is 1A ice class. Gazprom took the vessel for a midterm charter and renamed it after one of the Siberian rivers, which flow into the Arctic Ocean. Greek company Dynagas owns the vessel.
Sovcomflot's tanker SCF Amur transported petroleum products for Gazprom Neft through the Northern Sea Route in August. The trip took seven days.
