Yamal LNG Tanker Used for Norway-Korea Shipment

The first of Yamal LNG's 15 planned Arc7 ice-class LNG tankers, the Christophe de Margerie, is carrying LNG from Norway to South Korea, Russian independent gas producer Novatek said August 1.

The tanker has entered Russia's Kara Sea and has started its first LNG cargo voyage eastwards through the Northern Sea Route (NSR).

The sub-leased tanker will go through the NSR without the escort of icebreakers and will deliver LNG from Norway to South Korea in 15 days. Using the route from Europe to eastern and southeastern Asia through the NSR halves the transportation time to market compared with the traditional route, said Yamal LNG. Reports said that the vessel loaded at the Statoil-run Snohvit LNG plant in north Norway late July and is due in South Korea mid-August.

The three-train Yamal LNG in Arctic Russia is under development by Novatek and expected to export its first cargo from Train 1 later this year.

The start of LNG shipments through the NSR with the ARC7 ice-class tanker will help to increase cargo turnover and develop navigation in Arctic Ocean, Novatek said. It has already experimentally sent condensates through the NSR in the summer. In winter the tankers will sail westwards and leave the cargo in a storage tank at Zeebrugge, for collection and onward transport by conventional tankers.

William Powell