Sovcomflot and Total have concluded a time charter agreement for up to 7 years for a newbuilding 174,000-cbm LNG carrier, to be owned and operated by SCF, with options for up to two additional vessels, SCF reported.
The ceremony held on January 21, 2021 was attended via videoconference by Igor Tonkovidov, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sovcomflot; Thomas Maurisse, Senior Vice President for LNG at Total, and Seong-Yong Park, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Hyundai Heavy Industries.
The new vessel will be the latest in a series of SCF’s new-generation conventional Atlanticmax LNG carriers, with three sister ships, “SCF La Perouse”, “SCF Barents” and “SCF Timmerman” already in operation.
The vessel will be fitted with an X-DF propulsion system, operated by a slow-speed diesel engine with a direct drive to the propellers, which will enable a substantial reduction in the vessel’s fuel consumption when compared with previous generations of LNG carriers.
The new carrier will also be fitted with a hull air lubrication system which, combined with two shaft power generators with frequency-to-current converters, is expected to deliver a further significant decrease in fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
Another environmental feature of this series of new-generation vessels is a partial re-liquefaction system, which allows cargo boil-off gas to be returned to the tanks.
The delivery of the LNG carrier to the charterer is scheduled for the third quarter of 2023.