PAO Sovcomflot and PAO Gazprom Neft are reporting that they carried out the first ship-to-ship bunkering of a marine vessel with natural gas fuel in Russia. While Sovcomflot has been employing LNG-fueled vessels for the past several years, they began about a year ago through the partnership with Gazprom to develop the domestic capabilities for bunkering.
Sovcomflot and Gazprom Neft signed an agreement in September 2021 for cooperation in the development of technologies and the use of LNG as a marine fuel. The bunkering operation, which was the first under this agreement, took place at the port of Ust-Luga. The Gazprom Neft vessel Dmitry Mendeleev completed the fueling operation. The tanker took on board 1,432 cubic meters of LNG fuel in an operation that lasted about four hours.
Dmitry Mendeleev is Russia’s first dedicated LNG bunkering vessel. The ship, delivered in August 2021, is 100 meters long, 19 meters wide, and can transport up to 5,800 cubic meters of LNG. The vessel’s Arc4 ice-class reinforced hull enables it to navigate through one-year-old ice of up to 80 cm thick independently, while its integrated digital system enables it to be controlled by just one crew member.
«We welcome the efforts of Gazprom Neft to develop the infrastructure for bunkering ships with low-carbon fuel in Russia. Sovcomflot is consistently working to reduce emissions from the operation of its ships», said Igor Tonkovidov, CEO and President of PAO Sovcomflot.
Anatoly Cherner, Deputy Chairman of Gazprom Neft’s Management Board, said that it was the company’s long-term strategy to develop bunkering business focused on low-carbon marine fuels. «Liquefied natural gas has a high market potential due to its environmental and performance characteristics. The first ship-to-ship refueling with liquefied natural gas we conducted in Russia kick-starts the development of a new fuel segment in the domestic shipping industry», he said.
Photo: Sovcomflot