Russia’s First LNG Bunker Vessels in Pipeline

Russia’s state-financed United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) is to build the country’s first three Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) bunkering tankers that will transport LNG from the planned LNG-Gorskaya Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) plant to European and Baltic bunker locations.

As reported by IAA Port News, the FLNG plant project is to be set up at Gorskaya station near Saint-Petersburg. It will produce 1.26 million ton of LNG annually.

The 22-month shipbuilding project will deliver three 7,300 cbm LNG bunkering vessels, to be delivered in time for start of LNG production. They are part of a full complement of 9 bunker vessels at a project cost RUB 5.67 billion (USD 103 million).

All vessels will reportedly have GTT-designed LNG containment systems.

LNG-Gorskaya LLC plans to use its LNG bunkering fleet to deliver LNG to bunkering terminals in Europe and to bunker vessels in the Gulf of Finland.

The introduction of LNG marine fuel services is in response to the increasing uptake of this fuel by ship owners and operators in order to comply with the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) latest sulphur emissions legislation which came into force in January 2015. The Baltic Sea and North Sea are designated as a Sulphur Emissions Control Areas (SECA).

https://www.ngvglobal.com/blog/russias-first-lng-bunker-vessels-in-pipeline-0606