Lloyd’s List reports that Sovcomflot will send one of its purpose-built 70.000 dwt ice-classed shuttle tankers to Japan with oil loaded at the Varandey terminal on the Pechora Sea coast.
Sovcomflot is Russia’s largest shipping company and has been shipping oil from the offshore offloading ice-resistant terminal at Varandey since 2007.
The shipment with crude oil planned for this summer will be the first ever oil tanker to sail the entire Northern Sea Route from Northwest Russia to Asia. Sovcomflot operates three special purpose built tankers for ice-covered waters for the shipment of oil from the Varandey terminal. These tankers, built in 2007, 2008 and 2009 have the capability to break through 2.5 m thick ice without icebreaker assistance.
Normally, the three shuttle tankers operated on the route to Murmansk where the oil is reloaded onto larger oil tankers and shipped to the U.S. or European market around the coast of Northern Norway.
Read also: Russia prepares law on Northern Sea Route
Last autumn two German merchant vessels belonging to the Beluga Group were the first to sail the Northern Sea Route from Asia to the outlet of the Siberia Ob River without ice-breaker assistance, as reported by BarentsObserver.
Sovcomflot is also planning to carry out its first test shipping of LNG through the Northern Sea Route. Last week BarentsObserver reported that Russian gas producer Novatek said they are planning to test the Northern Sea Route for huge LNG tankers in cooperation with Sevcomflot. The planned test shipment will go from the yet-to-be-built LNG plant on the Yamal Peninsula to the Asian markets via Siberia’s northern coast.
Read also: Welcome to the new Arctic
The Northern Sea route is open for less than two months in the late summer when the ice is at its minimum. The period of possible sailing along Siberia’s northern coast is however increasing due to the rapid ongoing climate changes.
The offshore loading terminal at Varandey is situated 22 km offshore and the waters around is ice-covered most of the year. On January 24th this year, the terminal marked that the first 10 million tons of crude oil shipment was completed, according to the website of Sovcomflot.
