Russia Frees Up Ice-Class Tankers With New Ship-to-Ship LNG Transfers

Ship to ship operation — Image for representation purposes only

Russia is planning to expand its liquefied natural gas operations by implementing ship-to-ship transfers in the Barents and Bering Seas.

The initiative aims to free up ice-class tankers for Novatek, the country’s leading LNG producer, as per a draft project document by Reuters.

Despite Western sanctions that limit access to crucial vessels for transporting LNG over the Northern Sea Route to Asia. The European Union will ban the loading of Russian LNG in its ports starting in March 2025.

Russia plans to make arrangements for existing ice-class tankers to offload their cargoes to conventional vessels at sea to address the lack of vessels that can navigate Arctic seas.

This method is likely to improve the availability of tankers for new shipments.

The first ship-to-ship transfer facility will be built at Chosha Bay in the Barents Sea, serving Obsky Ammiak, a Novatek subsidiary. A second facility with the same capacity is planned for Kresta Bay, Bering Sea.

According to the draft document, these transfers will occur only when the ice does not hamper ship movements. This allows each facility to handle 4.1 million cbm of LNG and 1.4 million cbm of gas condensate per year.

Novatek has already used a similar system for ship-to-ship LNG transfers off the coast of Murmansk, showing its commitment to adjusting operations in adverse conditions.

Reference: Reuters, Gas Processing & LNG

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