The liquefied natural gas (LNG) maritime transport sector has not escaped the impact of the crisis in the world's largest markets. Despite the overall increase in volumes, freight costs have fallen sharply due to excess transport capacity. Against this background, the Russian Sovcomflot is trying to expand its place in the oil and gas transportation market. So far, all of the company’s gas carriers have been built abroad, but in the future Russia plans to transport raw materials on its own LNG tankers. And the state is ready to change legislation to ensure demand for the national carrier

The LNG shipping market is experiencing difficult times, despite volume growth of 2.5% in 2015. Excess capacity has led to low rates for leasing LNG tankers: prices have fallen to $25 thousand per day from a peak of $155 thousand in mid-2012. According to the consulting company Poten & Partners, in 2016 the number of idle vessels should be halved. In another year, stable demand is predicted against the backdrop of the commissioning of new gas liquefaction and regasification capacities. And in the next three years, the global fleet of LNG tankers will grow by 30%, adding 128 new vessels.

The current market situation reflects low demand for gas in Asia amid the growth of nuclear and coal-fired energy generation in Japan and South Korea. The International Energy Agency predicts an oversupply of gas on the market in the next 15 years. Cheap coal, increased energy efficiency and renewable energy production will lead to low growth in gas demand. Analysts predict an increase in mergers and acquisitions in the shipping market. Thus, Reuters reports that the largest Dynagas, Golar LNG and GasLog have agreed to transfer 14 tankers to a single pool in order to reduce costs. Several small shipping companies have received offers to take over or sell ships. The deal of the year was the takeover of BG by Royal Dutch Shell: as a result, the largest operator with a fleet of 70 tankers for transporting liquefied natural gas appeared on the market. According to Shell, global demand for natural gas will grow by an average of 2% per year until 2020, while the liquefied natural gas market will double in size

Against this background, Russia is trying to protect its market. Changes may be made to Russian legislation in order to limit the transportation of oil and gas by ships not flying the Russian flag, and from 2020 - by ships not built in the Russian Federation. It is assumed that by this time the Far Eastern shipbuilding complex Zvezda will be capable of producing gas carriers. Full commissioning of this shipbuilding center, the development project of which is currently being implemented by Rosneft in technological partnership with a number of foreign companies, is expected in 2024. USC, loaded with military orders, promises to increase the share of civilian shipbuilding from 10 to 25% by 2025. But so far all gas carriers operated by our national carrier, Sovcomflot, have been built abroad.

Last year was one of the most successful in the entire history of Sovcomflot (the largest Russian shipping company, 100% of the shares are owned by the state). The company is one of the world's leading players in the field of maritime transportation of hydrocarbons and servicing offshore oil and gas projects. It works both under long-term contracts for the supply of oil and LNG, ensuring the operation of oil and gas platforms, and under spot contracts. The existing fleet construction program is focused on the highly profitable segment of servicing projects implemented in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions, and assumes that new vessels will sail under the flag of the Russian Federation and specialize either in coastal shipping or in offshore oil and gas projects. Sovcomflot approaches each such project individually, ordering unique vessels for each specific project. The ships currently being built by Sovcomflot belong to a new generation with a high ice class.

Russian gas carrier

The gas fleet includes 13 vessels (one is still under construction). Of the 12 vessels in operation, eight are LNG tankers and four vessels are designed to transport liquefied petroleum gas. Not long ago, the SKF Arctic and SKF Polar, which had become the first gas carriers of Sovcomflot, were decommissioned. The company received them with a valid charter for the benefit of Stream LNG (a joint venture between Repsol and Gas Natural). These two first generation LNG carriers were built in 1969 in Sweden. Thanks to SCF Arctic and SCF Polar, Sovcomflot has acquired independent experience in the premium segment of the market for the transportation of liquefied natural gas. Gas carriers have successfully transported LNG from Qatar and Algeria to ports in Spain and France, and from Trinidad and Tobago to Boston. In recent years, SCF Arctic and SCF Polar have been used for regasification and ship-to-ship LNG transshipment as part of the Escobar project at the mouth of the Parana River in Argentina, thanks to which Sovcomflot now has a unique capability for Russian companies experience in these areas. Now the company hopes to use it in Gazprom’s new project in Kaliningrad to build a floating regasification terminal Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) of ice class Arc 4, which will be built at the Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard.

The eight LNG carriers in operation include the conventional Tangguh Towuti and Tangguh Batur (built in 2008 at the Daewoo Shipbuilding Marine Engineering shipyards, sailing under the flag of Singapore), Grand Elena and Grand Aniva (built in 2007 and 2008 at the shipyards of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, sailing under the flag of Cyprus) and Atlanticmax Velikiy Novgorod, Pskov, SCF Melampus, SCF Miter (built in 2014-2015 at the STX Shipbuilding shipyards, sailing under the Liberian flag). High-tech gas carriers of the Atlanticmax type, chartered under long-term contracts in the interests of Gazprom and Shell, can be used to transport liquefied natural gas from most of the world's LNG terminals, with the exception of Sabetta (Yamal LNG project). Ice class Ice 2 will not allow these vessels to be used on the Northern Sea Route. The first ice-class LNG tanker Arc 7, named Christophe de Margerie, for the Yamal LNG project was launched at the Daewoo Shipbuilding Marine Engineering shipyard at the beginning of the year, in October this year it will be handed over to Sovcomflot, and in winter navigation it should undergo ice tests with a call at the port of Sabetta. It is planned that this first Ymalmax class gas carrier, which has no analogues in the world, will sail under the Russian flag.

Sovcomflot also works with Shell within the framework of Sakhalin-2. The project operator Sakhalin Energy, together with SCF, manages the oil and gas terminal in the port of Prigorodnoye (one of the leaders in terms of transshipment volumes among Russian port terminals). The first supply of LNG to the world market of the Sakhalin-2 project was carried out on the Sovcomflot gas carrier Grand Aniva in March 2009, and in March 2015 the LNG tanker Grand Elena completed its 100th voyage from Prigorodny. In August 2015, the thousandth shipment of LNG was carried out as part of Sakhalin-2, most of it was sent on Sovcomflot gas carriers. The volume of a standard batch of liquefied natural gas is 145 thousand cubic meters. m. Now companies are making plans to develop and transfer sea and river transport in Russia to liquefied natural gas. In addition, Sovcomflot hopes that its gas carriers SCF Melampus and SCF Miter, commissioned last year, will be used to transport liquefied natural gas from the floating FLNG plant of Shell's Australian Prelude project. The deal to finance the construction of these two tankers won the competition of the industry publication Marine Money in the “Project Financing” category. The Russian company managed to attract a consortium of European banks to the project, including the Dutch ING Bank N.V. Sovcomflot's transactions have received top Marine Money awards for the fifth year in a row.

Privatization is ahead

Sovcomflot was included in the list of assets, packages in which the Russian government expects to sell in 2016 to replenish the budget. It is planned to sell a stake of 25% minus 1 share, which should bring at least 24 billion rubles to the Russian treasury. Recently, the Ministry of Economic Development appointed VTB Capital as an investment consultant for the sale of the state stake. At the same time, the bank acted as one of the organizers of the transaction for the sale of Sovcomflot Eurobonds. Seven-year bonds totaling $750 million were sold to investors. The company plans to use the funds to repurchase Eurobonds due in 2017, as well as to pay off other debt. At the end of the first quarter, Sovcomflot showed an increase in net profit by 9.2%, to $103.1 million (compared to the same period last year). For comparison, the company ended 2015 with a record figure, earning $354.5 million, which is four times more than in 2014. Sovcomflot believes that the planned privatization may negatively affect the liquidity of the state-owned company's debt securities and their prices.

The company's fleet today includes 140 vessels with a total deadweight of 12.3 million tons, including oil tankers, product carriers and shuttle tankers, gas carriers, specialized vessels (tugs, supply vessels, research vessels), and bulk carriers. The shipbuilding program includes eight vessels with a deadweight of more than 200 thousand tons - one Arctic gas carrier, four icebreaking supply vessels for offshore production platforms, three Arctic shuttle tankers. The company is strengthening its position in the segments of liquefied natural gas transportation and servicing offshore oil and gas production. In the first quarter, in addition to the Christophe de Margerie gas carrier for the Yamal LNG project, a new Sovcomflot oil tanker was launched, which will operate under a long-term agreement for oil transportation within the framework of another Arctic project “New Port” of the Gazprom Neft company "

The oil and gas industry is rightfully considered one of the most high-tech industries in the world. Equipment used for oil and gas production numbers hundreds of thousands of items, and includes a variety of devices - from elements shut-off valves, weighing several kilograms, to gigantic structures - drilling platforms and tankers, of gigantic size, and costing many billions of dollars. In this article we will look at the offshore giants of the oil and gas industry.

Gas tankers of Q-max type

The largest gas tankers in the history of mankind can rightfully be called tankers of the Q-max type. "Q" here stands for Qatar, and "max"- maximum. A whole family of these floating giants was created specifically for the delivery of liquefied gas from Qatar by sea.

Ships of this type began to be built in 2005 at the company's shipyards Samsung Heavy Industries- shipbuilding division of Samsung. The first ship was launched in November 2007. He was named "Moza", in honor of the wife of Sheikh Moza bint Nasser al-Misned. In January 2009, having loaded 266,000 cubic meters of LNG in the port of Bilbao, a vessel of this type crossed the Suez Canal for the first time.

Q-max type gas carriers are operated by the company STASCo, but are owned by the Qatar Gas Transmission Company (Nakilat), and are chartered primarily by Qatari LNG producing companies. In total, contracts for the construction of 14 such vessels have been signed.

The dimensions of such a vessel are 345 meters (1,132 feet) long and 53.8 meters (177 feet) wide. The ship is 34.7 m (114 ft) tall and has a draft of about 12 meters (39 ft). At the same time, the vessel can accommodate a maximum volume of LNG equal to 266,000 cubic meters. m (9,400,000 cubic meters).

Here are photographs of the largest ships in this series:

Tanker "Moza"- the first ship in this series. Named after the wife of Sheikh Moza bint Nasser al-Misned. The naming ceremony took place on July 11, 2008 at the shipyard Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea.

tanker« BU Samra»

Tanker« Mekaines»

Pipe-laying vessel “Pioneering spirit”

In June 2010, a Swiss company Allseas Marine Contractors entered into a contract for the construction of a vessel designed to transport drilling platforms and lay pipelines along the bottom of the sea. The ship named "Pieter Schelte", but later renamed , was built at the company's shipyard DSME (Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering) and in November 2014 departed from South Korea to Europe. The vessel was supposed to be used for laying pipes South Stream in the Black Sea.

The vessel is 382 m long and 124 m wide. Let us recall that the height of the Empire State Building in the USA is 381 m (up to the roof). The side height is 30 m. The vessel is also unique in that its equipment allows laying pipelines at record depths - up to 3500 m.

in the process of completion afloat, July 2013

at the Daewoo shipyard in Geoje, March 2014

in the final stage of completion, July 2014

Comparative sizes (upper deck area) of giant ships, from top to bottom:

• the largest supertanker in history, "Seawise Giant";
• catamaran "Pieter Schelte";
• the world's largest cruise ship "Allure of the Seas";
• the legendary Titanic.

Photo source - ocean-media.su

Floating liquefied natural gas plant "Prelude"

The following giant has comparable dimensions to the floating pipe layer - "Prelude FLNG"(from English - “floating plant for the production of liquefied natural gas “ Prelude"") - the world's first plant for the production liquefied natural gas (LNG) placed on a floating base and intended for the production, treatment, liquefaction of natural gas, storage and shipment of LNG at sea.

To date "Prelude" is the largest floating object on Earth. The closest ship in size until 2010 was an oil supertanker "Knock Nevis" 458 meters long and 69 meters wide. In 2010, it was cut into scrap metal, and the laurels of the largest floating object went to the pipelayer "Pieter Schelte", later renamed

In contrast, the platform length "Prelude" 106 meters less. But it is larger in tonnage (403,342 tons), width (124 m) and displacement (900,000 tons).

Besides "Prelude" is not a ship in the exact sense of the word, because does not have engines, having on board only a few water pumps used for maneuvering

The decision to build a plant "Prelude" was accepted Royal Dutch Shell May 20, 2011, and construction was completed in 2013. According to the project, the floating structure will produce 5.3 million tons of liquid hydrocarbons per year: 3.6 million tons of LNG, 1.3 million tons of condensate and 0.4 million tons of LPG. The weight of the structure is 260 thousand tons.

Displacement when fully loaded is 600,000 tons, which is 6 times more than the displacement of the largest aircraft carrier.

The floating plant will be located off the coast of Australia. This unusual decision to locate an LNG plant at sea was caused by the position of the Australian government. It allowed gas production on the shelf, but categorically refused to locate a plant on the shores of the continent, fearing that such proximity would adversely affect the development of tourism.

What will the gas carrier of the future be like?

The efficiency of maritime transport of Russian LNG can be significantly increased through the use of the latest technological developments.

Russia's entry into the global LNG market coincided with the advent of improved technologies for maritime transportation of liquefied gas. The first gas carriers and new generation receiving terminals, which can significantly reduce the cost of LNG transportation, have entered service. Gazprom has a unique opportunity to create its own liquefied gas transportation system using the latest achievements in this area and gain advantages over competitors who will require a long time for technical re-equipment.

Take into account advanced trends

The launch of Russia's first LNG plant on Sakhalin, preparations for the construction of an even larger production facility based on the Shtokman field and the development of a project for an LNG plant in Yamal include sea transportation of liquefied gas in the list of technologies critical for our country. This makes it relevant to analyze the latest trends in the development of LNG maritime transport, so that not only existing but also promising technologies are incorporated into the development of domestic projects.
Among the projects implemented in recent years, the following areas can be highlighted in increasing the efficiency of LNG maritime transportation:
1. Increasing the capacity of LNG tankers;
2. Increasing the share of ships with membrane-type tanks;
3. Use of diesel engines as a ship power plant;
4. Emergence of deep-sea LNG terminals.

Increasing the capacity of LNG tankers

For more than 30 years, the maximum capacity of LNG tankers did not exceed 140-145 thousand cubic meters. m, which is equivalent to a carrying capacity of 60 thousand tons of LNG. In December 2008, the LNG tanker Mozah (Fig. 1), Q-Max type, was put into operation, the lead in a series of 14 vessels with a capacity of 266 thousand cubic meters. m. Compared to the largest existing ships, its capacity is 80% greater. Simultaneously with the construction of Q-Max type tankers, orders were placed at South Korean shipyards for the construction of the 31st Q-Flex type vessel, with a capacity of 210-216 thousand cubic meters. m, which is almost 50% more than existing vessels.
According to information from Samsung Heavy Industries, at whose shipyard Mozah was built, in the foreseeable future the capacity of LNG tankers will not exceed 300 thousand cubic meters. m, which is due to the technological difficulties of their construction. However, an increase in the capacity of vessels of the Q-Max and Q-Flex types was achieved only by increasing the length and width of the hull, while maintaining the standard draft of 12 meters for large LNG tankers, which is determined by the depths at existing terminals. In the next decade, it will be possible to operate gas carriers with a draft of 20-25 m, which will increase the capacity to 350 thousand cubic meters. m and improve driving performance by improving the hydrodynamic contours of the hull. This will also reduce construction costs, since larger tankers can be built without increasing the size of docks and slipways.
When organizing LNG exports from Russia, it is necessary to evaluate the possibility of using vessels of increased capacity. Construction of ships with a capacity of 250-350 thousand cubic meters. m will reduce the unit costs of transporting Russian gas and gain a competitive advantage in foreign markets.

U increasing the share of membrane tankers

Currently, two main types of cargo tanks (tanks in which LNG is transported) are used on LNG tankers: inset spherical (Kvaerner-Moss system) and built-in prismatic membrane (Gas Transport - Technigas system). Insertable spherical tanks have a thickness of 30-70 mm (equatorial belt - 200 mm) and are made of aluminum alloys. They are installed (“nested”) into the tanker hull without connection to the hull structures, resting on the bottom of the ship through special support cylinders. Prismatic membrane tanks have a shape close to rectangular. The membranes are made of a thin (0.5-1.2 mm) sheet of alloy steel or Invar (iron-nickel alloy) and are only a shell into which liquefied gas is loaded. All static and dynamic loads are transferred through the thermal insulation layer to the ship’s hull. Safety requires the presence of a main and secondary membrane, ensuring the safety of LNG in case of damage to the main one, as well as a double layer of thermal insulation - between the membranes and between the secondary membrane and the ship's hull.
With a tanker capacity of up to 130 thousand cubic meters. meters, the use of spherical tanks is more effective than membrane tanks, in the range of 130-165 thousand cubic meters. m, their technical and economic characteristics are approximately equal; with a further increase in capacity, the use of membrane tanks becomes preferable.
Membrane tanks are approximately half the weight of spherical tanks; their shape allows the ship's hull space to be used with maximum efficiency. Due to this, membrane tankers have smaller dimensions and displacement per unit of carrying capacity. They are cheaper to build and more economical to operate, in particular due to lower port charges and fees for passage through the Suez and Panama Canals.
Currently, there are approximately equal numbers of tankers with spherical and membrane tanks. Due to the increase in capacity, in the near future membrane tankers will predominate; their share of vessels under construction and planned for construction is about 80%.
In relation to Russian conditions, an important feature of the vessels is the ability to operate in Arctic seas. According to experts, compression and shock loads that occur when crossing ice fields are dangerous for membrane tankers, which makes their operation in difficult ice conditions risky. Manufacturers of membrane tankers claim the opposite, citing calculations that membranes, especially corrugated ones, have high deformational flexibility, which prevents their rupture even with significant damage to hull structures. However, it cannot be guaranteed that the membrane will not be pierced by elements of these same structures. In addition, a ship with deformed tanks, even if they remain sealed, cannot be allowed for further operation, and replacing part of the membranes requires lengthy and expensive repairs. Therefore, designs for ice LNG tankers involve the use of inserted spherical tanks, the lower part of which is located at a considerable distance from the waterline and the underwater part of the side.
It is necessary to consider the possibility of building membrane tankers for exporting LNG from the Kola Peninsula (Teriberka). For the LNG plant in Yamal, apparently, only ships with spherical tanks can be used.

Application of diesel engines and on-board gas liquefaction units

A feature of new project ships is the use of diesel and diesel-electric units as main engines, which are more compact and economical than steam turbines. This made it possible to significantly reduce fuel consumption and reduce the size of the engine room. Until recently, LNG tankers were equipped exclusively with steam turbine units capable of utilizing natural gas evaporating from the tanks. By burning evaporated gas in steam boilers, turbine LNG tankers cover up to 70% of fuel demand.
On many vessels, including the Q-Max and Q-Flex types, the problem of LNG evaporation is solved by installing a gas liquefaction plant on board. The evaporated gas is liquefied again and returned to the tanks. An onboard installation for gas re-liquefaction significantly increases the cost of an LNG tanker, but on lines of considerable length its use is considered justified.
In the future, the problem can be solved by reducing evaporation. If for ships built in the 1980s, losses due to LNG evaporation amounted to 0.2-0.35% of the cargo volume per day, then on modern ships this figure is approximately half as much - 0.1-0.15%. It can be expected that in the next decade the level of losses due to evaporation will be reduced by another half.
It can be assumed that in conditions of ice navigation of an LNG tanker equipped with a diesel engine, the presence of an on-board gas liquefaction unit is necessary, even with a reduced level of volatility. When sailing in ice conditions, the full power of the propulsion system will be used only for part of the route, and in this case the volume of gas evaporated from the tanks will exceed the ability of the engines to utilize it.
New LNG tankers must be equipped with diesel engines. The presence of an on-board gas liquefaction unit will most likely be advisable both when operating on the longest routes, for example, to the east coast of the United States, and when operating shuttle flights from the Yamal Peninsula.

Emergence of deep-sea LNG terminals

The world's first offshore LNG receiving and regassing terminal, Gulf Gateway, became operational in 2005, also becoming the first terminal built in the United States in the last 20 years. Offshore terminals are located on floating structures or artificial islands, at a considerable distance from the coastline, often outside the territorial waters (the so-called offshore terminals). This makes it possible to reduce construction time, as well as ensure that the terminals are located at a safe distance from onshore facilities. It can be expected that the creation of offshore terminals in the next decade will significantly expand North America's LNG import capabilities. There are five terminals in the USA and there are construction projects for about 40 more, 1/3 of which are road terminals.
Offshore terminals can accommodate vessels with significant draft. Deep-water terminals, for example, Gulf Gateway, have no restrictions on vessel draft at all; other projects provide for a draft of up to 21-25 m. As an example, the BroadWater terminal project can be cited. The terminal is proposed to be located 150 km northeast of New York, in the Long Island Sound, protected from waves. The terminal will consist of a small frame-pile platform installed at a depth of 27 meters and a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), 370 meters long and 61 meters wide, which will simultaneously serve as a berth for LNG tankers with draft up to 25 meters (Fig. 2 and 3). Projects of a number of coastal terminals also provide for the processing of vessels with increased draft and a capacity of 250-350 thousand cubic meters. m.
Although not all new terminal projects will be implemented, in the foreseeable future the majority of LNG will be imported into America through terminals capable of handling LNG tankers with a draft of more than 20 m. In the longer term, similar terminals will play a prominent role in Western Europe and Japan.
The construction of shipping terminals in Teriberka capable of receiving vessels with a draft of up to 25 m will allow us to gain a competitive advantage when exporting LNG to North America, and in the future to Europe. If the Yamal LNG plant project is implemented, the shallow waters of the Kara Sea off the coast of the peninsula preclude the use of vessels with a draft of more than 10-12 meters.

Conclusions

The immediate order of 45 ultra-large LNG tankers of the Q-Max and Q-Flex types changed the prevailing ideas about the efficiency of LNG sea transportation. According to the customer of these vessels, Qatar Gas Transport Company, an increase in the unit capacity of tankers, as well as a number of technical improvements, will reduce LNG transportation costs by 40%. The cost of building ships, per unit of carrying capacity, is 25% lower. These vessels have not yet implemented the full range of promising technical solutions, in particular increased draft and improved thermal insulation of tanks.
What will the “ideal” LNG tanker of the near future be like? This will be a vessel with a capacity of 250-350 thousand cubic meters. m of LNG and a draft of more than 20 m. Membrane tanks with improved thermal insulation will reduce evaporation to 0.05-0.08% of the volume of transported LNG per day, and an on-board gas liquefaction unit will almost completely eliminate cargo losses. The diesel power plant will provide a speed of about 20 knots (37 km/h). The construction of even larger ships, equipped with a full range of advanced technical solutions, will reduce the cost of LNG transportation by half compared to the existing level, and the cost of building ships by 1/3.

Reducing the cost of shipping LNG will have the following consequences:

1. LNG will receive additional advantages over “pipe” gas. The distance at which LNG is more effective than a pipeline will be reduced by another 30-40%, from 2500-3000 km to 1500-2000 km, and for subsea pipelines - to 750-1000 km.
2. The distances for sea transportation of LNG will increase, and logistics schemes will become more complex and varied.
3. Consumers will have the opportunity to diversify sources of LNG, which will increase competition in this market.

This will be a significant step towards the formation of a single global gas market, instead of the two existing local LNG markets - Asia-Pacific and Atlantic. An additional impetus for this will be given by the modernization of the Panama Canal, which is planned to be completed by 2014-2015. Increasing the size of the lock chambers in the canal from 305x33.5 m to 420x60 m will allow the largest LNG tankers to move freely between the two oceans.
Increasing competition requires Russia to make maximum use of the latest technologies. The cost of a mistake in this matter will be extremely high. LNG tankers, due to their high cost, have been in operation for 40 years or more. By incorporating obsolete technical solutions into transport schemes, Gazprom will undermine its position in the competitive struggle in the LNG market for decades to come. On the contrary, by providing transportation between the deep-water shipping terminal in Teriberka and offshore terminals in the United States using large-tonnage vessels with increased draft, the Russian company will surpass its competitors from the Persian Gulf in terms of delivery efficiency.

The LNG plant in Yamal will not be able to use the most efficient LNG tankers due to the shallow water area and ice conditions. The best solution will probably be a feeder transportation system, with LNG transshipment through Teriberka.
The prospects for the widespread use of sea transportation for gas exports puts on the agenda the issue of organizing the construction of LNG tankers in Russia, or at least the participation of Russian enterprises in their construction. Currently, none of the domestic shipbuilding enterprises has designs, technologies and experience in constructing such vessels. Moreover, there is not a single shipyard in Russia capable of building large-tonnage ships. A breakthrough in this direction could be the acquisition by a group of Russian investors of part of the assets of the Aker Yards company, which has technologies for the construction of LNG tankers, including ice-class ones, as well as shipyards in Germany and Ukraine capable of building large-tonnage vessels.

	Grand Elena	Al Gattara (Q-Flex type)	Mozah (Q-Max type)
Year of construction
Capacity (gross register tons)
Width (m)
Side height (m)
Draft (m)
Tank volume (cubic m)
Type of tanks	spherical	membrane	membrane
Number of tanks
Propulsion system	steam turbine	diesel	The ice-class gas tanker Eduard Toll is the second tanker of the type, a series of 15 of which are being built as part of the large-scale Russian project for the production of liquefied natural gas Yamal LNG. Construction is underway in the Republic of Korea at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering shipyard. Gas carriers of this series are capable of year-round operation at temperatures down to -50 degrees Celsius. Ice reinforcements of the high Arctic category (Arc7) will allow them to independently overcome ice up to 2.1 meters thick when moving stern first. The vessels are equipped with three Azipod-type propulsion complexes with a total power of 45 MW, which is comparable to the power of a nuclear icebreaker. New membrane gas storage system GT NO 96 GW, used in cargo tanks with a total volume of 172,600 cubic meters. m, ensures safe transportation of LNG along the Northern Sea Route. According to DSME, shipping companies Mitsui OSK Lines and Teekay will receive a total of nine tankers of this series, and shipping company Dynagas will have five. The lead vessel of this series is the gas carrier (“Christophe de Margerie”), which was built in November 2016. The gas tanker Eduard Toll was built for the shipping company Teekay. Named in honor of the famous Russian traveler Baron Eduard Toll, who died during a polar expedition. In 1900-1902, polar explorers studied the sea currents of the Kara and East Siberian seas and searched for the legendary Sannikov Land. The schooner "Zarya" was damaged, and Toll and several other polar explorers who landed on Bennett Island disappeared without a trace in the ice on the way to the mainland. Gas tanker "Eduard Toll" IMO: 9750696, flag Bahamas, home port of Nassau, first steel cutting ceremony for the vessel took place in April 2016, launched in January 2017, handed over in December 2017 to the customer. Shipbuilder: Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, South Korea. Owner and operator: Teekay LNG Partners. Main characteristics: Gross tonnage 127,000 tons, deadweight 97,000 tons. Length 299.0 meters, beam 50 meters, draft 12 meters. Speed ​​in open water - 19.5 knots; speed when traveling in ice up to one and a half meters thick is 5.5 knots. RS class symbol: KM(*) Arc7 AUT1-ICS OMBO EPP ANTI-ICE LI CCO ECO-S BWM(S) BWM(T) WINTERIZATION(-50) gas carrier type 2G (methane) (Arc7 at d<=12.0 m). The new tanker is designed to transport liquefied natural gas from the Yamal LNG plant under construction; it will sail from the Arctic port of Sabetta on the shore of the Gulf of Ob in the Kara Sea to the terminal in Zeebrugge (Belgium, North Sea), where the largest LNG storage and transshipment hub is located. January 10, 2018, an independent 16-day passage in the waters of the Northern Sea Route from Cape Dezhnev to the entrance to the Gulf of Ob. According to the message dated July 06, it is in the Chukchi Sea and is following open water. The tanker left the port of Sabetta with a shipment of LNG and is heading to the Chinese port of Jiangsu Rudong. The ice part of the Northern Sea Route was crossed by the ship independently without icebreaker assistance in just 9 days. On July 19, the LNG unloading ceremony took place at the port of Jiangsu Rudong, China. The net travel time of the LNG tanker from the port of Sabetta to its destination was 19 days, The cold, which often played a decisive role in major wars involving Russia, also helps the country on the gas front. The United States, which has set itself the goal of occupying a quarter of the world LNG market and seriously displacing Russian hydrocarbons not only in Asia, but also in Europe, was faced with abnormal frosts and was forced to become importers of gas produced in Yamal. The sanctions imposed by the American authorities against the Novatek company do not prevent American companies from purchasing liquefied natural gas from the Yamal LNG plant. The polar vortex on the East Coast of the United States is to blame. Due to severe cold weather, the demand for gas in the eastern states has increased significantly, and prices have risen to $6.3 thousand per 1 thousand cubic meters. Against the backdrop of peak demand, American companies cannot transfer shale gas from other states to the region in the required volume due to the limited capacity of the internal gas pipeline and therefore were forced to go to the market for more or less favorable energy prices. Currently, the first tanker with a batch of LNG produced at the Yamal plant is being unloaded at the port of Boston. The ship arrived on the shores of New England from the British county of Kent, where the Isle of Grain terminal is located. Gas from Yamal was delivered there by the gas tanker Christophe de Margerie, the LNG was unloaded into the terminal storage, and then pumped back into the Gaselys tanker of the French company Engie. Despite the fact that even during the loading of LNG in the village of Sabetta on Yamal, the Malaysian company Petronas became the owner of the gas, and after it was resold several times, this gas remains Russian in origin. And although formally this is just a purchase on the global market, in fact the United States has become consumers of fuel from Russia. Gaselys brought the future warmth to the USA with adventures. On January 19, a little short of reaching its destination, the tanker suddenly turned around and sailed to Spain, and the next day repeated its maneuver and again headed for Boston. Engie explained such movements by weather conditions, but a number of experts and analysts suggested that the gas carrier began to “wobble” in search of a better price offer. However, even having sailed to Boston on the morning of January 24, the French tanker did not immediately moor to the shore and stood in the roadstead in the port waters for several days. On January 28, the US Coast Guard confirmed that the vessel was brought to port by tugs and a routine inspection was carried out on it. According to the Marine Traffic monitoring system, Gaselys has been in port since 9 am on Sunday. But the story with Yamal gas did not end there. Last weekend, Bloomberg, citing data from cargo tracking company Kpler SAS, reported that the Provalys tanker was preparing to depart for the US East Coast: its task was to pick up a shipment of LNG in Dunkirk, which had previously been delivered to France from Russia. According to preliminary estimates by Kpler SAS, the second French ship with LNG from the Russian Federation will reach American shores on February 15. Most likely, the new owner of Russian LNG will receive a price for its gas that is tied to spot gas prices in the New England region, currently about $10 per million Btu, and therefore such supplies remain profitable, notes Alexander Sobko, an analyst at the Energy Center at Skolkovo Business School. In addition, shipping to the US is more than half the price compared to Asia. For the past three years, the United States has purchased LNG from Trinidad and Tobago. However, due to the cold weather, we were forced to consider other options. Engie bought LNG from Dunkirk before the start of the winter season in the belief that demand could not be fully met by supplies from Trinidad. “All we knew at the time of purchase was that the cargo would come from Northwest Europe and that the LNG would be of the right quality for New England,” Carol Churchill, a spokeswoman for the Everett terminal, explained to Bloomberg. According to the Marine Traffic monitoring system, Provalys is still in Dunkirk. Considering more and more new sanctions, as well as competition for a share of the LNG market in the world, the United States would not buy Yamal gas directly from Novatek in any case, notes Ilya Zharsky, managing partner of the Veta expert group. As for pricing, even if such an agreement were concluded, direct sales would hardly be more profitable than occasional purchases of gas on the external European market, the expert believes. Earlier, the head of the Ministry of Energy, Alexander Novak, said that he did not experience euphoria or any special feelings that Russian gas had been delivered to Boston. “This is not Russian gas, Russian gas was sold. The molecules are Russian, but in fact they are the property of buyers of Russian gas. This suggests that the LNG market is global,” he said at a session of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Experts do not rule out that new adventures may await the current shipment of Yamal gas in the Atlantic. “It is possible that as the tanker moves toward the United States, prices in New England will fall, and the second tanker with Yamal LNG will turn around and continue moving in a different direction,” Sobko said. All about curtains. Design, decoration, ideas 2024 provolp.ru