Russia: Gazprom, Sovcomflot Discuss LNG Marine Shipping

Gazprom’s CEO Alexey Miller and Sergey Frank, Director General of Sovcomflot met at the company’s headquarters in Moscow.

“The parties discussed the cooperation in arranging marine shipping of liquefied natural gas (LNG), among other things, to Asia-Pacific markets,” Gazprom said in a statement.

In January 2012 Gazprom and Sovcomflot reached the agreement on arranging a test shipment via the Northern Sea Route to deliver Gazprom’s hydrocarbons to Asia-Pacific markets, taking into account the growing urgency for energy resources supplies to the region.

In August 2012 the SCF Amur tanker shipped for the first time Gazprom Neft’s petroleum products via a new high-latitude route within the Northern Sea Route (NSR). The tanker passed through the NSR routes in the record time of 2012 summer navigation – 7 days.

It was the fourth transit passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean through the Arctic for Sovcomflot. The Sovcomflot passages along the Northern Sea Route that commenced in 2010 went down to the world navigation history. In 2010 the SCF Baltica tanker became the first large-capacity vessel that ever passed through the Northern Sea Route loaded with petroleum products. In 2011 the Vladimir Tikhonov vessel of 163 thousand tons deadweight discovered a new high-latitude route within the Northern Sea Route and became the largest vessel ever navigated along the Arctic routes.