Gazprom Neft launches second Arc 7-class tanker for year-round shipment of Novy Port oil
The Shturman (Navigator) Malygin — the second of six Arc7-class tankers built to ensure the year-round shipment of oil from the Gazprom Neft Novoportovskoye field — has been launched.
The vessel’s total cargo capacity is approximately 38,000 tonnes of oil — more than twice the Arc5-class tankers currently in use. The vessel has been designed for the climatic conditions of the Arctic and the shallow waters of the Gulf of Ob. The maximum draught of the new tanker in freshwater totals 9.5 metres. The vessel’s width and length, moreover, match those of tankers with a loading capacity twice as high.
In contrast to Arc5-class tankers, the Shturman Malygin can move independently along channels previously cut by nuclear icebreakers. The hull of the tanker has been built with high-tensile tempered steel, with extra-thick walls. The vessel is equipped with bow-loading equipment, allowing it to be anchored to receive oil from Vorota Arktiki (the Arctic Gate) terminal.
Unaccompanied by an icebreaker the vessel can, independently, negotiate ice up to 1.8 metres thick at its stern, and up to 1.4 metres thick at the bow. The tanker is equipped with a steerable propulsion unit, able to perform a
The tanker is named after the outstanding Russian maritime and polar explorer Stepan Gavrilovich Malygin, who in early 1736 led the western detachment of the Great Northern Expedition, charged with investigating the Gulf of Ob. The name Malygin is also given to the straits separating the Bely Island from the Yamal Peninsula, its northernmost headland, and the passage and anchorage point on the northern coast of the Yamal Peninsula.
Anatoly Cherner, Gazprom Neft Deputy CEO for Logistics, Processing and Sales, commented: “The Arc7-class tankers now being built are unsurpassed in Russia: their loading capacity is twice that of tankers currently in use, they are specifically designed for the conditions of the Gulf of Ob, and can independently navigate pre-cut ice channels. All of which cuts return-trip lead times and improves the overall logistical efficiency of Gazprom Neft’s operations in the Arctic.”
Tags: bunkering, Novoportovskoye field