The ropax ‘Princess Anastasia’ is to be berthed at a construction site in the Russian Arctic, near Murmansk, which has emerged as a major coronavirus hotspot.
Some of its workers will be housed on the ropax, after a woman was found dead at the site.
The construction site is near the village of Belokamenka in the Murmansk Oblast.
Over 10,000 workers are building an LNG construction facility, which will supply gas platforms for Novatek’s $20 bill Arctic LNG 2 project.
Murmansk governor Andrei Chibis reportedly told local media that around 1,080 workers at the site have tested positive for COVID-19, accounting for more than 80% of the region’s total cases.
The ‘Princess Anastasia’, which can carry 2,500 pax, was sent to Belokamenka to help control the spread of the infection. She is operated by St Peter Line, a subsidiary of Italian Moby Lines and usually operates between St Petersburg and Stockholm and Helsinki.
Governor Chibis had met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, to assure him that the Belokamenka hotspot had been ‘localised’ and workers were being treated at a mobile hospital.
“We have not stopped the project… because the project is of principal importance for the economy of the region and the entire country,” Chibis said in a media stream.
