Russia’s first LNG bunkering tanker for cargo and passenger vessel refuelling, ‘Dmitry Mendeleev’ under construction for Gazprom Neft, was launched from the shipyard last month.
The shipyard completed the main stage of the vessel’s construction, including assembling the hull and installing LNG fuel tanks and other auxiliary systems, in record time.
She has been moved to the fitting out quay for final fitting of the navigation systems and controls, and the installation of key equipment rooms.
Sea trials are planned for spring this year and she will join Gazprom Neft’s fleet in the second half of 2021.
The new vessel will provide LNG fuel shipments and bunkering at ports in the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea, including St Petersburg, Ust-Luga and Primorsk.
Her equipment will be fully compliant with international MARPOL standards and an ECO-S environmental certification. The vessel was designed to operate on zero emissions, with her propulsion system fuelled by LNG stripping-gas.
‘Dmitry Mendeleev’ is 100 m in length, 19 m wide, and can transport up to 5,800 cu m of LNG. Its Arc4 Ice Class reinforced hull means it can navigate in one-year-old ice of up to 80 cm thick independently, while its integrated digital system allows the vessel to be controlled by just one crew member, directly from the navigation bridge.
“Its environmental and performance characteristics are going to see liquid natural gas becoming one of the main motor fuels in the medium term, in considerable demand in international shipping.
“Our company was the first in Russia to initiate a project on building a LNG-powered vessel for bunkering. This is a key stage in developing domestic eco-friendly shipping. Completing the construction and commissioning of our own high-tech LNG-bunkering vessel next year will mark another major step forward here,” said Anatoly Cherner, Deputy CEO for Logistics, Processing and Sales, Gazprom Neft.
