Zvezda said in a statement posted on its website on Wednesday that it held a ceremony to hand over Aleksey Kosygin to Sovocomflot.
This is the first of fifteen ice-class Arc7 carriers which will serve the sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project.
This project provides an important stimulus to develop the Russian shipbuilding industry.
Zvezda officially began construction on this 300-meter-long LNG carrier in November 2020.
In September 2023, Zvezda hosted a naming ceremony for Aleksey Kosygin.
The shipbuilder kicked off this project in a partnership with South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries and French LNG containment specialist GTT.
However, GTT ceased all of its activities in Russia in 2023 following new EU sanctions against Russia and Russian companies, including the tank design of 15 ice-breaking LNG carriers under construction at Zvezda.
Earlier this year, Samsung Heavy also terminated contracts for 10 ice-class Arc7 LNG carriers and seven shuttle tankers with Russia’s Zvezda.
Russia’s largest shipping firm Sovcomflot ordered Aleksey Kosygin directly at Zvezda.
Sovmcomflot said in a separate statement on Wednesday that the LNG carrier was built with the financial support of VEB.RF.
Novatek, Sovcomflot, and VEB.RF finalized the construction and charter deals for the other 14 vessels with Zvezda in 2020.
Arctic LNG 2
The construction of these LNG carriers will ensure year-round transport of LNG along the Northern Sea Route to the Asian Pacific region.
However, the Arctic 2 LNG project has been severy impacted by sanctions from ths EU and the US.
In August 2024, Novatek delivered the second gravity-based structure platform from its yard near Murmansk to the site of the Arctic LNG 2 project located on the Gydan peninsula.
The company completed the second GBS despite sanctions by the US and the EU related to the Arctic LNG 2 project and LNG carriers.
The first GBS left the Belokamenka yard in July 2024, and Novatek completed the installation on the underbase foundation on the seabed at the Utrenniy terminal in August.
The first and second GBS each have a capacity of about 6.6 mtpa.
According to several reports, Novatek started producing LNG at the second unit earlier this year.
Also, several reports indicate that sanctioned vessels continue to load LNG at the Arctic LNG 2 plant, with the first delivery arriving on board Arctic Mulan at PipeChina’s 6 mtpa regasification terminal in Guangxi on August 28.
In October, the UK government imposed sanctions on China’s Beihai LNG terminal, as it has been importing LNG from the sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project.
