Arctic LNG Carriers Delivered: RS Class
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Monday, November 20, 2017
The construction of a series of Arctic LNG carriers under the technical supervision of Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) is in progress: in November “Boris Vilkitsky” and “Fedor Litke” gas carriers were delivered to the customer and the keel of a new gas carrier was laid.
A series of 15 LNG carriers unique in design, is being constructed as part of the implementation of the large-scale RF liquefied natural gas production project Yamal LNG. The construction site is Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering shipyard in the Republic of Korea.
The new gas carriers are capable of all year round operation at temperatures up to – 50 °С. High ice class Arc7 allows them to navigate independently in the ice of up to 2,1 m thick when moving astern.
The ships are equipped with three Azipod propulsion units of 45 MW joint capacity, which is comparable to the capacity of a nuclear icebreaker. A new membrane-type gas containment system GT NO96 GW used in cargo tanks with a total capacity of 172,600 m3, ensures safe LNG transportation through the Northern Sea Route.
The delivered ships are named after Boris Andreyevich Vilkitsky (1885 - 1961) and Fedor Petrovich Litke (1797 - 1882), the celebrated Russian navigators, explorers of the Arctic.