Russia Sends LNG Through Northern Sea Route

 

The Russian supertanker Christophe de Margerie is en route to South Korea, sailing the Northern Sea Route with a load of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Norway.

 

The shipment is a major step for Russia’s Sovcomflot to enter the global gas transportation market said the report. The Northern Sea Route cuts the travel time from Europe to Asia by a hefty 40 percent and the Christophe de Margerie will cover this distance in just 15 days.

 

Sovcomflot has 128 tankers and 13 LNG transport ships. This is about four percent of the global gas transporting fleet, however Russia’s share of this market is currently increasing. It means that Russia was now pitching itself as an important transporter of European gas to Asia.

 

The Christophe de Margerie does not need icebreakers to sail along the Northern Sea Route as it is able to cut through two meters of pack ice.

 

Russian companies want to be more than just LNG transporters and Gazprom is going to build an LNG plant on Sakhalin Island and an additional one on the Baltic Sea.