Naming ceremony for world’s largest LNG tanker Christophe de Margerie held at port Bronka (photo)
The naming ceremony for the Arctic tanker Christophe de Margerie, the world’s largest LNG carrier (PAO Sovcomflot) has been held at MSCC Bronka (Multipurpose Sea Cargo Complex Bronka, Saint-Petersburg). As IAA PortNews correspondent reported from the ceremony, the event was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Arctic LNG tanker Christophe de Margerie, a flagship in a line of 15 similar vessels has been designed for year-round transportation of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as part of the Yamal LNG project.
The ceremony was also attended by Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov, Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin, Novatek CEO Leonid Mikhelson, Total CEO Patrick Pouyanné and Christophe de Margerie’s family members.
The vessel will bear the name of Christophe de Margerie, a French entrepreneur and former Total CEO, who died tragically in a plane crash at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport in 2014.
“Christophe de Margerie, the most modern tanker of a high ice class, will become the flagship in a line of 15 similar vessels, - Vladimir Putin said at the ceremony. - They have all been designed for Yamal LNG, a large-scale project being carried out jointly with both our French and Chinese partners. I would like to stress that this project, without exaggeration, is highly important, not only for our country, and not only for Europe: but this project, in general also contributes immensely toward the development of the world’s power industry. It serves to promote the successful development of global spaces, creates demand for innovative technology in production and transportation of hydrocarbons, and creates jobs, both in our country and abroad. Yamal LNG plays an important role in the development of the Northern Sea Route, and in the further study and exploration of the Arctic. I hope that the pace at which the project is being implemented will only grow and that all our joint plans will be, unquestionably implemented. And, of course, I am counting on the successful launch of new, promising, large-scale projects with our French, Chinese and foreign partners, as well as on our growing cooperation in the extremely rich Arctic Region.”
The vessel was built in compliance with all requirements set by the Polar Code and is notable for her environmental safety. Along with traditional fuels the vessel can use LNG boil-off. Compared with conventional heavy fuel, the use of LNG can significantly reduce the emissions of harmful gases into the atmosphere: sulphur oxides (SOx) reduced by 90%, nitrogen oxides (NOx) reduced by 80% and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions down by 15%.
The vessel’s length is 299 m, breadth - 50 m, loaded draft – 11.8 m, deadweight - 80,200 t, gross tonnage – 128,800 GRT. Her ice class Arc7 allows for breaking through ice of up to 2.1 m thick.
The construction was supervised by two classification societies: Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) and Bureau Veritas. Equipment for both navigation bridges has been supplied by Transas (Russia).
