Gazprom Neft’s LNG-bunkering vessel completes sea trials
The next phase of trials will include testing of LNG loading/storage/unloading systems
Russia’s first LNG-bunkering vessel, the Dmitry Mendeleev, completed the sea trials, Gazprom Neft says in a press release.
A series of tests checked main propulsion systems of the ship, functioning of navigation equipment and control systems. The tests have confirmed the ship’s maneuvering and speed performance.
The next phase of trials will include testing of LNG loading/storage/unloading systems.
The LNG-bunkering vessel will join Gazprom Neft’s fleet in the second half of 2021. This new vessel will provide transportation and bunkering of low-tonnage LNG fuel at ports in the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea — including St Petersburg, Ust-Luga and Primorsk.
Designing the Gazprom Neft LNG-bunkering vessel has involved cutting-edge shipbuilding and LNG storage and transportation technologies, with equipment being fully compliant with international MARPOL Convention standards and ECO-S environmental certification. The vessel has been designed on the basis of “zero emissions”, with its propulsion system fuelled by LNG stripping-gas.
The vessel is 100 metres in length, 19 metres wide, and can transport up to 5,800 m3 of liquid natural gas. Its Arc4 ice-class reinforced hull means it can navigate one-year-old ice of up to 80 cm thick independently, while its integrated digital system means it can be controlled by just one crew member, directly from the navigation bridge.
“The tests conducted in the open sea confirmed high maneuvering performance of the bunkering ship allowing it operate in almost all climatic zones. Gas trials will be held in the nearest time to let the specialists test the ship’s gas equipment. According to the schedule, the Dmitry Mendeleev is to be put into operation in the second half of 2021”, said Aleksey Medvedev, General Director of Gazpromneft Marine Bunker.
According to earlier statements, Russia’s first cargo and passenger ship-to-ship LNG-bunkering vessel was set afloat in late December 2020.
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