Aframax tanker for Sovkomflot laid down at Zvezda shipyard

Bolshoy Kamen, December 3 - Neftegaz.RU. An Aframax tanker under construction for Sovkomflot has been laid down at the Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex. This is the 6th vessel in a series of 12 tankers included in Zvezda’s order portfolio. The flagman ship of the series had been launched earlier.

Zvezda Director General Sergei Tseluiko and a Sovkomflot representative placed a commemorative launch plaque over the would-be tanker’s keel during an official ceremony attended by the shipyard’s management, representatives of the client, project partners and the enterprise’s employees. The tanker is named Ocean Avenue after the main street of Vladivostok, the capital of Primorsky Krai and the Far Eastern Federal District.

An agreement on the construction and chartering of 2 oil vessels was concluded between Rosneft, Zvezda Shipyard, Arctic Leasing (a company of the VEB Leasing Group) and SKF Eco (a company of the Sovkomflot Group) at the 4th Eastern Economic Forum in September 2018. The delivery of the 1st tanker to the customer is scheduled for 2022.

Thanks to the advanced equipment, Zvezda is capable of producing state-of-the-art large-capacity vessels. The most advanced shipyard in Russia uses high-precision methods of marking, welding and cutting metal, including the laser one, as well as 3D modelling.

With the dimensions of 250 m length, 44 m width, and 114 000 tonnes deadweight, Aframax tankers will be the first vessels of this type built in Russia. They are equipped with the most advanced class A automation system. Green Aframax tankers are designed to transport crude oil in an unlimited navigation area thanks to the propulsion machinery that can run on environmentally friendly fuel, liquefied natural gas, in accordance with high environmental standards.

The Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex is constructed by the Rosneft-led Consortium. At the moment, the shipyard’s order portfolio amounts to 53 vessels. The Shipyard’s pilot throughput is provided for by Rosneft that placed an order for 28 vessels.

Zvezda’s product line will include vessels of up to 350,000 tonnes displacement, components of marine platforms, ice-class vessels, commercial vessels for cargo transportation, specialty vessels, and other types of marine equipment of any complexity, characteristics and purposes, including the equipment that had not previously produced in Russia due to the lack of required launching and hydraulic structures.