Sovcomflot held a keel-laying ceremony in Russia's Far East for a new icebreaking LNG carrier

Bolshoy Kamen, August 23 - Neftegaz.RU.A keel-laying ceremony was held at the Zvezda shipbuilding complex, in Russia's Far Eastern Primorsky Region, for the new icebreaking LNG carrier ordered by SCF Group for the Arctic LNG 2.

This is the 1^st vessel in a series of 14 new icebreaking LNG carriers ordered by SMART LNG, a JV between Sovcomflot and NOVATEK.
In total, Zvezda is contracted to build 15 such carriers, with the lead vessel in the series ordered by SCF directly and the remaining sister ships ordered by SMART LNG.

The vessel is scheduled for delivery in 2023.
The keel has been laid in line with the contractual schedule.
Vessels of the new series are designed for year-round LNG transportation in the challenging conditions of the Northern Sea Route.
They are assigned the highest ice class, Arc7.

Importantly, these vessels will have increased icebreaking capabilities and manoeuvrability in ice compared with the 1^st generation of icebreaking LNG carriers (Christophe de Margerie series).
The new series of gas carriers are 300 m long, 48.8 m wide, and will have a cargo capacity of 172,600 m³.