EMEA News
Rosneft and Sovcomflot Ink Agreement for Five LNG-Powered Aframax Tankers
PAO Sovcomflot (SCF) yesterday announced that it has signed a set of agreements with Rosneft, the State Transport Leasing Company (STLC), and Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex (Zvezda) for the construction of five liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered Aframax tankers.
"SCF Group strives to reduce systematically the environmental impact of vessels. To this end, we are prioritising the switch to the use of LNG as a primary vessel fuel, a complex solution which we consider to be efficient both environmentally and economically," said Igor Tonkovidov, Executive Vice-President and Technical Director of Sovcomflot.
The vessels have been designed to comply with international SOx, NOx, and CO2 emission standards, including those yet to come into effect from 2020 and, amongst other areas, in the Baltic and North Seas.
The 114,000 DWT vessels are set to be jointly built by Zvezda and Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (HHI).
"We welcome the commitment of Zvezda to a project that exceeds the highest technical requirements of the market. We hope that the beginning of serial production of cutting-edge large-capacity LNG-fueled tankers in Russia will facilitate the the further development of Russia’s port infrastructure that will allow ships to be bunkered with LNG fuel at Russian ports," said Sergey Frank, President and CEO of Sovcomflot.
"We are also looking forward to seeing Russian regulators and maritime authorities continue with providing incentives for charterers, ship owners, and fleet operators who are taking real steps towards investing in green technologies."
The new vessels are slated to begin service from 2021.
