Gas supertankers will break the backbone of Gazprom? “We are starting construction of a series of new LNG-fueled tankers. And with icebreaking support, in principle, it is possible for a tanker to pass eastward in winter.

development of maritime transport for the transportation of liquefied natural gas

Liquefied natural gas transportation by sea has always been only a small part of the entire natural gas industry, which requires large investments in the development of gas fields, liquefaction plants, cargo terminals and storage facilities. As soon as the first ships for the transportation of liquefied natural gas were built and proved to be reliable enough, changes in their design and the resulting risks were undesirable for both buyers and sellers, who were the main persons of the consortia.

Shipbuilders and shipowners were also not very active. The number of shipyards building to transport LNG is small, although Spain and China have recently announced their intention to begin construction.

However, the situation in the liquefied natural gas market has changed and continues to change very quickly. There are many people who want to try themselves in this business.

In the early 1950s, advances in technology made it possible to transport LNG over long distances by sea. The first vessel for the transportation of liquefied natural gas was a converted dry cargo ship " Marlin hitch», Built in 1945, in which aluminum tanks with external thermal insulation made of balsa stood freely. was renamed to " Methane pioneer”And in 1959 made its first voyage with 5000 cubic meters. meters of cargo from the USA to the UK. Despite the fact that the water that penetrated into the hold wetted the balsa, the ship worked for a long time until it was used as a floating storage facility.

the world's first gas carrier "Methane Pioneer"

In 1969, the first dedicated LNG vessel was built in the UK for flights from Algeria to England, which was named “ Methane princess». Gas carrier had aluminum tanks, a steam turbine, in the boilers of which boiled methane could be utilized.

gas carrier "Methane Princess"

Technical data of the world's first gas carrier Methane Princess:
Built in 1964 at the shipyard " Vickers Armstong Shipbuilders"For the operator company" Shell Tankers U.K.»;
Length - 189 m;
Width - 25 m;
The power plant is a steam turbine with a capacity of 13,750 hp;
Speed ​​- 17.5 knots;
Cargo capacity - 34,500 cubic meters. m of methane;

Dimensions (edit) gas carriers have changed slightly since then. In the first 10 years commercial activities, they increased from 27,500 to 125,000 cubic meters. m and later increased to 216,000 cubic meters. m. Initially, the flared gas cost the shipowners free of charge, since, due to the lack of UPSG, it had to be thrown into the atmosphere, and the buyer was one of the parties to the consortium. Delivering as much gas as possible was not the main goal as it is today. Modern contracts include the cost of the gas burned, and this falls on the shoulders of the buyer. For this reason, the use of gas as fuel or its liquefaction have become the main reasons for new ideas in shipbuilding.

design of cargo tanks of gas carriers

gas carrier

The first ships for transportation of liquefied natural gas had cargo tanks of the Conch type, but they did not become widespread. A total of six vessels were built with this system. It was based on prismatic self-supporting tanks made of aluminum with balsa insulation, which was later replaced by polyurethane foam. When building large vessels up to 165,000 cubic meters. m, the cargo tanks wanted to be made of nickel steel, but these developments were never realized, since cheaper projects were proposed.

The first membrane tanks (tanks) were built on two gas carriers in 1969. One was made of steel with a thickness of 0.5 mm, and the other was made of corrugated of stainless steel 1.2 mm thick. Perlite and PVC blocks for stainless steel were used as insulating material. Further development in the process changed the design of the tanks. The insulation was replaced with balsa and plywood panels. The second stainless steel membrane was also missing. The role of the second barrier was played by a triplex of aluminum foil, which was covered with glass on both sides for strength.

But the most popular were tanks of the "MOSS" type. The spherical containers of this system were borrowed from ships carrying petroleum gases and became widespread very quickly. The reasons for this popularity are self-sustaining, cheap insulation and building separate from the vessel.

The disadvantage of a spherical tank is the need to cool a large mass of aluminum. Norwegian company " Moss maritime"The developer of tanks like" MOSS "proposed to replace the internal insulation of the tank with polyurethane foam, but this has not yet been implemented.

Until the late 1990s, the MOSS design was dominant in the construction of cargo tanks, but in recent years, due to price changes, almost two-thirds of the ordered gas carriers have membrane tanks.

Membrane tanks are built only after launching. This is a rather expensive technology, and it also takes a rather long construction time of 1.5 years.

Since the main tasks of shipbuilding today are to increase the cargo capacity with unchanged hull dimensions and reduce the cost of insulation, currently three main types of cargo tanks are used for ships transporting liquefied natural gas: the spherical type of the tank "MOSS", the membrane type of the system "Gas Transport No. 96 "and a membrane tank of the" Technigaz Mark III "system. The CS-1 system has been developed and is being implemented, which is a combination of the above membrane systems.

spherical tanks type MOSS

membrane tanks of the Technigaz Mark III type on the LNG Lokoja gas carrier

The design of the tanks depends on the design maximum pressure and minimum temperature. Built-in tanks- are a structural part of the ship's hull and experience the same loads as the hull gas carrier.

Membrane tanks- not self-supporting, consist of a thin membrane (0.5-1.2 mm), which is supported through insulation, fitted to the inner case. Thermal loads are compensated by the quality of the membrane metal (nickel, aluminum alloys).

transportation of liquefied natural gas (LNG)

Natural gas is a mixture of hydrocarbons that, after liquefaction, forms a clear, colorless and odorless liquid. Such LNG is usually transported and stored at temperatures close to its boiling point, about -160C °.

In reality, the composition of LNG is different and depends on the source of its origin and the process of liquefaction, but the main component is, of course, methane. Other constituents can be ethane, propane, butane, pentane and possibly a small percentage of nitrogen.

For engineering calculations, of course, are taken physical properties methane, but for transmission, when an accurate calculation of thermal value and density is required, the real composite composition of LNG is taken into account.

During sea ​​passage The heat is transferred to the LNG through the tank insulation, causing part of the cargo to evaporate, the so-called boil-off. LNG composition changes by boiling, as the lighter components, which have a low boiling point, evaporate first. Therefore, the discharged LNG has a higher density than the one that was loaded, the percentage of methane and nitrogen is lower, but the percentage of ethane, propane, butane and pentane is higher.

The flammability limit of methane in air is approximately 5 to 14 percent by volume. To reduce this limit, before starting loading, the air is removed from the tanks using nitrogen to an oxygen content of 2 percent. In theory, an explosion will not occur if the oxygen content of the mixture is below 13 percent, based on the percentage of methane. The boiled-off LNG vapor is lighter than air at -110C ° and depends on the composition of the LNG. In this regard, steam will rush up above the mast and quickly dissipate. When cold vapor is mixed with ambient air, the vapor / air mixture will be clearly visible as a white cloud due to condensation of moisture in the air. It is generally accepted that the flammability limit of a vapor / air mixture does not extend too far beyond this white cloud.

filling cargo tanks with natural gas

gas processing terminal

Before loading, the inert gas is replaced with methane, since when cooled, carbon dioxide, which is part of the inert gas, freezes at a temperature of -60C ° and forms a white powder that clogs nozzles, valves and filters.

During purging, the inert gas is replaced by warm methane gas. This is done in order to remove all freezing gases and complete the drying process of the tanks.

LNG is supplied from shore through a liquid manifold where it enters a stripping line. After that, it is fed to the LNG evaporator and gaseous methane at a temperature of + 20C ° enters through the steam line to the top of the cargo tanks.

When 5 percent methane is detected at the mast inlet, the exhaust gas is directed through compressors to shore or to boilers through a gas fired line.

The operation is considered complete when the methane content measured at the top of the cargo line exceeds 80 percent of the volume. After filling with methane, the cargo tanks are cooled.

The cooling operation starts immediately after the methane filling operation. It uses LNG supplied from the shore.

The liquid enters through the cargo manifold to the spray line and then to the cargo tanks. Once the cooling of the tanks is complete, the liquid is transferred to the cargo line to cool it down. The cooling of tanks is considered complete when the average temperature, with the exception of the two upper sensors, of each tank reaches - 130C ° or below.

When this temperature is reached and there is a liquid level in the tank, loading begins. Steam generated during cooling is returned to shore using compressors or by gravity through a steam manifold.

shipment of gas carriers

Before the start of the cargo pump, all unloading columns are filled with liquefied natural gas. This is achieved using a stripping pump. The purpose of this filling is to avoid water hammer. Then, according to the manual for cargo operations, the sequence of starting the pumps and the sequence of unloading the tanks is carried out. When unloading, sufficient pressure is maintained in the tanks to avoid cavitation and have good suction on cargo pumps. This is achieved by supplying steam from the shore. If it is impossible to supply steam to the vessel from the shore, it is necessary to start the vessel's LNG evaporator. Unloading is stopped at pre-calculated levels, taking into account the remainder required to cool the tanks before arriving at the loading port.

After stopping the cargo pumps, the discharge line is drained and the steam supply from the shore stops. Purging of the coastal stern is carried out with nitrogen.

Before leaving, the steam line is purged with nitrogen until the methane content is not more than 1 percent of the volume.

gas carrier protection system

Before commissioning gas carrier, after docking or a long stay, the cargo tanks are drained. This is done in order to avoid the formation of ice during cooling, as well as to avoid the formation of corrosive substances if moisture combines with some components of the inert gas, such as sulfur and nitrogen oxides.

gas carrier tank

Drying of tanks is carried out with dry air, which is produced by an inert gas installation without fuel combustion. This operation takes about 24 hours to reduce the dew point to -20C. This temperature will help avoid the formation of corrosive agents.

Modern tanks gas carriers designed with minimal risk of load splashing. Marine tanks are designed to limit the force of liquid impact. They also have a significant margin of safety. However, the crew is always mindful of the potential risk of cargo splashing and possible damage to the tank and equipment in it.

To avoid sloshing of cargo, the lower liquid level is maintained no more than 10 percent of the tank length, and the upper level is not less than 70 percent of the tank height.

The next measure to limit the splashing of the load is to restrict movement gas carrier(pitching) and those conditions that generate splashing. The amount of splash depends on sea conditions, heel and boat speed.

further development of gas carriers

LNG tanker under construction

Shipbuilding company " Kvaerner Masa-Yards»Started production gas carriers type "Moss", which significantly improved economic indicators and became almost 25 percent more economical. New generation gas carriers allows you to increase the cargo space with the help of spherical expanded tanks, not to burn the evaporated gas, but to liquefy it with the help of a compact UPSG and significantly save fuel using a diesel-electric installation.

The principle of operation of the UPSG is as follows: methane is compressed by a compressor and sent directly to the so-called "cold box", in which the gas is cooled using a closed refrigeration loop (Brighton cycle). Nitrogen is a working cooling agent. The cargo cycle consists of a compressor, a cryogenic plate heat exchanger, a liquid separator and a methane recovery pump.

The evaporated methane is removed from the tank with an ordinary centrifugal compressor. The methane vapor is compressed to 4.5 bar and cooled at this pressure to approximately - 160C ° in a cryogenic heat exchanger.

This process condenses hydrocarbons into a liquid state. The nitrogen fraction present in the steam cannot be condensed under these conditions and remains in the form of gas bubbles in liquid methane. The next phase of separation takes place in the liquid separator, from where the liquid methane is discharged into the tank. At this time, gaseous nitrogen and partially hydrocarbon vapors are discharged into the atmosphere or burned.

Cryogenic temperature is created inside the "cold box" by the method of cyclic compression - expansion of nitrogen. Nitrogen gas at a pressure of 13.5 bar is compressed to 57 bar in a three-stage centrifugal compressor and is cooled with water after each stage.

After the last cooler, nitrogen goes to the "warm" section of the cryogenic heat exchanger, where it is cooled down to -110C °, and then expanded to a pressure of 14.4 bar in the fourth stage of the compressor - expander.

The gas leaves the expander with a temperature of about -163C ° and then enters the “cold” part of the heat exchanger, where it cools and liquefies the methane vapor. The nitrogen then flows through the “warm” part of the heat exchanger before being sucked into the three-stage compressor.

The Nitrogen Expansion Unit is a four-stage integrated centrifugal compressor with one expansion stage and contributes to a compact installation, reduced costs, improved refrigeration control and reduced energy consumption.

So, if someone wishes for gas carrier leave your resume and as they say: “ Seven feet under the keel».

The world's only icebreaking gas carrier August 23rd, 2017

There are two views of the Northern Sea Route. Supporters of the first argue that it will never become profitable and no one will use it en masse, while supporters of the second argue that this is only the beginning: the ice will melt even more and let this one be most beneficial in certain circumstances. It seems to me that while the latter are winning. It is not for nothing that such topics are thrown about

Liquefied natural gas tanker Christophe de Margerie (shipowner of PJSC Sovcomflot) successfully completed its first commercial voyage on August 17, 2017, delivering a batch of liquefied natural gas (LNG) via the Northern Sea Route (NSR) from Norway to South Korea.

During the voyage, the vessel set a new record for overcoming the NSR - 6.5 days. At the same time, "Christophe de Margerie" became the first merchant ship in the world that was able to cross the NSR without icebreaker assistance along the entire length of this route.

While crossing the NSR, the vessel covered 2,193 miles (3,530 km) from Cape Zhelaniya in the Novaya Zemlya archipelago to Cape Dezhnev in Chukotka, the extreme eastern mainland point of Russia. Exact time the transition was 6 days 12 hours 15 minutes.

During the voyage, the vessel once again confirmed its exceptional suitability for work in high latitudes. The average speed during the crossing exceeded 14 knots - despite the fact that in some sections the LNG carrier was forced to go through ice fields up to 1.2 m thick.It is noted that the total duration of the voyage from Hammerfest (Norway) to Boryeong (South Korea) with the use of the Northern Sea Route was 22 days, which is almost 30% less than it would take when crossing the traditional southern route through the Suez Canal. The flight results allowed us to once again confirm economic efficiency the use of the Northern Sea Route for the transit of large-tonnage vessels.
Christophe de Margerie is the first and so far the only icebreaking gas carrier in the world. The unique vessel was built by order of the Sovcomflot group of companies for year-round LNG transportation within the Yamal LNG project. The vessel was commissioned on March 27, 2017 after the successful completion of ice tests that took place in the Kara and Laptev seas.

The gas carrier is capable of independently breaking ice up to 2.1 m thick. The vessel has an Arc7 ice class - the highest among existing transport vessels. The capacity of the propulsion system of the gas carrier is 45 MW, which is comparable to the capacity of a modern nuclear icebreaker. The high ice-passing ability and maneuverability of the Christophe de Margerie are ensured by the Azipod-type propellers, while it became the first high-ice class vessel in the world to carry three Azipods at once.
The gas carrier is named after Christophe de Margerie, the ex-head of the Total concern. He played a key role in the development of investment decisions and the technological scheme of the Yamal LNG project and made a significant contribution to the development of Russian-French economic relations in general.

The Sovcomflot Group of Companies (SCF Group) is the largest shipping company in Russia, one of the world's leading companies in the marine transportation of hydrocarbons, as well as servicing offshore oil and gas exploration and production. Its own and chartered fleet includes 149 vessels with a total deadweight of over 13.1 million tons. Half of the vessels are ice-class.

Sovcomflot is involved in servicing large oil and gas projects in Russia and the world: Sakhalin-1, Sakhalin-2, Varandey, Prirazlomnoye, Novy Port, Yamal LNG, Tangguh (Indonesia). The head office of the company is located in St. Petersburg, representative offices are located in Moscow, Novorossiysk, Murmansk, Vladivostok, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, London, Limassol and Dubai.

sources

Gas is delivered to consumers not only through pipelines, but also in liquefied form - mostly by sea. At present, the transportation of "blue fuel" through gas pipelines and its transportation in the form of LNG are not competing segments, but only complement each other.

Why are LNG supplies needed?

Transportation of LNG is much more expensive than delivering gas via pipelines, and at first glance it may seem that the business niche associated with the transportation of liquefied gas is significantly inferior to pipeline supplies or even looks uncompetitive at all.

In particular, even at the stage of LNG production, certain production and energy capacities are required, as well as significant costs associated with the purification and cooling of raw materials. For example, only on manufacturing process an additional 25% of energy is consumed in comparison with the preparation of gas for conventional pipelines. Thus, to compress 1 thousand cubic meters of gas, it will be necessary to spend 250 cubic meters of this fuel. In addition, one should take into account the need to reverse the conversion of LNG into a gaseous state at the point of delivery, the loss of fuel both during transportation and during storage.

It requires the construction of terminals in ports, regasification plants, additional gas pipelines for the delivery of fuel after its conversion from a liquid to a gaseous state, and, of course, huge tankers. And yet, despite the obvious cost of transporting LNG in comparison with traditional delivery gas through pipes, transportation of liquefied fuel is necessary. For example, the consumers of Qatari gas are the countries of the Asia-Pacific region, and laying a gas pipeline across the ocean seems to be a technically difficult task with colossal costs.

According to experts, the cost of delivering gas by tankers is gradually becoming equal to the cost of transporting fuel through pipes as the distance from fields to destinations reaches 2,500 kilometers. Moreover, under certain conditions, tanker transportation can be even cheaper than pipeline deliveries. The dependence of the growth in the cost of LNG transportation on the increase in distance is much less than in cases associated with the need to build new trunk gas pipelines.

Also, the transportation of liquefied gas is not so rigidly tied to specific destinations - ships can enter any port adapted for receiving fuel. This is confirmed by the words of the head of the Novatek company Leonid Mikhelson. He notes that while the initial investment in LNG infrastructure is higher than in pipeline transport, shipping fuel by large tankers is profitable as a result. The top manager clarifies that we are talking, among other things, about the absence of a clear linking of the LNG business to specific buyers and about the possibility of changing sales markets.

The history of the development of the gas carrier fleet

LNG is transported by sea using special LNG carriers. Such ships can carry not only LNG (natural gas - methane), but also petroleum gases - propane and butane in liquefied form. The first gas carrier voyages date back to 1929, when Shell converted the Megara oil tanker for this purpose. She also built the Agnita ship at a Dutch shipyard, which was capable of simultaneously transporting oil, sulfuric acid and liquefied gases. The tanker cruised from the Caribbean to Western Europe.

However, the then tankers cannot be considered full-fledged gas carriers of the LNG carrier class, since they transported only liquefied petroleum gas and ammonia under pressure, but not low-temperature LNG fractions. The fact is that methane in liquefied form can only be stored at temperatures within minus 162 degrees Celsius. The technologies of that time were unable to provide such a condition for transportation.

Tanker Agnita, built 1931

For the first time, liquefied natural gas was transported in a combined way - under pressure and with cooling - only at the end of the fifties after the launch of the French gas carrier Descartes. Finally, the first full-fledged LNG tanker, the Bridgestone Maru, was built in Japan in 1961. It was designed to transport methane in insulated tanks, at normal pressure, but cooled to the boiling point.

To date, a fairly impressive fleet of LNG tankers has been built around the world. It is expected that in 2017 their number will reach 520 units. The rate of increase in the volume of construction of gas carriers is growing. In particular, it took the operators more than three decades to commission the first hundred gas tankers, and in the next seven years the fleet grew by 220 tankers at once. Now the average rate of production of gas carriers is about a hundred vessels over three to five years.

Japanese LNG tanker Bridgestone Maru

The largest producers of gas carriers are Asian companies, including Daewoo, Hyundai, Samsung, Mitsubishi, Kawasaki and Mitsui. Two-thirds of the world's gas carriers left the South Korean stocks. The demand for tankers is only increasing, which is associated with the commissioning of new capacities for the production of LNG and an increase in demand for gas. The supply volumes are impressive. For example, Pronedra wrote earlier that in just six years, liquefied gas was shipped from the Sakhalin terminals to a thousand tankers.

Q-Max class: giant tankers

The overwhelming majority of methane carriers currently produced have a capacity of 145-155 thousand cubic meters. The volume of natural gas obtained from this amount of LNG through regasification is 89–95 million cubic meters. Small class tankers are represented to a much lesser extent - with tanks designed for 18-19 thousand cubic meters of LNG.

The real colossus of the tanker industry deserve more attention - gas carriers of the Q-Max and Q-Flex classes, capable of carrying 210-266 thousand cubic meters of liquefied natural gas. Today, the largest representatives of the LNG fleet are the Q-Max vessels, the first of which, the Mozah tanker, was built at Samsung shipyards by order of the Qatar Gas Transport Company to supply LNG by Qatargas and RasGas.

Mozah - Q-Max class tanker

The ship was named after the wife of the Qatari emir. Before the commissioning of Mozah (2008), the carrying capacity of LNG tankers did not exceed 140 thousand cubic meters. Mozah's capabilities are amazing - its capacity has reached 266 thousand cubic meters of LNG. Liquefied gas in Mozah is transported in five membrane tanks. To roughly understand the scale of loading of one such gas carrier, you need to know only one thing - this amount of fuel is enough to provide electricity and heat to the entire UK continuously for one day.

The dimensions of the vessel are also striking. With a length of 345 meters and a width of 50 meters, it has a draft of 12 meters. However, the appearance of tankers with a larger draft is hardly possible, since their size and deadweight are limited by the possibility of passing through the Suez Canal. The uniqueness of the ship's design lies in the fact that it is equipped, among other things, with a unit designed to liquefy evaporating LNG, which, in turn, makes it possible to preserve 100% of the cargo along the route. Mozah was the first, but not the only LNG carrier of the project - in total, 14 Q-Max tankers were built in just two years, all by order of the Qataris. The vessels of this line were produced not only by Samsung, but also by the South Korean Daewoo.

Features of the design and operation of LNG tankers

A gas carrier of any class intended for LNG transportation requires special technical solutions at the design and construction stages. This is due to the fact that liquefied natural gas significantly differs in its properties from any other type of cargo. In particular, in addition to the above-mentioned mandatory condition for observing an ultra-low gas temperature, when creating tankers, the critical explosive and fire hazard of LNG is also taken into account.

The cargo is pumped into thermally insulated tanks. These containers are surrounded by a double layer of insulation and an additional capital shell to prevent leakage in case of damage to the main body. Surfaces in direct contact with liquefied gas are resistant to low temperatures, since they are made of steel, aluminum or Invar (nickel-iron alloy).

41% of tankers use the Moss system when the tanks are spherical. They are made using aluminum and are attached to the ship's hull along the line of their "equator". In addition, when building 47% of LNG carriers, three-membrane systems are used - for example, CS1, Technigaz and GazTransport standards. Row Japanese companies employed in the production of gas carriers prefer to install prismatic tanks.

LNG tanker with spherical tanks (Moss system): 1 - engine room; 2 - wheelhouse; 3 - spherical reservoirs; 4 - ballast

The high cost of production of gas carriers leads to the fact that when designing them, solutions are provided that initially allow the use of vessels with the most efficient work schedule for the fastest payback.

LNG tanker with three membrane tanks (GazTransport & Technigaz): 1 - engine room; 2 - wheelhouse; 3 - LNG tanks of membrane type; 4 - ballast

In particular, the design features of the ships allow full loading or unloading of a large gas carrier in a maximum of 18 hours. Besides, gas carriers are fast enough. Their speed reaches 20 knots (over 37 kilometers per hour), while conventional oil tankers cannot accelerate faster than 14 knots (26 kilometers per hour).

LNG tankers use directly transported liquefied gas as fuel for power plants. However, LNG acts as a fuel for LNG carrier engines only partially, for the most part together with traditional fuel oil. Steam turbines are installed on the tankers, which, despite their insufficiently high efficiency as propulsion systems, are at the same time "omnivorous".

The possibility of installing dual-fuel diesel engines with low pressure gas injection systems on gas carriers is considered as a promising direction. These engines run on both diesel fuel and evaporating liquid gas. They compare favorably with the possibility of flexible use of operating modes, as well as highly efficient and sufficiently safe.

Engine room with dual-fuel engines of the LNG tanker Castillo de Santisteban

In general, the main priority when designing ships for the present stage the development of shipbuilding is to achieve the maximum level of energy efficiency, which is ensured not only by the competent use of certain solutions related to fuel supply and engines, but also by the optimization of the shape of the gas carrier hull to reduce the water resistance during its movement in order to prevent speed losses and prevent an increase in fuel costs.

LNG tanker Creole Spirit

It is obvious that increasing the efficiency of transporting liquefied gas to regions where the laying of gas pipelines is unprofitable or impossible is not the business of power engineers, but primarily shipbuilders. Increasing the profitability of transportation depends on their engineering solutions and, as one of the results, enables suppliers to reduce the cost of gas, making it more affordable for consumers in terms of price.

The key aspect of life support depends on the supply of gas, as well as coal, - the production of electric and thermal energy in the regions - not only for industry, but also for household consumers, that is, ordinary citizens. Thus, the shipbuilding industry is entrusted, no less than the pipeline operators, with the mission of effectively transporting global energy security.

The world's first ice-class LNG carrier arrived at the Arctic port of Sabetta (located on the western shore of the Ob Bay of the Kara Sea) in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District. Daewoo Shipbuilding Marine Engineering (DSME) completed the construction of the vessel in South Korea in November 2016. Less than two months ago, it left the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. On February 12, the tanker Christophe de Margerie (named after the general director of Total, who died in a plane crash in 2014), fueled with a test volume of liquefied natural gas (the vessel is fueled by stripping LNG), entered the Kola Bay on its way to Murmansk. Two days later, the gas carrier continued its journey east, to the Gulf of Ob, for testing in ice conditions. The vessel will enter the Yamal Trade time charter.

According to Rosmorport, this is the first call at the port of Sabetta for vessels of this type (length - 299 meters, width - 50 meters, draft - 11 meters): “The vessel will undergo sea trials and mooring tests at the technological berth within a month. It is also planned to carry out a line-out in ice conditions in the limited space of the turning basin in the seaport water area. In addition, the technological processes loading and unloading of liquefied gas ".

Christophe de Margerie is the first of fifteen Arc7 ice-class LNG carriers for the Yamal LNG project. Capacity - 172.6 thousand cubic meters. According to Sovcomflot, in terms of power plant capacity, 45 MW, a gas carrier is comparable to a nuclear icebreaker. The tanker became the ancestor of a new type of vessels - YAMALMAX, associated with the transportation of large volumes of gas in the shallow Gulf of Ob.

LNG will be delivered from Sabetta to the Asian region by the Northern Sea Route during summer navigation. This will significantly shorten the time compared to traditional routes, as well as reduce the fuel consumption of ships and reduce harmful emissions into the atmosphere. Each ship will cost approximately $ 350 million. The schedule for commissioning the production capacity of the LNG plant provides for the supply of vessels from 2017 to 2021.

As a reminder, earlier Yamal LNG held an international tender with the participation of nine leading shipowners with relevant experience and qualified as operators of gas tankers. As a result of competitive selection, the winners: Sovcomflot (Russia), Teekay (Canada) in partnership with CLNG (China), MOL (Japan) in partnership with CSLNG (China), Dynagas (Greece) in partnership with CLNG and Sinotrans (China) ... At the same time, only a Russian company has real experience of year-round operation of shuttle tankers in the Arctic and subarctic seas - within the framework of the Sakhalin-1, Sakhalin-2, Varandey, Prirazlomnoye and Novoportovskoye projects.

The Yamal LNG liquefaction complex is being implemented by Novatek in partnership with Total (20%), CNPC (20%) and the Silk Road Fund (9.9%). The plant will be built on the resource base of the Yuzhno-Tambeyskoye field (proven and probable gas reserves - 927 billion cubic meters). The plant's capacity is 16.5 million tons of LNG, the total investment is 1.27 trillion rubles. Commissioning is scheduled for 2017. Almost the entire volume has been contracted - 96% of the future LNG volume. In November last year, the head of Novatek Leonid Mikhelson invited the Russian president Vladimir Putin for the first LNG filling, which will take place no later than November 2017.

The cold, which often played a decisive role in major wars involving Russia, helps the country on the gas front as well. The United States, which has set itself the goal of occupying a quarter of the world LNG market and seriously squeezing Russian hydrocarbons not only in Asia, but also in Europe, faced abnormal frosts and were forced to become importers of gas produced in Yamal themselves. The sanctions imposed by the US authorities against Novatek do not prevent US companies from purchasing liquefied natural gas from the Yamal LNG plant.

This is due to the polar vortex on the East Coast of the United States. Due to the extreme cold snap, the demand for gas in the eastern states has grown significantly, and prices have risen to $ 6.3 thousand per thousand cubic meters. Against the background of peak demand, American companies cannot transfer shale gas from other states to the region in the required volume due to the limited throughput of the internal gas pipeline and therefore had to go to the market for a more or less favorable energy carrier.

The first tanker with a batch of LNG produced at the Yamal plant is currently unloading at the port of Boston. The ship arrived to the shores of New England from the British county of Kent, where the Isle of Grain terminal is located. Gas from Yamal was delivered there by the gas tanker Christophe de Margerie, LNG was unloaded into the terminal's storage, and then re-pumped into the Gaselys tanker of the French company Engie.

Despite the fact that the Malaysian company Petronas became the owner of the gas during the loading of LNG in the Sabetta village on Yamal, and after it was resold several times, this gas remains Russian in origin. And although formally this is just a purchase on the global market, in fact the United States has become consumers of fuel from Russia.

Gaselys was bringing the future warmth to the USA with adventure. On January 19, shortly before reaching its destination, the tanker suddenly turned around and sailed to Spain, and the next day it repeated its maneuver and again headed for Boston. Such movements in Engie were explained by weather conditions, but a number of experts and analysts suggested that the LNG carrier began to "wag" in search of the best price offer.

However, even having reached Boston on the morning of January 24, the French tanker did not immediately dock to the shore and stood for several days in the roadstead in the port water area. On January 28, the US Coast Guard confirmed that the vessel had been taken by tugs to the port and underwent a rank-and-file inspection. According to the motion monitoring system sea ​​vessels Marine Traffic, Gaselys has been in port since 9 am Sunday.

But the story with the Yamal gas did not end there. Last weekend, Bloomberg, citing data from cargo tracking company Kpler SAS, reported that the Provalys tanker is preparing to be shipped to the US East Coast: its task is to pick up a batch of LNG in Dunkirk, which was previously delivered to France from Russia. According to preliminary estimates by Kpler SAS, the second French vessel with LNG from Russia will reach American shores on February 15.

Most likely, the new owner of Russian LNG will receive a price for his gas tied to the spot gas prices in the New England region, now it is about $ 10 per million BTU, and therefore such supplies remain profitable, says Alexander Sobko, an analyst at the Skolkovo Business School Energy Center. In addition, shipping to the United States is more than half the price of shipping to Asia.

For the past three years, the United States has purchased LNG from Trinidad and Tobago. However, due to the cold weather, they had to consider other options. Engie bought LNG from Dunkirk prior to the start of the winter season on the expectation that supply from Trinidad could not fully meet demand.

“At the time of purchase, we only knew that the cargo would come from Northwest Europe and that the LNG would be of the right quality for New England,” Carol Churchill, spokeswoman for the Everett terminal, explained to Bloomberg.

According to the marine traffic monitoring system Marine Traffic, Provalys is still in Dunkirk.

Taking into account more and more new sanctions, as well as competition for the share of the LNG market in the world, the USA would not buy Yamal gas directly from Novatek in any case, says Ilya Zharsky, managing partner of the Veta expert group. As for pricing, even if such an agreement were concluded, direct sales would hardly be more profitable than occasional purchases of gas on the external European market, the expert believes.

Earlier, the head of the Ministry of Energy Alexander Novak said that he did not feel euphoria or any special feelings that Russian gas was supplied to Boston. “This is not Russian gas, Russian gas has been sold. The molecules are Russian, but in fact they are the property of buyers of Russian gas. This suggests that the LNG market is global, ”he said at the session of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Experts do not exclude that new adventures may await the current batch of Yamal gas in the Atlantic. “It is possible that as the tanker moves to the United States, prices in New England will fall, and the second tanker with Yamal LNG will turn around and continue moving in a different direction,” Sobko said.