Table: Latest Arc7 LNG ship delivers 1st cargo, another waits outside Yamal

Dynagas LNG Partners LP

18/10/2019 17:44

LONDON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - The latest vessel from a
15-strong fleet of Arc7-classed liquefied natural gas (LNG)
tankers began operations this week with another waiting outside
the Yamal LNG plant in Arctic Russia, Refinitiv shipping data
showed on Friday.
    Nikolay Urvantsev delivered its first cargo from Yamal,
operated by independent Russian gas producer Novatek  NVTK.MM ,
to France on Wednesday while Georgiy Ushakov has been stationary
just outside the entry point to the Gulf of Ob since Sunday.
    Georgiy Ushakov is one of six ice-breaking LNG tankers to
serve Yamal that is owned by a 50-50 joint venture of
U.S.-listed Teekay LNG  TGP.N  and China LNG Shipping, a unit of
COSCO Dalian.
    As such, sanctions that were imposed by the United States on
Chinese shipping companies accused of carrying Iranian oil,
including COSCO Dalian, have blocked these tankers too, Teekay
has said.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N26L2UC
    Yakov Gakkel, the last of the ice-breaking tankers ordered
by Yamal, is still close to the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine
Engineering (DSME)  042660.KS  Okpo shipyard in South Korea,
undergoing sea trials, the data showed. 
    This tanker is also owned by the Teekay-China LNG Shipping
venture.
    Novatek said last week it is considering conducting
ship-to-ship transfers in Norway of its LNG to safeguard its
operations although the issue of what the sanctions mean in
practice was up to the shipping companies to resolve.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N26T3C5
    The Arc7 tankers are critical to Yamal's ability to ship
LNG: In winter, they are the only ones able to get to the
facility to load cargoes and in the summer, the only ones able
to ship cargoes eastwards via the Northern Sea Route, when
icebergs melt enough to let them pass.
    Yamal began operations in December 2017, contributing to a
boom in LNG supplies in the past 18 months. It has exported 13.8
million tonnes of LNG so far this year, half of total U.S. LNG
exports in the same period.
        
 Vessel                         Status               Operator
 Chris. de Margerie             In operation         Sovcomflot
 Boris Vilkitsky                In operation         Dynagas
 Vladimir Rusanov               In operation         MOL
 Fedor Litke                    In operation         Dynagas
 Eduard Toll                    In operation         Teekay
 Rudolf Samoylovich             In operation         Teekay
 Vladimir Vize                  In operation         MOL
 Georgiy Brusilov               In operation         Dynagas
 Boris Davydov                  In operation         Dynagas
 Nikolay Zubov                  In operation         Dynagas
 Nikolay Yevgenov               In operation         Teekay
 Vladimir Voronin               in operation         Teekay
 Nikolay Urvantsev(DSME 2432)   in operation         MOL
 Georgiy Ushakov (DSME 2433)    At Sabetta Port      Teekay
 Yakov Gakkel (DSME 2434)       Sea trials           Teekay
 
 (Reporting by Sabina Zawadzki, editing by Louise Heavens)
 ((sabina.zawadzki@thomsonreuters.com; +44 207 542 4051;))