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Yamal LNG has shipped its first million tons of LNG cargo from the Sabetta terminal high in the Russian Arctic. The milestone has been achieved in 14 shipments by the project’s specialised fleet of icebreaking LNG carriers.
The Novatek-led Yamal facility loaded its inaugural cargo on board the 172.000 m3 Christophe de Margerie on 8 December 2017. The LNG was produced by the first of three 5.5 million tonnes per annum (mta) liquefaction trains at Sabetta. The second train is expected to commence operations in Q3 2018 and the third in Q1 2019.
Christophe de Margerie is the first in a series of 15 Arc7 ice-class LNGCs being built by Daewoo Shipbuilding &. Marine Engineering to lift Yamal cargoes. Five are now in service. the other four being Boris Vilkitsky. Fedor Litke. Eduard Toll and Vladimir Rusanov.
The dual-fuel diesel-electric propulsion system on each ship. driving through three Azipod thrusters. is able to deliver 45 MW of power. comparable to the output of a nuclear-powered icebreaker. The vessels can break ice up to 2.1 m thick while proceeding in a stern-first direction. without the need for icebreaker assistance.
The ships are designed to enable the delivery of LNG eastbound along the Northern Sea Route to Asia during the July-November summer season when the Arctic ice cover is at its thinnest.
During the rest of the year the icebreaking LNGCs proceed westbound after loading at Sabetta. heading to hub terminals in Europe where cargoes can be transferred to conventional LNGCs for onward delivery to the final customer.
Yamal’s first 14 cargoes were all shipped to Europe. where the Gate. Grain. Dunkirk and Montoir terminals have acted as transfer hubs. At Gate. Grain and Dunkirk the icebreaking LNGCs discharged their cargoes to shore tanks for temporary storage until ready to be loaded onto conventional LNGCs for the final leg of the voyage.
Montoir. in contrast. has handled several direct ship-to-ship transfers. enabling rapid onward movement of the cargo. The facility has two jetties and cryogenic pipework which allows the transfer of cargoes between the two berths without using storage tanks.
Novatek reports that during the first three months of operation Sabetta Train 1’s average production rate exceeded the plant’s design capacity by 9%. The performance demonstrates that high-efficiency production rates can be achieved when liquefying natural gas in the cold conditions that prevail in an Arctic winter.
Novatek. the largest Russian independent gas producer. operates the Yamal LNG facility and owns a 50.1% share. The other stakeholders are Total. with 20%. CNPC 20% and the Silk Road Fund 9.9%.
