MOL names its third Arctic LNG carrier

Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) named the ice-breaking LNG carrier, Nikolay Urvantsev, jointly ordered by MOL and China COSCO Shipping Corporation at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in South Korea.

The Nikolay Urvantsev is the sister vessel of Vladimir Rusanov and Vladimir Vize, which started transport service in 2018 under a long-term charter contract to transport LNG for the Novatek-operated  Yamal LNG project in Russia.

The Nikolay Urvantsev is also scheduled to go into service for the Yamal LNG project following its delivery in July in DSME and an ice-breaking navigation without ice-breaker support through the Northern Sea Route towards the Yamal LNG plant at Sabetta Port in Russia, MOL said in its statement.

The construction of the vessels commenced in May 2016. The vessel not only has a high ice-breaking capability of up to 2.1 meters but also has a double-acting ice-breaking system to enable the vessel to navigate astern.

The vessel has a total length of 299 meters, a breadth of 50 meters and a 12-meter draft. It is capable of transporting up to 172,000 cubic meters of the chilled fuel.