Sakhalin Energy pens 10-year charter for Ob River LNG tanker

Sakhalin Energy, the operator of Russia’s only LNG export plant, signed a 10-year charter agreement with Gazprom Marketing & Trading for the 149,700-cbm Ob River LNG carrier. 

The 2007-built vessel, owned by Dynagas LNG Partners, is under a charter agreement with Gazprom Global LNG, a unit of the Russian giant Gazprom, until May 1, 2018, and is serving Sakhalin Energy in which Gazprom holds a 50 percent plus one share stake.

In 2015, Sakhalin Energy issued a tender for the long-term charter of an ice-class LNG tanker starting from 2018. The tender was awarded to Gazprom Marketing & Trading that has chartered the vessel from Dynagas LNG Partners on a 10-year deal, starting in 2018.

The tanker is fully adapted for use at low temperatures and has a 1A FS ice class, which allows it to operate in ice conditions. According to Sakhalin Energy, this is a key condition for transporting LNG from the Sakhalin II project’s terminal in the port of Prigorodnoye all year round.

Other partners in Sakhalin Energy are Shell with a 27,5 percent stake minus one share, Mitsui with 12.5 percent stake and Mitsubishi a 10 percent stake.