Sinotrans Sarens completes Yamal LNG job

Sinotrans Sarens JV said it has recently completed the transportation and load-out of 55 modules for the Novatek-operated Yamal LNG project in Russian Artic.

Each of the modules weighed between 90 and 4.950 tonnes, with minimum dimensions of 20x10x9 metres and maximum dimensions of 43x33x45 metres.

The $27 billion Yamal LNG project is expected to start production by the end of this year. The three-train Yamal LNG plant, designed to produce about 16.5 Mtpa, will liquefy natural gas from the South Tambey field on the Yamal Peninsula in Russia’s West Siberia.

Sarens’ clients, PJOE, Qingdao McDermott Wuchuan (QMW), and CNPC Offshore Engineering Company (CPOE) were responsible for part of the construction and mobilization work on the LNG project.

In turn, they contracted Sarens to transport the modules from their fabrication area to the quayside for load-out.

After transporting the modules from the fleet base at Jinan, China, Sinotrans Sarens continuously moved the modules between job sites in Qingdao, Zhuhai, and Penglai, the Chinese JV said in a statement.

Because Sinotrans Sarens was responsible for load-out across different project sites, the schedule and planning had to be carefully coordinated.

As part of the operation, Sinotrans Sarens also had to adjust to a variety of challenges, including changes to the load-out sequence and the need to turn the modules 90°- and 180° degrees during transport, under tight space constraints, the JV said.

The Yamal LNG project will be built in three phases which are scheduled for start-up in 2017, 2018, and 2019, respectively.

Shareholders in Yamal LNG are Novatek, as the operator with a 50.1 percent stake, CNPC and Total with a 20 percent stake each and China’s Silk Road Fund with a 9.9 percent stake.