Yamal LNG cargo transfer ongoing in Norway’s north

Yamal LNG cargo is reportedly being transferred from the Arctic LNG carrier Vladimir Rusanov to the Pskov LNG carrier just off the northern Norwegian shore. 

Citing Morten Hansen, regional director at the Norwegian Coastal Administration, Reuters reported the ship-to-ship transfer operation is being conducted in the Sarnesfjord sea area some eight kilometers from Honningsvag.

AIS data provided from VesselsValue shows both tankers being at the said location.

Novatek-operated Yamal LNG facility is currently producing from all three trains as the company informed it has fired up the third train.

Novatek deploys the Arctic Arc-7 LNG carriers to ferry the chilled fuel from the Yamal LNG facility to various destinations. These also include shipping them to the Zeebrugge LNG terminal in Belgium, or facilities in the Netherlands, France and UK where they were transshipped to conventional LNG carriers for further delivery.

The operation off Norway’s coast is being conducted by a shipping logistics company, Tschudi Arctic Transit that has previously applied for permission to conduct these operations, Hansen said.

Besides Sarnesfjord, TAT has been permitted to carry out STS transfer operations in Kafjord a few kilometers to the south of the current location.