The Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex has started cutting steel for the seventh vessel in a series of ARC 7 ice-class LNG carriers. The handover of the seventh vessel to the customer is planned for September 2024.
Contracts for the construction of 15 arctic gas carriers of the Arc7 ice class, intended for the export of cargo from the Arctic LNG-2 plant, were signed by SSK Zvezda and the companies of the VEB.RF group in December 2019-July 2020. The shipyard began cutting metal for the lead ship of the series in November 2020.
SSK Zvezda is the first Russian shipyard to implement a project for the construction of such vessels. Icebreaking LNG carriers are designed to transport liquefied natural gas and are able to operate in arctic conditions due to the reinforced Arc7 ice class and icebreaking capacity of up to 2.1 meters. These are vessels of significant weight and size characteristics: length - 300 m, width - 48.8 m, deadweight - 81,000 tons. The power plant of the vessel is 45 MW.
A distinctive feature of LNG carriers is the presence of a LNG storage system of the Mark III membrane type, the license for the construction of which the shipyard also received for the first time in the country, having successfully passed the audit of the French engineering company Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT), specializing in the development and licensing of the construction of cryogenic membrane containment systems for transportation and storage of liquefied gas.
In addition, the vessel will be equipped with three unique rudder propellers, the localization of production of which is also deployed on the territory of the SSK Zvezda at the joint venture of Rosneft Oil Company and General Electric Company VRK Plant Sapphire.
