Vyborg Shipyard hosts keel-laying ceremony for first Novy Port ice-breaking supply vessel

Two ice-breaking vessels are to be built at the Vyborg Shipyard, to operate in the Gulf of Ob (Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region) at the Vorota Arktiki (the Arctic Gate) crude-loading terminal of the Novoportovskoye field. The vessels are designed to support crude handling, to provide ice-breaking support for tankers, and to support rescue operations, vessel towing, firefighting, and participation in oil-spill response operations. Both vessels have been designed on the principle of zero-emissions, with all solid and liquid wastes retained on board for recycling offshore. The icebreakers will be able to sustain uninterrupted operation at temperatures as low as —50ºC. Under the terms of the contract, the vessels will be delivered to Gazprom Neft before 2018. Both vessels will be registered under the Russian flag.

The icebreaker, as envisaged, with three steerable propellers (two located in the stern of the vessel and one in the bow) delivers maximum efficiency in operations under the severe climatic conditions in which the vessel will have to operate. The 21.5 MW-capacity vessel is able to operate in ice of up to two metres thick.

Gazprom Neft CEO Alexander Dyukov commented: “We will start commercial production at the Novoportovskoye field in the first quarter of 2016. Establishing a major oil-production cluster on the Yamal Peninsula demands infrastructure development, of which the icebreakers currently under construction will form a part. Ensuring year-round accessibility will, in turn, be a further driver in developing the region.”