According to the company’s website news release on September 23, Gazprom Neft and Sovcomflot successfully completed the first LNG bunkering operation in Russia. Gazprom Neft’s bunkering ship Dmitry Mendeleev refueled Sovcomflot’s green series tanker Prospekt Korolyova in the port of Ust-Luga. The tanker took on board 1,432 cubic meters of LNG, the bunkering lasted for four hours.
In September 2021, Sovcomflot and Gazprom Neft signed an agreement on cooperation in the development of innovative technologies and the use of marine fuels with a low carbon footprint in maritime transport.
Dmitry Mendeleev is the first dedicated LNG bunkering ship in Russia. Its cargo capacity is 5,800 cubic meters of LNG. It was designed in accordance with the characteristics of the Gulf of Finland and the vessel is capable of independent navigation in first-year ice up to 0.8 meters thick.
The first refueling had been preceded by an extended test program that included test docking of the bunkering ship Dmitry Mendeleev with gas-engine fuel consuming ships and coastal terminals in the Leningrad Oblast. In addition, a state environmental review conducted by Rosprirodnadzor had concluded that the LNG bunkering technologies complied with Russia’s environmental legislation.
