Russia is highlighting that its only floating storage and
regasification vessel, the Marshal Vasilevsky, recently completed its first
voyage along the North Sea Route as part of the efforts to promote the
alternate sea route. The FSRU was being used to transport LNG to India.
The 967-foot vessel, loaded 162,500 cm on LNG in an
operation lasting nearly 14 hours from the Yamal LNG facility at the port of
Sabetta. On her way to the gas terminal, the FSRU crossed the eastern section
of the Arctic operating in a slow-steaming mode with an average speed of 10
knots. While she encountered persistent fog and snow squalls, the vessel, which
is Arctic 4 ice class meaning it can travel in ice up to approximately two and
a half feet in thickness, was able to proceed without icebreaker support.
The ship’s captain, Sergey Larchenko, said “Our first
passage along the Northern Sea Route passed safely under favorable weather
conditions,” in a statement Sovcomflot managers of the vessel. “Most of the
time we navigated in clear water, in the East Siberian Sea there was
small-sized one-year ice of 1-3 points, mainly 40-70 cm thick. There were
separate ice floes up to 150 cm thick, which did not hinder navigation."
After completing the loading, the FSRU traveled along the
North Sea Route on its voyage to India. It made calls at Singapore and Colombo
before reaching the Indian port of Dabhol in about a month.
The Marshal Vasilevsky was commissioned at a high-profile
event in January 2019 attended by Vladimir Putin. The vessel, which was built
by Hyundai in South Korea, was designed to operate in its role as a gas
terminal in the Kaliningrad region. With a capacity of 174,000 cm of LNG, it
was to improve the reliability of gas supplies in the region and provide an
emergency capability in case of a disruption in the supply of LNG. The vessel
had been idle for six months before the decision to use it to transport LNG.
This latest voyage comes as Russia is reporting a continued
growth of shipments across the North Sea Route. Development of the shipping
lane is a high priority for Russia personally backed by President Putin. The
Russian Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport recently reported a 4.5
percent increase in traffic on the route so far in 2021 compared to last year.
By current calculations, traffic on the route could exceed 35 million tons in
2021 up from just under 33 million tons last year.
While volume on the route continues to climb, it is still
far short of President Putin’s goal of 80 million tons by 2024. ROSATOM, which
is responsible for infrastructure operations on the North Sea Route has said
that traffic is being built in segments. The long-term goal is to reach 150
million tons by 2030.