New standby vessel for Sakhalin II project named after Evgeny Primakov
News from projects and regions
On February 3, a new multifunctional icebreaking standby vessel was named after Evgeny Primakov and the national flag of the Russian Federation was raised in a festive ceremony in St. Petersburg.
The ship is one of the best-performing vessels in its class, combining excellent maneuverability with high power and passenger capacity. Despite being relatively small, it can take onboard up to 300 people to evacuate them to the nearest port.
The vessel is designed and equipped for year-round operation in a multifunctional mode, providing oil and gas production platforms with materials and consumables, performing rescue and salvage duty, promptly responding to emergency situations and, if necessary, carrying out other underwater and above-water operations.
Permanent presence of such vessels in the Sea of Okhotsk will contribute to operational safety and reliability.
The ship will fly the Russian flag and have the home port in St. Petersburg. The crew will be made up of Russian citizens.
The festive ceremony was attended by Dmitry Rogozin, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Georgy Poltavchenko, Governor of St. Petersburg, Viktor Olersky, Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation – Head of the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport, Ole Myklestad, Production Director of Sakhalin Energy, and Sergey Frank, President and CEO of Sovcomflot.
Evgeny Primakov’s family members were the guests of honor at the ceremony. Viktoria Marich, Vice-Rector for International Relations at the Admiral Makarov State University of Maritime and Inland Shipping, was chosen as the godmother for the new vessel.
Speaking at the ceremony, Dmitry Rogozin said: “Today’s event is important in terms of preserving the memory of Evgeny Primakov. This vessel will operate in harsh environments, including ice conditions and low temperatures, overcoming heavy weather, seas and storms like Mr. Primakov did. An ordinary vessel would hardly have been named after him, but this one, which is destined to serve Russia, undoubtedly deserves it.”
Ole Myklestad, Production Director of Sakhalin Energy: “Evgeny Primakov is one of the four vessels built for the Sakhalin II project under a long-term agreement between Sakhalin Energy and Sovcomflot. I can proudly say that in the next 20 years the ship will ensure the best operating conditions and safety at our three offshore production platforms in the Sea of Okhotsk. I am convinced that the presence of those vessels in our fleet makes us stronger and bolsters our strategic positions.”
Sergey Frank, CEO of Sovcomflot: “The Far Eastern region has been a priority area for Sovcomflot’s fleet, and our company has been consistently expanding its presence here by servicing Sakhalin’s key offshore oil and gas projects. Sovcomflot has 20 vessels supporting the Sakhalin I and Sakhalin II projects. Evgeny Primakov is one of the company’s best vessels in terms of technical capacity, multifunctionality and power-to-weight ratio. This ship is the result of our long experience in operating vessels in severe ice conditions, as well as the experience of many generations of Russian seamen.”
Background
Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd. (Sakhalin Energy) is the operator of Sakhalin II, one of the world’s largest integrated oil and gas projects with massive oil and gas infrastructure for hydrocarbon production, transportation and processing. The company markets oil extracted from the deposits located in the Sea of Okhotsk and liquefied natural gas (LNG) produced at Russia’s first LNG plant built by Sakhalin Energy in the southern part of Sakhalin Island.
The project’s infrastructure includes three offshore ice-resistant platforms, the Trans-Sakhalin pipeline system encompassing 300 kilometers of offshore pipelines, an onshore gas pipeline and an onshore oil pipeline (each 800 kilometers long), an onshore processing facility, an oil export terminal, and Russia’s first (and so far the only) LNG plant accounting for over 4 per cent of the global LNG output.
The main buyers of oil and LNG produced by Sakhalin Energy are Asia-Pacific countries. At present, the company exports oil to China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, the United States, the Philippines, and Taiwan. The main LNG buyers are Japanese, South Korean and Chinese energy companies.
The shareholders of Sakhalin Energy are Gazprom (50 per cent plus one share), Royal Dutch Shell (27.5 per cent minus one share), Mitsui and Co. (12.5 per cent), and Mitsubishi Corporation (10 per cent).