By Our Correspondent
Sovcomflot, Russia’s largest shipping company, and Gazprom Neft, a Russian oil company, carried out their first ship-to-ship LNG bunkering operation at the port of Ust-Luga, according to FleetMon.

It stated: “This marks the first domestic LNG bunkering operation in Russia’s transport history.
“Gazprom Neft’s bunker vessel, the Dmitry Mendeleev, successfully fueled Sovcomflot’s green series crude oil tanker, the Prospekt Koroleva. The tanker took on 1,432 cubic meters of LNG and the bunkering operation took around 4 hours.
“The Dmitry Mendeleev is Russia’s first vessel dedicated to bunkering LNG. The vessel was completed and delivered in August 2021. It is 328 feet long and can transport up to 5,800 cubic meters of LNG. The vessel has an Arc4 ice-class reinforced hull that enables it to independently navigate through one-year-old ice up to a thickness of 80 cm. The vessel also has an integrated digital system that allows it to be controlled by a crew of just one member.

“Sovcomflot and Gazprom signed an agreement in September 2021 to develop innovative technologies and use low-carbon fuels in the maritime industry. The bunkering operation was the first to be executed under the agreement.”