OREANDA-NEWS. On October 4, a Nagasaki-based Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. shipyard has hosted the naming ceremony for two Sakhaklin-2 LNG carriers to be called Grand Elena and Grand Aniva, accordingly. Taking part in the ceremony was a Gazprom delegation headed by Stanislav Tsygankov, Head of the Company's International Business Department.

According to Gazprom's press service, this event is another crucial step towards securing timely start-up of Russian LNG supply to buyers in Japan, Korea and on the US West Coast. "Additionally, this also fosters the execution of a Gazprom strategy aimed at by-stage entry to the global LNG market," noted Stanislav Tsygankov.

The Sakhalin-2 project is the world's largest comprehensive oil and gas project, with the licensed reserves amounting to around 4 bboe. Grand Elena and Grand Aniva are ice-strengthened vessels designed to operate in low temperatures. The vessel construction will enable to effectuate all-year-round deliveries of hydrocarbons from Russia's first LNG plant currently under construction in the settlement of Prigorodnoye, southern Sakhalin Island.

The LNG carriers, each with a 147,000 cu m capacity, are contracted for a long-term use by Sakhalin Energy for LNG supplies to the Asia-Pacific region.