OREANDA-NEWS. October 16, 2008. The naming ceremony for two liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers, Tangguh Batur and Tangguh Towuti, took place on 10 October 2008. The ships are equipped with membrane-type tanks, enabling them to each transport 145,700 m3 of gas. They were constructed at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering shipyard for a Russian-Japanese-Indonesian consortium of shipping companies – Sovcomflot; Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Line) and Samudera Shipping Services. The vessels will serve the international natural gas project – Tangguh (Indonesia).

At a ceremony which took place at the Daewoo shipyard in Pusan (Republic of Korea), the Russian partners were represented by Nikolay Tokarev, President of Transneft, Vladimir Pakhomov, Director General of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (OSK) and Sergey Frank, CEO of Sovcomflot.  

Delivery of the vessels to their new owners is an important stage in the Tangguh Project, which is operated by British Petroleum (BP). Over the next twenty years, Tangguh Batur and Tangguh Towuti will deliver gas to countries of the Asia-Pacific Region (APAC), mainly to the Republic of Korea and China. The importance of LNG deliveries to the APAC nations is growing annually. Implementation of the Tangguh Project is expected to contribute to the strengthening of relations in energy sector between the APAC countries.

Sergey Frank, CEO of Sovcomflot said that the participation of Sovcomflot, Russia’s largest shipping group, in the implementation of the Tangguh International Project demonstrates the growing presence of Russia’s ship owners in the region. It also underlines the fact that Sovcomflot’s standards of technical management meet the highest international industry standards, with the company now a serious player in the LNG shipping sector. Sovcomflot has the ability to be a key partner in the implementation of complex gas projects, including the provision of transportation and logistical support for offshore oil and gas production in Russia’s Far-Eastern and Arctic seas.

Fair winds and smooth sailing! This is what we say to seamen putting to sea and what we wish for Sovcomflot’s newest tankers to join the fleet of Russia’s largest shipping group.