OREANDA-NEWS. February 20, 2009. The naming ceremony for Timofey Guzhenko, the Russian Arctic shuttle tanker of 70,000 DWT, ordered by the Sovcomflot (SCF) Group, took place on 19 February 2009.

This is the third vessel in a series of three enhanced ice-class vessels designed for seaborne transportation of oil from the Varandey oil field situated above the polar circle (operated by Naryanmarneftegaz, a joint venture of Lukoil and ConocoPhilips). The tanker was named after a prominent top manager of national maritime transport and the USSR Minister of Merchant Marine – Timofey Guzhenko.

The ceremony, which took place at the Samsung Heavy Industries Shipyards (Republic of Korea), was attended by Igor Sechin, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation; Sergey Shmatko, Minister of Energy; Denis Manturov, Deputy Minister of the Industry and Trade; Nikolay Tokarev, President of OAO "AK Transneft"; Sergey Bogdanchikov, President of OAO "NK "Rosneft"; Vladimir Pakhomov, President of the United Shipbuilding Corporation; Lyudmila Boginich, the daughter of Timofey Guzhenko; representatives of the financing banks and the Sovcomflot top managers.

All the Arctic shuttle tankers of the series owned by the SCF Group are registered in the Russian International Register of Shipping; their port of registry is St. Petersburg – the city where Sovcomflot is registered too. The ships are flying the State flag of the Russian Federation. Timofey Guzhenko will be accepted for operation on 24 February 2009 and the tanker will start regular voyages transporting crude oil from the Varandey terminal to the Port of Murmansk.

The tanker Timofey Guzhenko, built in compliance with the requirements of the Russian Register of Shipping and American Bureau of Shipping, has the following specifications:

Length on Average – 257.0m
Breadth Moulded – 34.0m
Draft Moulded – 14.0m
Service Speed (open water) – 16.0 knots

While designing the series of Arctic shuttle tankers of “Vasily Dinkov” type, the most advanced and unique technical solutions were applied which makes it possible to operate effectively in the Arctic seas year-round. Applying the DAT principle (double acting tanker) provides for high ice-breaking capacity of the ship, when moving both bow or astern, which reduces the maneuvering time and strengthens the safety of the vessel. The ship has an ice-enhanced hull structure in accordance with LU6 (1A Super) ice-class under the classification of the Russian Register of Shipping. The tanker is equipped with two Azipod propulsion system units, producing total power output equaling 20 mW, with the system of dynamic positioning in ice and with a helicopter pad.

The new tanker meets all the international requirements related to the safety of navigation and the protection of marine environment.

Similar tankers – Kirill Lavrov and Mikhail Ulyanov – designed to ship oil from “Prirazlomnoye”, another Arctic oil field (operated by Sevmornrftegaz, the subsidiary of Gazprom), also ordered by the Sovcomflot Group, are being constructed in St.Petersburg at the Admiralty Shipyards – the oldest Russian shipbuilding yard.

The tanker Timofey Guzhenko will extend the series of personalised vessels of the Group named after prominent Russian citizens, whose life and work were devoted to sea and who made significant contributions to the history of Russia.