OREANDA-NEWS. September 29, 2010. SCF Group has participated in the 9th International Investment Forum Sochi-2010. It is a tradition that the Sovcomflot (SCF) Group of companies is represented at the Sochi forum events by OJSC Novoship. This year the shipping company’s exposition was included in two different sites: the Krasnodar region exhibition hall and the Sochi Sea Terminal building.

On 17 September Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, visited SCF Group’s exposition. He was briefed on the results of the recent pioneering voyage of the tanker SCF Baltica, carrying a cargo of 70,000 tonnes of gas condensate, from Murmansk/Vitino to the People’s Republic of China along the Northern Sea Route. The voyage demonstrated the potential for large enhanced ice class ships (more than 100,000 tonnes dwt) to transit along the Northern Sea Route, almost halving the time required to transport hydrocarbons on the traditional sea route via the Suez Canal. The Sovcomflot programme for 2011 envisages a series of commercial transit voyages along the Northern Sea Route to the countries of Asia Pacific Region, by Panamax vessels (70,000 tonnes dwt) and Suezmax ships (160,000 tonnes dwt), including the sea lanes north of the Novosibirsk Islands.

The Prime Minister was informed about the developing cooperation of SCF Group with Russia’s shipbuilders – the enterprises of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC). On 14 September 2010 another Panamax Arctic shuttle tanker - Kirill Lavrov – built by the Admiralty Shipyards for Sovcomflot for the Prirazlomnoye project (project operator: Gazprom Neft Shelf), with financial support from Vnesheconombank.

Meanwhile, SCF Group and USC have completed drafting a project brief for the construction of a series of Aframax tankers (118,000 tonnes dwt) and LR2 ships (117,800 tonnes dwt). It is planned that the construction of the ships will be executed by Zvezda-DSME – a joint venture between OJSC  Far Eastern Centre of Shipbuilding and Shiprepair (part of United Shipbuilding Corporation) and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. (DSME).

Sergey Frank, Sovcomflot President and CEO, noted: “The renovation and replenishing of the Group’s fleet in Aframax and LR2 tankers market segments is in compliance with the company’s development Strategy for 2010-2015, approved by the Board of Directors. SCF Group is one of the leaders in the Aframax tanker segment. Nevertheless, we think it is necessary to continue to develop this segment , addressing first and foremost the tightening requirements of regulators and shippers towards tankers, with a focus on the safety of navigation, protection of the marine environment, saving energy and resources, as well as the growing demands of Russia’s foreign trade for seaborne energy exports.”

Roman Trotsenko, President of USC, commented: “This is first order of such scale for the Russian-Korean JV. We are pleased to continue cooperation with SCF Group. While the new shipyard in Bolshoy Kamen Bay (Primorsk region) is not functioning at full capacity, the tankers will be constructed in Korea with the participation of specialists from Russia. They will master the modern technologies of shipbuilding, so after the new yard is fully operational, it will help utilise its capacities most effectively, in order to fulfil ship owners’ orders”.

Igor Tonkovidov, Novoship President, underlined that thorough work was undertaken in selecting the ships’ optimum technical specifications and commercial contract parameters when selecting the yard. “The proposal made by the Zvezda-DSME Joint Venture, including its parameters, met our requirements. LR2 product tankers with ice class 1C, planned for construction as part of this project, are designed to carry crude oil, as well as heavy and light oil products from terminals in the Gulf of Finland, initially only from the port of Ust-Luga.”

SCF Group is one of Russia’s largest infrastructure companies with the headquarters in St. Petersburg. Its fleet comprises 148 vessels (10.7 million tonnes dwt in total). Its current shipbuilding programme includes seven vessels (about 0.6 million tonnes dwt in total):
- The company has the largest fleet for operating in ice conditions, being No.1 operator of Arctic shuttle tankers and vessels, as well as ice-classed LNG carriers.
- SCF Group is the world’s second largest company by deadweight in the product tanker industry and the Aframax segment, holding the fourth place in the Suezmax segment.
- The company provides its customers with hydrocarbon transportation services; crude-oil trans-shipment using floating oil storage vessels; services for the development of effective logistics for energy resource transportation, and specialized vessels for servicing offshore drilling and extraction platforms.
- The average age of vessel in the tanker fleet is approximately 6.5 years (with the world average age being 12 years).
- The Group has Moody’s investment credit rating (currently Baa2).