OREANDA-NEWS. February 10, 2011.  SCF Group acquires six Aframax shuttle-tankers from Primorsk Shipping Company (PRISCO Corporation) and expands its participation in servicing the Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 projects.

Of the six crude-oil shuttle-tankers, Captain Kostichev, Viktor Titov, Zaliv Aniva, Sakhalin Island and Governor Farkhutdinov are already engaged in servicing major offshore energy projects, under long-term time charters, for the operators of the Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 projects (Exxon Neftegaz Limited and Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd.). The sixth vessel Pavel Chernysh is being operated on the spot market.

SCF’s Senior Executive Vice-President Evgeny Ambrosov said: “This market segment and the Far Eastern region are well-known to us. Six vessels of our existing fleet, including Aframax shuttle-tankers, LNG gas-carriers and offshore supply vessels are already successfully serving the Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 projects. By enhancing the Group’s fleet with these technologically advanced shuttle-tankers, Sovcomflot will further strengthen its leadership in providing transportation and logistics support for offshore energy projects. This move is fully in line with SCF Group’s Strategy, which envisages the company’s growth as the national shipping and logistics champion and a leading international operator providing comprehensive servicing of offshore field developments and offshore oil and gas production, above all in the extra harsh climatic regions of the Arctic and Subarctic. We believe that as a result of this consolidation in the transportation component of the Sakhalin projects, we shall be able to improve the quality of services offered to our customers due to the available synergies.

In addition to these six vessels, the delivery of a new Aframax tanker Suvorovsky Prospect (ice-class 1B) and three LR1 product carriers (in joint ownership with Glencore) in February-March 2011, will see the Group’s fleet increase by one million tonnes (dwt). This underscores Sovcomflot’s position as one of the world’s most dynamic growth tanker companies”.

SCF’s Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer Nikolay Kolesnikov said: “It is worth noting that with the continuing depression of the freight markets, the Group’s fleet is being expanded by ships which are already employed on long-term industrial projects with blue-chip customers and generating steady revenues and cash-flows. Following this transaction, SCF Group’s future contracted revenues will exceed USD 5 billion.”

Sovcomflot’s Executive Board Member Sergey Popravko noted: “The shuttle tankers we have acquired are among the best in their class, with an average age of about 6.5 years. Their bow-loading systems, ice class and the use of winterisation systems, enable year round transportation of hydrocarbons from the Sakhalin offshore fields. We have successfully reconciled all the issues related to technical management with our compatriots from PRISCO. We have also defined that for these ships, Sovcomflot will give preference to seafarers from the Primorsk region, who have already gained experience in the transportation of cargoes from the terminals at the ports of Prigorodnoye and De-Kastri. When the transaction is implemented, this will strengthen our Group’s role in the Maritime Cluster of the Russian Far East.”