OREANDA-NEWS. October 22, 2012.  The official steel cutting ceremony for SCF Group’s second LPG carrier ordered for operation under contract to the petrochemical company SIBUR, took place on 15 October at Hyundai’s Mipo shipyard in South Korea.

In March 2012 Russia’s leading shipping company, SCF Group, signed a long-term time charter agreement with the Russian petrochemical industry leader SIBUR. The agreement is for two gas carriers to provide regular year-round transportation of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). LPG SIBUR’s export shipments are expected to begin in 2013, from the company’s own terminal at the port of Ust-Luga. The official steel cutting ceremony for the first gas carrier of this type, Sibur Voronezh, took place on 24 September 2012.

The new 20,600 cubic metre capacity LPG carriers have an innovative design, which was developed in accordance with SIBUR’s requirements and with the involvement of specialists from SCF Group. The design includes a ballast water treatment system, something which will become mandatory aboard vessels by the end of 2013. This particular feature will differentiate these new vessels from existing ones, thereby providing a competitive advantage.

To enable year-round operations in the North Atlantic region, over 25 years, additional hull reinforcement has been specified. This is based on a calculation of the vessels’ structural strength requirements, which will also significantly increase their durability in normal operating conditions. Construction of the 1B ice-class vessels (Ice3 rated by the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping) ensures their efficient operation in the low winter operating temperatures of the Baltic Sea.

The tankers are being constructed under the supervision of two classification societies – Lloyd’s Register and the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping. Delivery of the two LPG carries is scheduled for 2013.