First Russian-built ice-class LNG tanker to launch this year, Ifx reports

MOSCOW (Reuters) -The first Russian-built ice-class tanker for liquefied natural gas is expected to go into operation in the second half of this year at the Arctic LNG 2 plant, Interfax news agency quoted tanker group Sovcomflot as saying on Wednesday.

International sanctions over Ukraine have led to a shortage of tankers in Russia that can cut through thick ice, preventing Arctic LNG 2 from exporting cargo since the first stage of the plant started operation at the end of 2023.

The tanker, named Alexey Kosygin after a Soviet statesman, was built at the Zvezda shipyard and is due to join the fleet of vessels for the Arctic LNG 2 plant.

The tanker, already under U.S. sanctions, started sea trials at the end of last year and the final trial stage is due to begin at the end of this month.

"If all test parameters are achieved, there is a good chance that the vessel will be put into operation in the second half of this year," Sovcomflot's CEO Igor Tonkovidov told Interfax.

Russian energy company Novatek, which owns 60% of Arctic LNG 2, has said 15 Arc7 ice-class tankers that are able to cut through two-metre (6.5 ft) thick ice to transport LNG from Arctic projects, will be built at the Zvezda shipyard.

In total, Novatek has contracted 21 such tankers.

(Reporting by Oksana Kobzeva and Vladimir Soldatkin. Editing by Mark Potter)