Vast Russian natural gas resources located above the frigid Arctic circle have spawned a new generation of robust, ice-breaking LNG carriers designed with reinforced hulls, enhanced podded propulsion and vibration-resistant cargo containment technology. A steel cutting ceremony was held in April at Russia's Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex for one of the latest of these LNG carriers that will operate in temperatures of as low as -52℃ by mid-decade. Like all 15 LNG carriers being built by Zvezda in the series, the ARC7 ice-class LNG carrier is being built for a long-term, time-charter for Novatek's Arctic LNG 2 project. Designed by Zvezda with technology partner Samsung Heavy Industries, each vessel will have an overall length of 300 m, beam of 48.8 m, depth of 26 m, with a capacity of 172,600 m~3 using GTT's Mark Ⅲ membrane containment technology. This is the second of 14 to be built for Smart LNG, a joint venture between Sovcomflot and Novatek. The lead vessel of the series is owned by Sovcomflot.
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