Combi oil/cargo carrier aids Russian logistics

摘要

A unique class of combined oil/dry cargo carrier optimised for Russian inland waterway navigation, but also suited to seagoing operations, has been endorsed by Lukoil, the country's largest privately owned oil group. Under a long-term contract, Lukoil subsidiary Litasco will use the 5,600dwt Balt Flot 1 for petroleum product movements from a refinery on the Volga near Nizhny Novgorod to the group's RPK-Vysotsk terminal in Leningrad Oblast. The low-profile design's dual capability to load dry freight as well as oil offers substantial scope for backhaul general and bulk cargoes. Balt Flot 1 gives first form to the RST54 project, an endeavour involving designer Maritime Engineering Bureau(MEB), of Odessa in Ukraine, Russian logistics specialist and maritime group UCL Holding, contractual shipowner BF Tanker, shipbuilder Okskaya Shipyard, and Lukoil. A series of 10 vessels is envisaged, to be completed by October 2015.