On 3 September 2012, tanker SCF Amur, owned by SCF group (Sovcomflot) passed Cape Dezhnev completing her transit along the Northern Sea Route (NSR) with a commercial cargo of 44,000 tonnes of petroleum products owned by “Gazpromneft”. The duration of the transit was 7 days. The average speed of the tanker passing through the Arctic routes – 12.5 knots.
The MR-class vessel (deadweight 47,000 tonnes, ice class Ice-1A (Arc4) was part of a convoy escorted by the nuclear icebreaker “50 let Pobedy”. Navigation was done mostly in low visibility conditions and in relatively favorable ice conditions. Currently, the tanker arrived toto the clear water and continues its journey to Southeast Asia.
The current voyage goes withing the framework of existing long-term cooperation agreements between Sovcomflot and Gazprom. In January 2012 the two companies decided to organize a pilot voyage along the Northern Sea Route to deliver Gazprom resources to the Asia-Pacific markets.
For SCF Group it is already the fourth voyage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean through the Arctic. Started in 2010, Arctic voyages of Sovcomflot vessels became historical for the world shipping by setting a record for largest size vessel ever to navigate the Arctic routes, and the largest cargo ever carried.
The first voyagealong the NSR in August 2010 was accomplished by a large-capacity “Aframax” tanker (DWT – 115,000 tonnes) SCF Baltica. In August 2011, the Northern Sea Route was passed in record time by an even larger Sovcomflot tanker Vladimir Tikhonov (162,000 tonnes deadweight). In October 2011, tanker Mar Adriana navigated along the NSR.
The technical arrangmentsof the voyage were carried out by a team of specialists from SCF Unicom and the Sovcomflot Moscow head office,with close cooperation with State bodies.
The crew of SCF Amur consists of 25 sailors. The ice-watch is carried out by an additionalice advisor with extensive experience of sailing in ice conditions. The vessel is equipped with all available means of communication, including Iridium satellite communication system, Internet, navigation systems Glonass and GPS.
Tanker SCF Amur will reach the port ofdestinationin the second half of September.
The Master of the tanker SCF Amur Vladimir Molostvov reported on the passagethrough the NSR:
“The voyage of the tanker SCF Amur was preceded by a careful preparation, including ice-training of all the crew members, professionals with necessary experience of navigation in harsh ice conditions of the North. The team of Sovcomflot developed all possible navigation routes considering ice forecasts. In fact, the voyage went smoother than expected, due to favourable ice conditions.. However, the Arctic remains a route of a high complexity, requiring a high level ofpreparation, professionalism of the crew and additional security measures, which were fullyassured by the crew of SCF Amur.”
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Source: SCF Group, September 10, 2012