OREANDA-NEWS. December 15, 2008. First crude was loaded onto Rosneft’s new 1A super ice class tanker at RN-Arkhangelsknefteprodukt’s terminal, reported the press-centre of Rosneft.

The 30 thousand tonne deadweight tanker, RN-Arkhangelsk, was built at the Factorias Vulcano shipyard in the town of Vigo, Spain, and is designed to navigate in extreme ice conditions of Arctic seas.

RN-Arkhangelsk will be key to enhancing the Company’s transshipment scheme in northwestern Russia that involves the Belokamenka floating oil terminal near Murmansk, the ultimate junction to export crude oil produced in Timan-Pechora. Previously, crude from the Arkhangelsk terminal was delivered to Belokamenka only by Samotlor shuttle tankers that fail to fully meet modern operating requirements. The new chemical tanker carries almost twice as much oil as a Samotlor vessel.

The 176 meter long and 30 meter wide double-hull tanker with a top speed of about 16 knots is able to deliver more than 1.2 million tonnes of oil annually to the Belokamenka terminal, and will contribute to enhancing safety and security of Rosneft’s northern crude shipments through Arkhangelsk.

Rosneft will operate RN-Arkhangelsk jointly with Russia’s major shipping company Sovkomflot. The tanker’s crew of 21 is led by Captain Aleksey Kudryashov who is absolutely thrilled about RN-Arkhangelsk’s advanced operational, security and environmental features. Among key advantages of the new vessel, Captain Kudryashov notes, is variable draft which facilitates berthing at the Arkhangelsk terminal.

The tanker’s debut ceremony was attended by Rosneft Vice President Igor Romashov, Deputy Head of Arkhangelsk Region Administration Dmitry Pletnev, Major of Arkhangelsk Viktor Pavlenko, RN-Arkhangelsknefteprodukt General Director Yury Anisimov, and other Company executives and officials.

According to Igor Romashov, crude oil throughput at the Arkhangelsk terminal has reached 12 mln tonnes. “Today’s milestone further confirms strategic importance of Rosneft’s tanker fleet initiative for Russia as a major player in the global market for crude and petroleum product production and marketing. This project provides a lasting contribution to enhancing environmental safety and security of hydrocarbon transport, and will become instrumental in propelling economic development of the Arkhangelsk region. The first tanker put afloat has been named RN-Arkhangelsk in acknowledgement of our close and trusting cooperation,” Mr Romashov commented.

Dmitry Pletnev and Viktor Pavlenko stressed Rosneft’s vital role in Arkhangelsk social and economic development as the city is rapidly transforming into a major national hydrocarbon transshipment hub, which brings about new investment and partnership opportunities both domestically and worldwide.