Shturman Albanov, Sovcomflot’s Arctic shuttle tanker, has won the award for ‘2016 Ship of the Year’ at the international industrial Marine Propulsion Awards 2017. The winners were announced on 26 April 2017 in Amsterdam, during the European Marine Engineering Conference.
The voting was held in two stages. During the first stage, candidates were evaluated by an independent panel of judges which included representatives from the scientific community, business, the news media and marine classification societies. Sovcomflot’s tanker received a high rating from the judging panel of industry experts and was subsequently shortlisted for the award. During the second stage, selection of the winner was entrusted to the public – the award winner was been chosen based on the results of public on-line voting.
Igor Tonkovidov, Executive Vice-President and Technical Director of SCF Group, commented: “The delivery of the Shturman Albanov series of shuttle tankers to the SCF’s fleet marks the next stage in the implementation of SCF development strategy that aims to replenish the fleet with vessels which are intended for operation in harsh climatic and navigational conditions, and are specially designed to meet the specific demands of individual projects. We note with satisfaction that industry professionals justly assessed the unique solutions incorporated in the vessel’s design. Over the years, SCF Group has been focusing on development of its own engineering school, the results of which have been implemented in the last series of vessels designed to order for the company. This sets SCF apart from the bulk of its competitors”.
Shturman Albanov is the lead ship in a series of Arctic shuttle tankers ordered by SCF Group under a long-term charter contract with Gazprom Neft. They are designed to carry crude oil from the Yamal Peninsula to the port of Murmansk all year-round. Each tanker has deadweight of approximately 42,000 tonnes (tanker Shturman Albanov: 41,454.5 tonnes). Shturman Albanov is registered under the Russian flag and has Saint Petersburg as her home port.
Shturman Albanov is capable of operating in the Arctic all year-round at temperatures down to minus 45 degrees Centigrade. The Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) assigned the vessels an ice class Arc7 – the highest among the existing transport vessels.
The technical characteristics of Shturman Albanov are unique. The design of the new vessel takes into account the specific features of the waters in the Gulf of Ob, where some areas are relatively shallow and which is covered with ice from October to July.
The propulsion system of the vessel consists of two Azipod thrusters with a total capacity of 22 MW, which provides a high ice-breaking capability and good manoeuvrability in sailing through ice drifts and heavy ice fields. Shturman Albanov can pass through ice up to 1.8 metres thick. A Double Acting Tanker (DAT) function allows the use of the principle of stern-first motion. In particular, it allows the vessel to overcome hummocks and heavy ice fields. The limited draft of the vessel enables it to manoeuvre freely even in shallow waters. The vessel’s modern boiler system, instead of a traditional steam plant, uses thermal oil, which significantly increases the functionality of heating systems in subfreezing ambient conditions in the winter season of Arctic voyages. Shturman Albanov is the first large-capacity vessel with such a plant operating in the waters of the Northern Sea Route.
From technical point of view, Shturman Albanov meets the highest maritime safety standards. In December 2016, she became the first tanker to receive a Polar Ship Certificate. This Certificate confirms the vessel’s compliance with the requirements of the Polar Code that took effect on 1 January 2017. The Code was developed based on an assessment of risks specific to polar waters, and is designed to ensure the safe operation of ships and protection of the polar environment.
By the end of Q1 2017, the three sisterships (Shturman Albanov, Shturman Malygin, and Shturman Ovtsyn) has made 50 voyages between the Yamal Peninsula and Murmansk and had successfully transported almost 1.6 million tonnes of oil.
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Source: PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group)
