Russian tanker on new Arctic route

RUSSIA: An ice-breaking tanker docked for the first time at Russia’s Arctic port of Sabetta to test a new route that could open the ice-bound Arctic Ocean to ships carrying oil and liquefied gas.

The route is eagerly anticipated by energy firms that want to develop resources in the Arctic but face obstacles in getting oil and gas from remote and freezing fields to world markets. Environmental activists fear commercial shipping in the Arctic - now possible because climate change has thinned the ice for part of the year will allow exploitation of a region that up to now has been a pristine wilderness.

The 80,000 tonne-capacity Christophe de Margerie, an iceclass tanker fitted out to transport liquefied natural gas, docked in the icy port of Sabetta, with Russian President Vladimir Putin watching via video-link. He congratulated the crew and energy company officials gathered on the ship’s bridge, saying: ‘‘This is a big event in the opening up of the Arctic.’’

The South Korean-built vessel was not picking up a cargo on its maiden voyage, but will be used to transport gas from Russia’s Yamal LNG plant, which is near the port. The project, scheduled to start production in October, is led by Russian firm Novatek and coowned by France’s Total, and China’s CNPC and the Silk Road Fund. The ship is named after a former Total chief executive who died at a Moscow airport in 2014 when a snow-clearing tractor crossed the runway as his private jet was taking off.

The Yamal LNG consortium sees Asia as the biggest market for its gas. Shipments to China from Yamal should take about 18 days using the Northern Sea route. That journey would take vessels east through the Arctic Ocean, down through the Bering strait that separates Russia from Alaska, and into the Pacific. The alternative route involves heading west into the North Atlantic, south into the Mediterranean, then through the Suez Canal into the Indian Ocean. That would typically take about 32 days. - Reuters