China floats out the first Yamal LNG ship
© RIA Novosti. Alexei Danichev

China floats out the first Yamal LNG ship

The first module-carrying vessel with a cargo capacity of 21,000 metric tons for the Yamal LNG project was floated out at the Cosco Dalian Shipyard in China, Arctic-Info reported. The ship, called BigRoll Barentsz, is expected to start operating on Yamal in March 2016.

The BigRoll Barentsz is the first of four ships that are being built for the Yamal LNG project. Another two will be ready in the second half of 2016 and early 2017.

All ships belong to the Dutch BigRoll Shipping company. They are designed to operate at temperatures as low as —39 Celsius, have a cargo capacity of 21,000 metric tons and a 125 by 42 meter shipping deck.

The Yamal LNG project provides for building a plant with a capacity of 16.5 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas and 1 million metric tons of gas condensate at the Yuzhno-Tambeiskoye gas field. It will be built in three stages, each for 5.5 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas a year. The first stage is due to launch in 2017.