The Sabetta seaport can handle 50 million metric tons of freight each year, Dmitry Kobylkin, Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area Governor, told the TASS news agency.

"In 2016, the port is expected to handle five million metric tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG), and this amount will reach 16 million metric tons by 2018. In all, the port can handle 50 million metric tons of freight per year," he noted.

The port is being built under the Yamal LNG project with an annual capacity of 16.5 million metric tons using the Yuzhno-Tambeiskoye gas field on the Yamal Peninsula.

Currently, Sabetta functions as an all-season freight port and receives construction materials and production modules for the planned LNG plant. Special-purpose terminals for loading LNG and gas condensate onto tankers will be built there. The port is to receive the first LNG tankers in 2017.