ST.PETERSBURG, January 18 (AVN) - The ice-class tanker Kaliningrad has passed tests successfully and is fully ready for handover to the customer, the LUKoil Arctic Tanker JSO, the Military News Agency learned on Thursday.
The vessel was built by the local Admiralteiskie Verfi shipyard that had already made two tankers for LUKoil Arctic Tanker - the Astrakhan, supplied to the customer in March 2000, and the Magas, supplied in July that year, a spokesman for the shipyard's administration told the Agency. The Kaliningrad's construction took 1.5 years. It was set afloat on August 15, 2000, and put up for sea trials in December.
The three tankers have the cargo capacity of 20,000t each. They are intended for transportation of up to four types of cargoes simultaneously, including crude oil, oil products, gas condensate, vegetable oil and animal fat. The vessels can be controlled automatically by means of computers. Their length is 155m, width 24m, range up to 8,000 miles and speed on ice-free water 14.2 knots.
The tankers are capable of breaking flat land-ice up to 50cm think at the speed of two knots. Their safety in Arctic voyages is ensured by hull reinforcements, double bottom between bulkheads and double boards in the cargo tank area.
The Kaliningrad fully proved its design specifications during sea trials, the spokesman said. The trials featured a test of the fuel loading system, though the fuel was replaced by water.
Admiralteiskie Verfi is making another two ice-class tankers for LUKoil Artic Tanker. They will feature an additional longitudinal partition that will help enhance the vessel's stability and speed of loading and unloading.
According to expert estimates, an Astrakhan-class tanker made in St. Petersburg costs some USD30m. Construction of a similar vessel in western Europe would have cost LUKoil USD6m-7m more.