Offshore staff
ZURICH, Switzerland – ABB has secured a contract to supply electrical power and propulsion systems for the first of 16 Yamal LNG carriers. The contract, which includes options to equip 15 further vessels, is part of a project to transport LNG from the Yamal peninsula in Northwest Siberia to Asia and Europe.
A consortium of partners, headed by Russian gas producerNovatek, has joined the Yamal project to open up gas from the Yamal peninsula, which is located inside the Arctic Circle and locked in ice for most of the year.
The LNG will be shipped out of Sabetta port using the new 170,000-cu-m (6 million-cu-ft) LNG carriers built to ice-breaking capability of ARC 7, an ice-class scale that goes up to 9. Shipment will be made to Asia via the Northern Sea Route in summer months.
The new building program has been awarded toDaewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME), in South Korea. ABB’s scope of supply includes turbochargers, generators, switchboards, transformers, electric drives, propulsion control, and the Azipod propulsion units that will power the vessels through the arctic conditions.
The design will allow ship operations in temperatures as low as -50°C (-58°F). By using Azipod propulsion units, the ship will move ahead in open water and in moderate ice conditions, and astern to cut through heavy ice. This facilitates ship operations predominantly without ice-breaker escort.
06/17/2014
