The world's first ice class LNG carrier, Christophe de Margerie arrived in Zeebrugge on 20th January 2017 and stayed at Fluxys LNG terminal for a series of scheduled operations till 3rd February 2017.

 

The vessel was recently completed at the yard of South Korean Daewoo Shipbuilding Marine Engineering (DSME) and has moored at the Zeebrugge LNG terminal during its maiden trip for purging & cooling down its cargo tanks and loading a small volume of LNG. The carrier will continue its sea trials afterward, setting sail to the Yamal peninsula in Siberia to undertake an ice performance testing program. All going well the vessel will than be serving the Yamal LNG production terminal under construction in Sabetta and will be deployed to serve the 20-year contract signed by Yamal Trade, a unit of Yamal LNG, and Fluxys LNG for transshipment of up to 8 million tons of LNG per year at the port of Zeebrugge, Belgium, to support year-round LNG deliveries from the Yamal Peninsula to Asian-Pacific markets. Currently, a 5th LNG storage tank and additional process facilities are under construction at the Zeebrugge LNG terminal to provide these services.

 

The vessel has been designed and built for the Yamal LNG project to perform year-round navigation through the Arctic to its destination markets. The vessel icebreaking ability allowing it to proceed through ice up to 2.1 m thick. A fleet of 15 similar vessels will be serving the Yamal LNG production terminal and will call on a regular basis at the Zeebrugge LNG terminal to perform transshipment operations to conventional LNG carriers for further redelivery to destinations including Asia.

 

Billed as the most powerful LNG carrier on the water, the azipod-propelled Christophe de Margerie is named for the Total chairman and chief executive killed in a plane crash in Moscow in 2014.

 

The 2016-built, 172,000 cbm vessel is classed by the Russian Maritime Register and Bureau Veritas. It will be managed by ship operator Sovcomflot.

 

Hoppe Ship Agencies has been appointed to take care of all agency services in Zeebrugge. 

 

 

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