The Varandey project is a system of crude oil production and shipping in Russia’s Arctic region. Its operator is LLC LUKOIL-Trans, an affiliate of PJSC LUKOIL. The project includes the development of the Timano-Pechorskoe and other adjacent oil fields, and also the operation of an export terminal in the Varandey region of the Barents Sea.
Heavy-tonnage exports of crude oil from the Varandey terminal began in June 2008. The first transportation of oil was entrusted to Sovcomflot’s Arctic shuttle tanker the Vasily Dinkov. At the current time the complex task of shipping oil from Varandey to the Kola Bay is undertaken by three of SCF’s Arctic shuttle tankers: the Vasily Dinkov, Tomofey Guzhenko and Kapitan Gotsky. These ships, each with a deadweight of 70,000 tonnes, were constructed to Sovcomflot’s specifications in South Korea by Samsung Heavy Industries.
The first tanker in the series, the Vasily Dinkov, was added to the SCF fleet in December 2007. Its patron was Valentina Matvienko, who at that time was the Governor of St. Petersburg. All three tankers in the series are registered in the port of St. Petersburg in the Russian International Register of Vessels, and operate under the flag of the Russian Federation. The vessels are equipped with unique technological solutions, allowing them to operate effectively in the icy conditions of the Arctic Seas. Their hulls have considerable ice strengthening, correspondent to the ice class 1A Super under the classifications of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping. Each tanker is fitted with two ‘Azipod’ electric podded propulsion units with a total capacity of 20 megawatts, a dynamic positioning system, and a helicopter pad. These technological solutions provide a high ice-breaking capability in whichever way they are navigating, which significantly reduces the duration of manoeuvring procedures in ice, thus increasing the safety of navigation.
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