MOL inks charter contract for icebreaking LNG carriers

Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), through a wholly-owned subsidiary, has entered into charter agreements with Arctic LNG 2 for three icebreaking LNG carriers.

The three vessels will be built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) and are scheduled for delivery in 2023. The vessels will mainly transport LNG from a loading terminal on the Gydan Peninsula in the Russian Arctic to the floating storage units (FSUs) to be installed at the transshipment terminal in Kamchatka and Murmansk via the Northern Sea route.

Compared with MOL’s previous icebreaking LNG carriers, which can only sail eastbound in the Northern Sea Route during the mostly summer and autumn periods when the ice is thin, the new vessels will have a narrower beam, a hull form optimised for icebreaking, and an increased propulsion engine output which will enable the vessels to sail east via the Northern Sea Route all year round.

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