Russia's second new domestically-built ice-class carrier for transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) is ready to enter into service and its commissioning ceremony will take place on Thursday, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said.
Mishustin said that the ceremony for the vessel, the "Konstantin Posiet," will take place at the Zvezda shipyard in Russia's far eastern Primorsky region.
The ships are designed to be able to transport LNG from Russia's Arctic projects to Asian and other markets all year-round regardless of harsh conditions.
Zvezda, one of Russia's most advanced shipbuilding facilities, specialises in building large Arc7 ice-class tankers capable of breaking through ice up to two metres thick.
The shipyard was meant to build 15 tankers for Russia's Arctic LNG-2 project, but sanctions imposed over the conflict in Ukraine have caused delays and difficulties.
Sovcomflot, Russia's largest shipping company, took delivery of the "Alexei Kosygin," the first domestically-built ARC 7 ice-class tanker, in December of last year.
(Reporting by Oksana Kobzeva; Writing by Anastasia Teterevleva Editing by Andrew Osborn)
