Page 28: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (September 2014)

28 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • SEPTEMBER 2014

THE ARCTIC

Please give a brief description of the market you serve. In maritime, RS renders a full scope of classifi - cation services for ships including plan approval, survey under construction and in operation, as well as statutory surveys in compliance with international codes and conven- tions. RS is well represented with the local offi ces in major shipbuilding regions and survey stations at big ports world- wide. With a variety of ship types in class, RS nowadays is primarily focused on special purpose fl eet to support off- shore developments, along with ships intended to be oper- ated in harsh environment. With its ice class expertise, RS holds the leading position in classifi cation of icebreakers and ice class ships. Today, there are over 3500 ice strength- ened ships in class, including 30 designated icebreakers.

The experience gained through decades serves as a fi rm basis for further research and developments towards fi t for purpose improvements of ice class specifi c requirements, with particular respect to environmental safety provisions.

In the offshore realm, RS has accumulated signifi cant ex- perience in plan approval, classifi cation and survey during construction and operation of offshore oil and gas facilities intended for operation in harsh climate. RS is involved in all current Russian offshore projects, including the Arctic sea shelf development. The offshore structures under RS survey vary from fi xed ice-resistant offl oading terminal in the Arctic to 6th generation mobile offshore drilling units and subsea pipelines. And last but certainly not least, in the area of certifi cation RS carries out survey during manu- facture of materials and products in accordance with the requirements of international conventions and agreements, the RS Rules, IMO and maritime administrations’ recom- mendations.

What has been the defi ning trend or market condition that has most affected your business in the past year, and why? One of the defi ning trends of the industry in the past years is a great focus on the gas transportation tech- nologies. The leading yards develop new state-of-the-art gas carrier designs while shipowners place their orders for new LNGCs and LPGCs.

This trend affects RS, expanding its involvement in gas carriers newbuilding projects. Currently, RS is in progress of survey of large capacity LNG carriers under construc- tion for Sakhalin area, thus introducing this state-of-the- art technology into class experience. The prototype ship

Velikiy Novgorod has already been commissioned. It is an Atlanticmax gas carrier with membrane cargo tanks of 170 000 cu. m. total capacity. The machinery and equip- ment are certifi ed to operate at temperatures as low as – 30 °?. The specifi c feature of the newbuilding is a three-fuel diesel-electric propulsion plant allowing to use the LNG carried as fuel.

The use of gas as fuel will enable reduction of nitrogen and sulfur emissions to the atmosphere, which is an impor- tant step towards reduction of the maritime transport share in the environment pollution.

Arcti c Operati onAr c Oper ons

Russian Class &

When it comes to

Arctic operations, the

Russians arguably have more hands-on experience and in- vestment than any other nation. With that in mind, Mari- time Reporter spoke recently with Georgiy

Bedrik, Head of the

RS Business Devel- opment Division, for his input on RS and matters of the Arctic, maritime and off- shore.

By Greg Trauthwein

LNGC Velikiy Novgorod under construction.

MR #9 (26-33).indd 28 9/3/2014 9:52:53 AM