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activity and newbuilding deliveries that facture) cargo containment systems for — Order No. 1, a Rosneft Aframax of down-cycle for earnings I expect will followed took the market quickly back LNG vessels” built by Zvezda but need- 114,000 dwt, is due for delivery in 2019, last until late 2018, before a stronger down to earnings that barely covered ed offshore at Sabetta. At it for 50 years, or when the mega yards really take off. earnings cycle is experienced during the operations. Lately, the tanker market has GTT tech is in everyone’s LNG offering By then, the tanker market might have 2019-2021 period.” A key driver of those started to suffer the same.” — everyone’s. changed again. stronger earnings is expected to be fewer

Whatever the progress of the assem- “My forecast … is a stronger tanker newbuilding deliveries and a phase-out

Russia Builds bled expertise, Zvezda will have to ready market,” says Mr. Kilen. “The current of older vessels due to the sulfur cap.

Like the Saudis, the Russians are un- deterred. In 2016, they began in earnest a campaign to secure supplier help for a mega shipbuilding program announced in 2015. Early on, China’s Nantong

COSCO agreed a deal to deliver four cranes to the shipbuilding complex at

Bolshoi Kamen. Chinese heavy dock- yard transporters were thrown into the deal. Like Aramco, it’s oil major Rosneft penning deals to help naval repair yard

Zvezda go commercial, with Novatek doing the same for Sabetta to built a sea port, airport and fabrication facili- ties. A steel-smelting JV involving RM

Steel was formed especially for Zvezda, which is gearing up for its ? rst ship or- ders — ? ve 114,000 dwt, LNG-fuelled

Aframaxes, and four Icebreaker 7 OSVs — to be built be built by FESRC (the

Zvezda-Hyundai JV). The Aframaxes are for the HHI-design behind Shell and

SCF’ de Margerie.

Like the Saudis, the Russians have brought in the Koreans. In June 2017,

France’s GTT signed an MoU to develop membrane containment systems for LNG vessels to be built at Zvezda for Yamal

LNG’s Sabetta port, where Novatek has been trying to play the role of Rosneft and Aramco by allotting USD400 mil- lion in LNG fabrication capacity.

Arctic JVs

Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex will likely become the largest shipyard in

Russia for the $4.5 billion being spent on commercial production facilities and in- frastructure. Modern steel-cutting robot- ics are set to assist “automated lines and standard jigs and ? xtures”, as they build tankers of up to 350,000 dwt; LNG carri- ers of 250,000 cu. m. ice class OSVs and transports of up to 29,000 dwt. Phase 1 — keel-laying blocks, workshops, a coatings JV with ChemChina — sets the stage for two drydock builds and thou- sands of jobs. German IMG and Daewoo

Shipbuilding & Marine are understood to be hired to make all go smoothly at

Zvezda’s Far Eastern Shipbuilding and

Ship Repair Center, or FESRC. Also on-hand is an arctic drill-rig business of

Zvezda, Keppel and MH Wirth called

Antares.

A loose agreement with Italian Fincan- tieri to study new ship designs has also been arranged by Rosneft for Zvezda.

Ice-breaking LNG shuttle tankers might be that agreement’s pretext, as France’s

GTT has agreed to “(design and manu- www.marinelink.com 45

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