VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
The Kirill Lavrov is the second ship in the series of Arctic, ice-class shuttle oil tankers with 70,000 tonnes deadweight.
The vessel, equipped with a 17-megawatt diesel-electric propulsion system, is 257 metres long, 34 metres wide and has a water draft of around 14 metres.
The tanker was designed to operate at extremely low temperatures and in the adverse conditions of the ice-covered Arctic shelf, which, beginning in 2010, will allow year-round shipping of crude oil from the Prirazlomnoye deposit.
The vessel is specially equipped to allow it to handle high volumes of cargo safely (up to 10,000 cubic metres per hour). A special loading system designed for Arctic use and located in the bow brings oil into the vessel and unloads it either at transhipment terminals or directly to large, sea-going tankers (Ship-to-Ship transfer). The vessel's 12 oil tanks include protective covers that effectively preserve them from the high-sulphur crude oil of the Prirazlomnoye deposit.
The ships in this series are built according to the patented Dual Action principle and can move stern-first across heavy ice and bow-first across light ice and clear waters, as they have icebreaker afts. Each tanker is fitted with two 360-degree rotable Azipod electric propeller-rudder systems, a dynamic positioning system, a helipad for a Mil Mi-8, and an oil loading system in the ship's bow.
The shape of the aft section and the structural strength of the ice belt enable the vessel to travel without icebreaker escort in winter across ice of up to 1.2 metres thick.
The technology used to build the tanker allows for comfortable working conditions and equipment operability at air temperature as low as minus 40 degrees Сelsius.
The 25-man crew is housed in individual rooms and provided with recreation rooms, a gym, a sauna with an indoor swimming pool, satellite TV and telephone and Internet access.
Technical solutions implemented in this project ensure high efficiency and safe navigation in any weather conditions in the Barents Sea, including manoeuvring in ice-covered waters to dock at oil platforms. Such vessels will help significantly increase environmental safety during the development of oil and gas deposits on continental shelves in sensitive regions like the Arctic and the Russian Far Eastern seas.
