OREANDA-NEWS. March 23, 2011. SOGAZ Insurance Group has signed an insurance contract with LLC Gazflot,a subsidiary of LLC Gazprom engaged in offshore prospecting operations, infrastructure development at offshore oil and gas fields, product transportation by sea and other offshore operations.

Pursuant to the contract, SOGAZ will provide insurance coverage for Amazon jack-up rig (including its equipment) to be used in prospecting operations at Kharasavey gas-condensate field in the offshore area of Kara Sea in 2011. Besides, it insures civil liability of the rig’s owner, LLC Gazflot,for damage to third persons caused by the rig’s operation.

The total coverage under the contract is RUR 1.3 billion, and the insurance term is one year.

LLC Gazflot was established in 1994. The company now owns a steadily developing fleet of vessels including Amazon jack-up rig, Gazshelf crane vessel, Gazpromshelf refueling ship, Akademik Golitsyn research vessel and three supply vessels/tugs, and has two multipurpose icebreakers under operation management. Besides, late 2010 saw completion of Polyarnaya Zvezda, an advanced sixth-generation semi-submersible drilling rig, jointly by Vyborg shipyards and Samsung by order of Gazflot. A similar semi-submersible drilling rig, Severnoye Siyaniye, and Arkticheskaya jack-up rigs are scheduled for commissioning in 2011. These vessels will be used in offshore drilling operations in Russian seas.

Construction risks of Polyarnaya Zvezda and Severnoye Siyaniye semi-submersible drilling rigs have also been insured by SOGAZ.