OREANDA-NEWS. February 08, 2010. The tanker Grand Aniva, owned by SCF Group carried the 100th shipment of Russia’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the production complex in Prigorodnoye (Sakhalin Island).

Eleven months earlier in February 2009, the LNG plant at the port of Prigorodnoye, on Sakhalin Isalnd, was officially opened and SCF Group’s tanker Grand Aniva loaded the first shipment of LNG at the port.

The prestigious LNG plant opening ceremony was attended by the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, the Prime Minister of Japan Taro Aso, the Netherlands Minister of Economic Affairs Maria van der Hoeven, His Royal Highness Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Netherlands and Japan, Russia’s Ministers and Government members, top managers of the shareholders of the Sakhalin-2 Project and representatives of the companies which buy and transport LNG from Sakhalin.
For the first time in the history of Russia’s hydrocarbons export, LNG is being delivered on a regular basis by ocean vessels to valuable new markets. The commencement of operations of the LNG plant within the Sakhalin-2 Project also brings Russia full membership of the LNG exporters’ club.
SCF Group, which started independently operating LNG tankers in 2006, was the first Russian company to enter the LNG seaborne transportation market. Besides the national hydrocarbons transportation projects, the Group is also participating in the implementation of a major international gas project – Tangguh (Indonesia), which positions the company as a major player in the LNG seaborne transportation market, with the necessary potential to provide transportation and logistics support of complex gas projects, including offshore fields.
SCF (Sovcomflot) Group – is one of Russia’s largest infrastructural enterprises. The SCF Group’s fleet comprises 147 vessels with a total deadweight (dwt) of 10.4 million tonnes. The current shipbuilding portfolio includes 15 vessels of 1.3 million tonnes dwt.
• The average age of vessels in the tanker fleet is seven years (the world average age is 12 years).
• SCF Group is a world leader in the product carrier segment; it is the second largest in the Aframax tanker segment and the fourth largest in the Suezmax tanker sector;
• The company owns the largest ice-class fleet, being No.1 in the segment of the Arctic shuttle tankers and ice-classed LNG tankers;
• The Group’s services include not only transporting hydrocarbons for its customers, but also trans-shipping crude oil via FSO facilities, terminal management and developing effective logistics for transporting energy, and providing supply vessels services to drilling rigs and offshore platforms;