OREANDA-NEWS. April 01, 2011. In Tokyo, Sovcomflot (SCF) President and CEO, Sergey Frank met with the Chairman of Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK), Koji Miyahara, Vice-Chairman Yasushi Yamawaki and President Yasumi Kudo, as part of the regular meetings of top managers of NYK and SCF. This meeting was focused on the development of the existing joint ventures within the Sakhalin-2 and Tangguh (Indonesia) projects and on the new forms of bilateral cooperation.

During the talks the parties discussed the issues related to the delivery of hydrocarbons, the demand for which grew sharply after the destructive Japanese earthquake which happened on 11 March 2011.
Sergey Frank explained that operational headquarters exist within Sovcomflot and the Group’s companies to provide round-the-clock monitoring, when potentially operating the fleet in risky regions. This involves assessing the areas adjacent to the high-level radiation zone and the evolving risks; the development of recommendations for the technical personnel with responsibility for fleet management, and maintaining constant contact with the fleet charterers. The safety of the ships’ crews and cargoes is the overriding priority.
Today the Group’s ships continue to make voyages to the Asia-Pacific Region on a regular basis. Two tankers of the company are in transit to Japan with cargoes of crude oil and distillate to be discharged.
NYK President, Koji Miyahara, expressed his gratitude to SCF Group for arranging a collection of funds tor distribution of families of NYK crew members who have suffered in the Japanese disaster.
History of SCF-NYK partnership
- In November 2004 the shipping consortium SCF/NYK won the right to participate in the Sakhalin-2 project as a seaborne carrier, in a tender announced by the project operating company – Sakhalin Energy. The shares in the consortium were distributed on a parity basis. Two ice-class LNG tankers – Grand Aniva and Grand Elena – were constructed for the transportation of LNG. These gas tankers are equipped with spheric cargo tanks of the Moss-Rosenberg type (145,000 mі capacity each). In February 2009 the tanker Grand Aniva loaded the first shipment of Russia’s liquefied natural gas at the terminal in the port of Prigorodnoye (Sakhalin Island). In January 2010 this tanker carried the 100th shipment of Russian LNG.
- In June 2005 the shipping consortium SCF/NYK won the tender for the transportation of the liquefied natural gas within the Indonesian Tagguh project. At present two LNG tankers of the membrane type (145,700 mі capacity each) are being operated as a part of the project.