Russia Rushes to Complete Sea Trials of First Domestically-Built LNG Carrier Before Winter

Russia’s first domestically constructed LNG Carrier Aleksey Kosygin is undergoing its fourth round of sea trials in the Far East as Moscow races to ready the vessel for the upcoming winter navigation season along the Northern Sea Route (NSR).

Much of the ship’s hull was constructed by South Korean firm Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) before final assembly and buildout began at the Zvezda yard near Vladivostok. For much of the four years since the facility has struggled to finalize or replace sanctioned western technology with available alternatives. 

Aleksey Kosygin departed on initial sea trials in December 2024, three more rounds have followed since. The vessel’s commissioning has been pushed back several times. Originally anticipated in early 2025 the LNG carrier has been in and out of drydock throughout the past year.

The latest round of sea trials began last week with the vessel again departing from the Zvezda yard traveling up and down the coastal water near Nakhodka Bay at speeds up to 19 knots. The facility continues working on four other hulls delivered by SHI all in various states of completion. Industry sources indicate that Novatek still plans for the vessel to enter into service by the end of year. 

For Novatek and its Arctic LNG 2 facility on the Gydan Peninsula, the carrier’s readiness will be key to maintaining a minimum level of exports throughout winter. The project’s ability to sustain year-round deliveries has been hampered by a shortage of suitable ice-class tankers capable of transporting LNG under extreme Arctic conditions. 

The lack of shipping capacity has become one of Arctic LNG 2’s critical bottlenecks. During the winter 2024/25 Novatek was forced to fully mothball the plant for around 8 months from November last year until June of this year. Latest production figures again suggest a substantial reduction in production in recent weeks as winter sea ice makes a return to the waters of Ob Bay.

A successful commissioning of Aleksey Kosygin would provide a major logistical boost to Novatek, enabling additional volumes from the sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project to reach Asian markets even during winter conditions. The facility currently only has a single Arc7 ice-class LNG carrier at its disposal; Christophe de Margerie was transferred from the Yamal LNG project to Arctic LNG 2 earlier this summer. 

For now medium ice-class Arc4 LNG carriers, of which Novatek has four at its disposal, can still reach the plant. But their access will end in the coming weeks even with icebreaker escorts. With Aleksey Kosygin and relying on STS transfers to non ice-class vessels near Murmansk, Novatek could maintain 2-3 monthly loadings potentially exporting up to 250,000 tons of LNG per month during winter. 

The vessel’s entry into service would underline Russia’s domestic ship-building and Arctic shipping ambitions, demonstrating resilience in the face of Western sanctions that have disrupted international supply chains. But even with the Aleksey Kosygin in service, Novatek will need several more Arc7-class vessels to fully unlock the export potential of its Arctic LNG 2’s project.

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