The Yamal LNG project is a pilot project for Russia and its Russian and international sponsors (Novatek 50.1%, Total 20.0%, CNPC 20.0% and Silk Road 9.9%) and a premiere in the LNG world. Located in Sabetta (Siberia), in a remote area with harsh environment, it's the genuine example of a pioneering project: from a vision and an official decree in 2010, the integrated project received a greenlight for its environmental impact assessment and took a Final Investment Decision in 2013. As of the end of year 2018, the Liquefaction Plant is fully in operations, a year ahead of schedule, meeting the nameplate of production, and the budget. This paper aims to present some of the marine-related aspects of the project and how the dedicated team has tackled successfully some of the challenges. As a naval architect and an Oil & Gas Engineer, the author has been part of the technical team from one of the sponsors, assisting the development of the solutions for the Yamal LNG project, from the very beginning and during several years.
The Yamal LNG project is located at Sabetta on the West bank of the Ob River, in the Yamal Peninsula (Russia), to produce the huge Gas reserves of South Tambey fields (Fig. 1). The shipping solution to ensure the safe and reliable maritime transportation year-round of the 16.5 MMtpa of LNG and 1.2 MMtpa of condensates production from the 3 train-liquefaction Plant is to build a dedicated fleet of up to 15 arctic LNG Carriers of about 170,000 m3 cargo capacity each and 2 arctic condensate tankers, with sufficient ice-class notation (Arc7) and ice-breaking capability to operate without the assistance of the Russian nuclear ice-breakers in the conditions of Barents and Kara Seas.
On top of that, a new Port had to be designed and built to accommodate these vessels in Sabetta, providing accessibility and operability year round, with the ice management being essential during most of the year. It requires:
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an optimized design of dredged channels in the north of Ob river and to access the port of Sabetta,
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a sheltering of the jetties of the port by ice protection barriers and the design of the jetties and quays to sustain the ice loads,
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a brash ice management system (BIMS),
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a customized winterization of equipment and the adequate sizing of the Port support fleet in order to ease the operations in open waters and in the ice.
