Gazprom Neft and Rosatom Will Join Efforts to Decarbonize Shipping on the Northern Sea Route
Gazprom Neft and the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom have agreed to jointly implement the Euro-Asian Container Transit (EACT) project. It is aimed at creating the first regular container line for transit cargo transportation between the eastern and western parts of Eurasia via the Northern Sea Route. At the Eastern Economic Forum, a memorandum of cooperation was signed by Rosatom Business Development Director Ekaterina Lyakhova, Gazprom Neft Marine Bunker General Director Anton Sobolev and Gazprom Neft Shipping General Director Dmitry Zaikin.
The agreement provides for interaction between Rosatom and Gazprom Neft on the issue of studying the conditions for bunkering the EACT fleet with marine fuel with a low carbon footprint, including liquefied natural gas. Cooperation between the companies will improve the environmental safety and sustainability of the first Arctic container line, and will also contribute to the decarbonization of shipping in the Arctic.
Gazprom Neft is a leader in environmentally friendly bunkering in Russia, in particular in ports serving the Northern Sea Route. The company was the first in the country to bring to market fuel with a sulfur content below 0.1%, intended for special shipping areas. Since 2022, with the help of Russia’s first LNG bunkering ship, Dmitry Mendeleev has been refueling marine transport with environmentally friendly liquefied natural gas. The company also provides shipowners with the opportunity to refuel marine transport with fuel based on biocomponents.
“Decarbonization of shipping on the strategic transport route of the Northern Sea Route is one of the key tasks for participants in the entire industry. Today, we refuel every second ship in the Arctic with environmentally friendly fuel. Our partners include companies that transport goods, as well as specialized vessels involved in large Arctic projects. To provide the polar fleet with fuel year-round, a unified logistics infrastructure has been built, including our own high-ice-class bunkering vessels for operation in northern latitudes,” Anton Sobolev, General Director of Gazpromneft Marine Bunker.
“The accumulated experience in operating Russia’s first LNG bunkering vessel, the Dmitry Mendeleev, allows us to provide participants in the shipping industry with unique expertise necessary when planning future routes and constructing maritime transport using fuel with a low carbon footprint. First of all, this concerns the technical synchronization of fuel systems of new ships for refueling LNG and training of crews to work with gas engine fuel. For this purpose, we previously initiated and introduced into the practice of Russian shipping the corresponding standard regulating technological processes and procedures for LNG bunkering, and launched our own educational program,” Dmitry Zaikin, General Director of Gazpromneft Shipping.
“Thanks to the development of the transit route through the Northern Sea Route, global trade participants will receive an additional route for cargo delivery, which will help reduce transportation times and the burden on the environment. We strive to ensure that transit through the NSR is predictable and safe, and we welcome our partners who, like us, are engaged in the development of the Northern Sea Route, ensuring a balance of its economic and sustainable development,” – Ekaterina Lyakhova, Director of Business Development of the State Corporation “Rosatom”.
