Russia’s VTB Bank has agreed to provide a loan of $260m to shipbuilding company Sovcomflot (SCF Group) to finance the construction of an ice-resistant Arctic liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker for the Yamal LNG project.

Yamal LNG is a future liquefied natural gas plant to be located at Sabetta, north-east of the Yamal Peninsula, Russia.

To be built under a 13 year loan agreement, the new tanker will be able to carry up to 172,600m³ of LNG.

"We are completing the construction of an innovative vessel, which has no analogues in the world to date."

Based on an Arc7 enhanced ice class tanker, the new vessel will be able perform independent navigation in ice fields of up to 2.1m thick.

Sovcomflot CEO Sergey Frank said: "We are completing the construction of an innovative vessel, which has no analogues in the world to date, and we have concluded a unique transaction to finance this project.

"This is one of the first such agreements ever signed in Russia, to finance a vessel construction, which is traditionally a very capital-intensive and long-term investment project.

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"I am confident that the solid performance delivered by our company will enable it to continue to be a reliable and attractive partner for Russian banks."

Scheduled to be delivered by the first quarter of next year, the new vessel will be equipped with a 45MW propulsion system, which is comparable to that of the nuclear ice breakers.

Currently, SCF Group has a fleet of 140 vessels with a total deadweight (dwt) of over 12.2 million tonnes, and provides a different range of vessels to mainly Russian oil and gas companies.

Separately, Sovcomflot had entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Gazprom Neft for supplying marine lubricants.

The new deal provides for the potential expansion of the current marine lubricants supply geography, and a rise in the number of ships using these lubricants to 19 within the next two years.