A new ARC 7 icebreaking liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier jointly owned by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) and China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited (China COSCO Shipping) recently wrapped up ice trials in Arctic waters ahead of her first loading at the Yamal LNG plant in northern Russia.

Vladimir Rusanov left South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. (DSME) Okpo shipyard after her naming ceremony in December 2017and headed to the Arctic Ocean through the Suez Canal for three weeks of ice trials.

The 299m, 172,000m3 Vladimir Rusanov conducted it is first loading for Yamal LNG at Sabetta port on March 27 and 28.

Vladimir Rusanov is the first of three newbuilds ordered by MOL and China COSCO Shipping to sail year-round under a long-term charter to transport LNG from the Yamal LNG project at Sabetta in the northeast corner of Russia’s Yamal Peninsula.