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Tanker approaching Bering Strait after Arctic transit

The 'Christophe de Margerie' is approaching the Bering Strait on a risky voyage across the icy waters of the Russian Arctic shipping route.On Feb 3 it was located off the coast of Kamchatka. The ship has a northbound course and was due to arrive in Sabetta, the LNG terminal in Yamal on Feb 17. The tanker set out from the port of Yangkou on Jan 27. At the same time, the nuclear-powered icebreaker '50 Let Pobedy' on Feb 2 was sailing eastwards towards the East Siberian Sea. The two ships might meet near the Bering Strait, and the tanker subsequently escorted westwards through the thick sea-ice. The whole Northern Sea Route is now covered by ice. The straits between the mainland and archipelagos Severnaya Zemlya and New Siberian Islands are covered by thick fast ice, while the remaining part of the area has one-year old sea-ice that is between 30-200 cm thick.

Unassisted tanker passage shows risks of Northern Sea Route

Novatek has sent two LNG ice-class tankers, the 'Christophe de Margerie' and the 'Nikolay Yevgenov', to China through the Norhern Sea Route without ice-breaker support as the current conditions in the eastern Arctic were mild. The 'Christophe de Margerie' crossed the Arctic and reached Cape Dezhnyov, located between the Chukchi Sea and the Bering Strait, late on Jan 16, 2020, sailing 2,474 nautical miles in almost 11 days, enropute from Sabetta to Jiangsu, ETA Jan 26. However, the tankers, scheduled to deliver the super-chilled cargoes to China in late January, will use an ice-breaker on their return to Russia across the passage in February, according to the industry officials. Until now, a cargo ship has never made a February voyage in the eastern Arctic. The planned February return voyage is part of “the systemic efforts to gradually extend transit navigation in the eastern sector of the Arctic,” according to Sovcomflot. The 'Nikolay Yegenov' suffered azipod damage on Jan 16 and will have to be drydocked for repairs.

Vladimir Putin presents Captain Zybko with Distinguished Maritime Service Order

On 27 November 2018 in the Kremlin, the President of the Russian Federation - Vladimir Putin presented high-level state awards to outstanding Russian citizens – people from industry, agriculture, science, education, healthcare, culture and sport, Sovcomflot says in a press release. Sergey Zybko, Captain of Christophe de Margerie, Sovcomflot’s Arctic LNG carrier, was awarded the Distinguished Maritime Service Order for his major contribution to the construction project and entry into operational service of Christophe de Margerie, the world's first ice-breaking LNG tanker.