Loading and unloading arms are located on the deck

Capacity—145,000 m³ of liquefied gas

Inside each tank, pipes and pumps are installed

The LNG ship is designed for operation in low temperature environments

Shipping

Oil is exported through a tanker loading unit (TLU) located offshore, around 5 kilometres from the LNG terminal. Crude oil flows via a subsea pipeline connecting the onshore oil export terminal (which includes two storage tanks) to the TLU.

A loading berth connected to the shore and the LNG plant by an 805-metre jetty is the final link in the Sakhalin II LNG chain. Large-size LNG tankers, which due to their size cannot come closer to the shore, are moored to the berth. The water depth at the berth is 14 metres which was achieved by dredging to allow access for the ships. The terminal can handle tankers with the capacity of 18,000 to 145,000 m³. The entire loading cycle, including berthing, etc., takes no longer than 24 hours for each LNG tanker.

When Sakhalin II is fully operational, the terminal will handle around 160 LNG ships and 100 oil tankers a year.

Liquid methane (LNG) is shipped by specially designed LNG ships. The gas is kept at low temperature throughout the voyage.

LNG storage tanks are the main element of the LNG ship design. LNG ships also have a cargo section, power units and accessory equipment of the tanks. LNG ships have a double hull in the cargo section to increase safety.

LNG ships run on marine oil and also use the gas that boils off during a voyage as fuel for propelling the vessel, which provides a higher flexibility and energy cost savings.

The industry uses 2 types of tankers today: those with self-supporting, independent spherical tanks and those with membrane tanks.

A loading/unloading unit is installed at the end of the terminal.

Spherical tanks are made of aluminum alloy or nickel steel 40 to 80 mm thick and have a diameter of 40 metres; thus, a half of the tank is above the level of the upper deck. The outer layer of insulation is made of polyurethane covered by aluminum foil. The above-deck part of the tanks is covered by steel jackets. Each tank is supported by a cylindrical foundation installed on the second bottom. Membrane tanks are made of 36% nickel steel (invar). The ship’s hull supports the tanks via a layer of perlite or polyurethane insulation over the whole membrane surface.

Three LNG tankers (with spherical tanks)—the Grand Aniva, the Grand Elena and the Grand Merea—have been purpose-built by Japanese shipyards to serve the Sakhalin II project.

Each vessel has a capacity of 145,000 m³. These tankers are owned by two Russian-Japanese consortiums which include Russian shipping companies: Primorsk Shipping Corporation and Sovkomflot. These companies provide Russian crews for the ships.

LNG shipping is an entirely new segment in the Russian shipping market. Russian ship owners are gaining valuable experience for future LNG projects in Russia.

In the long term, Sakhalin Energy expects to control a fleet of 5 LNG carriers and 4 Aframax oil tankers to deliver cargos to Asia and North America.