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Warmer weather to open NSR for Yamal exports east

Summer temperatures will open up the Northern Sea Route between Yamal and Asia, but will LNG carriers take it? Summer temperatures will open up the Northern Sea Route between Yamal and Asia, but will LNG carriers take it?
By Andrew Walker 12 June 2018 0 31272
The Ob River LNG tanker in the Northern Sea Route The Ob River LNG tanker in the Northern Sea Route. (Gazprom)

Shippers face a choice of whether to send cargoes from the Yamal LNG plant to buyers in the Far East via the Northern Sea Route (NSR) as temperatures rise and the ice recedes. LNG shipments have travelled west since the project started up in December, but warmer temperatures will allow offtakers operating ice-class tankers to head east on the NSR this summer without ice-breaker escorts, saving time and money on their voyages.

Yamal LNG’s strategy is to ship cargoes