LNG will go under the ice: underwater gas carriers may appear in the Arctic after 2030

Alexey Belogoryev, Research and Development Director of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to the Mash.News internet portal on the feasibility of creating underwater gas carriers for LNG transportation in Russia.

"We are not even talking about economics here yet, but the question is about the feasibility of the idea from a technical point of view. Because, according to the parameters, the estimated length of this vessel (more than 300 meters) is twice as long as the longest submarines that are currently being built in Russia. At the same time, there are quite strict restrictions on draft, width, and large restrictions associated with LNG as cargo, because it requires special double walls that will withstand water pressure and retain gas. And this is likely to negatively affect the payload," Alexey Belogoryev warned.

"LNG has its own price, which limits the marginal transportation costs. If these costs are exceeded, no one will get involved with this kind of transport, even despite its advantages, the first of which is that it saves Russia from having to create and maintain a fleet of Arctic–class surface gas carriers, with which we currently have very big problems in terms of import substitution," the expert explains.

"Like any revolutionary scientific and technical idea, the project looks extremely tempting, but also - like many such ideas - it has a rather low chance of implementation," Alexey Belogoryev believes.