The Russian Arctic Tanker “SCF Pechora” in Tenerife

Anchored in the shelter of Anaga, the Russian tanker “SCF Pechora” is moored in the waters of the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife to refuel via a barge from CEPSA. It arrived from Lomé and is heading to Murmansk, a long journey to the port city of Russia located in the northwest corner of the country, on the northern coast of the Kola Peninsula, facing the Barents Sea and near the Russian border with Norway and Finland, in the Lapland region.

Together with the vessel “SCF Yenisey”, in August 2014 and chartered by OJSC Gazprom, they conducted the first transport of crude oil extracted from the Novy field in the Gulf of Ob, Yamal-Nenets region. At that time, they were the largest vessels to make that traffic in the far north of Russia. The Gulf of Ob, at the mouth of the river of the same name, is the largest bay in the Kara Sea bordering the Yamal Peninsula to the west. The Arctic climate in the region is very harsh and keeps it covered in ice from October to July.

This is a product tanker with a reinforced hull for navigation among ice, operated by Sovcomflot (UK). Its name is written in Cyrillic characters. Built at the STX Shipbuilding Co. shipyard in Jinhae, China, it entered service in November 2007. It registers 29,844 gross tons and 47,218 deadweight tons and measures 183 m in length, 32.20 m in beam, 19.10 m in depth, and 12.43 m in draft. It is powered by a diesel engine, allowing it to maintain a speed of 16 knots. IMO Code 9333424.

Photo: Ramón Acosta Merino