The RN Polaris was handed over in the port of St. Petersburg under the terms of a 10-year time-charter agreement signed with Rosnefteflot, a joint venture between Rosneft and Sovcomflot.

Registered as an Ice Class 1A vessel, the 6,800 metric tonne (mt) capacity tanker will operate in the ports of St. Petersburg, Ust-Luga and the area on the Russian side of the Gulf of Finland.

Established in May 2012, Rosneft Marine’s multilingual team in its Beijing office aims to assist customers in the region with ease of communication and greater access to premium quality marine fuel in the Far East, while its UK counterpart in London will continue to focus on the global and European markets.

Mr Vladimir Brezhnev, director of Rosneft Marine UK, feels that the opening of the new office will be mutually beneficial to both Rosneft and its customer base.

“With the establishment of Emission Control Areas in North America, we foresee a rising demand for low sulphur fuel oils particularly for vessels travelling from Asia to the West Coast of the United States. We intend to work closely with regional ship operators who have US bound vessels to supply them with ECA compliant low sulphur fuels of the highest quality. We hope to collaborate with our clients, especially on the basis of long-term formula contracts as we are one of the few suppliers able to guarantee a reliable and consistent supply of high quality fuel in the region,” he said.

Ms Lu Sha, sales manager of the company’s Beijing branch, also finds that the location of the new office contributes considerably to the level of service being offered to clients in the region.

“Our Asian customers are very important to us and we are pleased that our multinational team is well-positioned to provide improved coverage and local support to our customers here. We are also looking into the possibility of supplying marine gas oils to the Chinese and regional markets,” she said.

Rosneft Marine will continue to seek expansion in different parts of the world with the aim of offering superior, localized service to its global clients, while delivering premium quality fuel in Russian ports.

Rosneft Marine currently services the ports of Arkhangelsk, Kozmino, Murmansk, Nakhodka, St. Petersburg, Tuapse, Vladivostok, and Vostochny. The addition of Kaliningrad, Ust-Luga and Novorossiysk along the western coast of Russia will strengthen Rosneft’s presence in the Baltic and the Black Sea.

Rosneft Marine has arranged deliveries of marine fuel for Sakhalin Island and the Governor Farkhutdinov, both 108.078 metric tonnes (mt) crude oil tankers. The agreement covers Sakhalin Energy’s fleet which includes three crude vessels and five LNG vessels with an average bunker intake of 1800 mt and 1000 mt respectively.

The contract appoints Rosneft Marine to supply and deliver marine fuel to Sakhalin Energy in the port of Nakhodka, the closest port in Russia’s Far East to its Prigorodnoye complex. Previously, Sakhalin Energy used bunkering in the Asia Pacific ports of Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Vladimir Brezhnev, Director of Rosneft Marine UK, said he was very pleased that Sakhalin Energy had chosen Rosneft Marine as its partner in the Far East.

“In the last 12 months we have made a number of investments to add modern vessels to our fleet and build our operational capacity. Our partnership with Sakhalin Energy is a testament to the effectiveness of our efforts to improve our operational and management structures and provide better service to our customers,” Mr Brezhnev said.

“We are committed to continually raising our quality and environmental standards and have begun looking for a brand new 5000-6000 dwt ice-class barge that is capable of supplying fuel directly to the ports on Sakhalin Island,” Mr Brezhnev added.

Andrey Okhotkin, Commercial Director of Sakhalin Energy, said: “We are glad to have found a new partner. This agreement with Rosneft Marine will help minimise deviation of tankers from route to Prigorodnoye port and allow us to diversify our bunker sources. We are certain that this contract will contribute to effectiveness of our marine operations through delivery of premium quality fuel at competitive prices.”

The Russian-flagged RN Magellan is a 4622 deadweight tonne (dwt) bunker tanker built in 2007. The modern vessel is part of Rosneft Marine’s on-going strategy to replace aging bunker tankers from the Soviet era. The company is also examining the possibility of relocating the tanker to St. Petersburg due to its high-end delivery capabilities and environmentally friendly design.

Vladimir Brezhnev, Director of Rosneft Marine UK, said: “One of our highest priorities is to ensure that our fleet complies with current industry and environmental standards and the RN Magellan is an excellent testament of this commitment.”

The latest addition of RN Magellan to Rosneft Marine’s bunker tanker fleet follows the company’s announcement last month of the delivery of RN Taurus to service the Black Sea Port of Tuapse. Additional vessels will be introduced in the ports of Arckhangelsk and in the Far East in the coming months.

“Demand for Russian produced high quality low sulphur fuel has been steadily growing and will only increase with more low sulphur fuel regulation being introduced around the world,” Mr Brezhnev said. “We believe that the way forward is to upgrade our integrated supply chain now to meet this demand while taking the necessary steps to improve our service quality to customers.”

Rosneft began developing its bunkering business in late 2007 with the establishment of RN-Bunker which has continued to record steady sales volume growth. In 2010, Rosneft sold a record 2 million metric tonnes – a 70% increase from 2009.

Rosneft Marine UK was established in 2010 to support Rosneft’s international marine fuel business.

Built in 2007, the RN Taurus is a 3569 deadweight tonne (dwt) state-of-the-art bunker tanker. The bunker tanker has pumps in each of its cargo tanks and is capable of delivering 150 cubic metres (m3) of bunker fuel an hour. It has two controllable-pitch propellers and a bow thruster with an integrated automated control system.

RN Taurus is a time-charter agreement with Rosnefteflot, a joint venture between Rosneft and Sovcomflot. The vessel is part of Rosnefteflotʼs strategy to develop modern, environmentally friendly bunker tankers for use in Russian ports while replacing aging bunker tankers from the Soviet era. The Russian-flagged tanker is specially designed to prevent oil spills.

Andrei Tuchnin, Director of RN-Bunker, said: “Rosneft is committed to improving service to our customers by continuing to introduce modern and up-to-date vessels and technologies. RN Taurus will ensure that our customers receive reliable and efficient delivery while we play our part in helping protect the environment that we operate within.”

A second bunker tanker, the RN Magelan, has been delivered to the Port of Murmansk, with more new vessels expected in the ports of St. Petersburg and Arkhangelsk in the next few months. The company is also looking to introduce a 6000 dwt tanker to meet the growing demand for bunkers in ports in the Far East.

Vladimir Brezhnev, Director of Rosneft Marine UK, said: “The introduction of our own bunker tankers will help us better control the quality of fuel we deliver to our customers through our integrated supply chain. We are continuing to develop our physical assets to meet growing customer demand in ports like Tuapse which is Russiaʼs second largest Black Sea port.”

Rosneft began developing its bunkering business in late 2007 with the establishment of RN-Bunker which has continued to experienced steady growth in volumes. In 2010, Rosneft sold a record 2 million metric tonnes – a 70% increase from 2009.

Rosneft Marine UK was established in 2010 to support Rosneftʼs international marine fuel business.