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Russian shipping firm Sovcomflot has ordered two gas-powered LNG carriers to be constructed in South Korea for the charterer Gazprom Global LNG, a subsidiary of Gazprom - Russia's largest company.

The two 170,000 cubic metre (cbm) capacity vessels will be built in South Korea and will be classed by the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) with the following class notation:

KM (*) Ice2 AUT1 OMBO EPP ANTI-ICE LI CCO ECO-S WINTERIZATION(-30) Gas carrier type 2G (methane)

The ships will be equipped with a tri-fuel diesel-electric power plant and will use LNG as its main fuel.

Commenting on the news that it had been selected to class the two ships, RS director General Nikolay Reshetov said: "Construction of high-tech vessels to the RS class demonstrates our reputation as a leading classification society and strengthens our position in rendering classification services."