Teekay has taken the delivery of its first Arctic liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier, the 172,000-cbm Eduard Toll.

Eduard Toll is the fourth of 15 Arc7 LNG carriers being built for the Novatek-operated Yamal LNG project in Russia and Teekay’s first of six newbuildings contracted to service the project.

The vessel built at the South Korean Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard has been designed to perform year-round navigation through the Arctic and has the icebreaking ability allowing it to proceed through ice up to 2.1 m thick.

Recently, the vessel underwent the latest seasonal independent passage by a merchant ship on the Northern Sea Route.

According to a statement by Teekay, Eduard Toll was technically accepted in Korea at the beginning of December 2017 after successfully completing sea trials and immediately thereafter departed for its journey to Northern Russia.

Over the past month, the vessel has transited via the Northern Sea Route, breaking ice 1.8 metres thick at speeds of five knots astern – and arrived at the Sabetta terminal ahead of schedule, the statement said.

This marked a major milestone for shipping in the Arctic as this was the first time a shipping vessel made independent passage, without the support of an icebreaker, during this time of year.

“With the inaugural passage now successfully behind us, we look forward to loading for someplace sunnier as soon as Yamal LNG’s busy quay becomes available, and to doing it all over again for decades to come on the Eduard Toll and our five other five newbuilds comprising the Arc7 fleet that we own with our joint venture partner, China LNG,” said Mark Kremin, President and Chief Executive Officer, Teekay Gas Group.