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Russia's Primorye Shipping Company (PRISCO) will construct a series of advanced tank ships able to endure low temperatures in accordance with a contract with a S. Korean shipyard, a press statement from the company said December 14.

Under the project, scheduled to be finished by May 2009, seven tankers with a deadweight of 51,000 tons each will be built at the STX Shipyard in S. Korea and will become the first ships of the kind to receive the Winterization certification.

The vessels will be made in accordance with Lloyd's Register of Shipping, a British publication which describes, classifies and registers vessels according to certain criteria of physical structure and equipment.

The new tanker series will be equipped with special systems which enable the safe utilization of the vessels and transporting bulked cargo in temperatures lower than -25C (-13F).

The construction of the first and lead vessel in the series will begin next March to be completed in October, the statement said.

Today, PRISCO is a leading company in using ice-class ships under the harsh conditions of the Arctic and northern Baltic. The company is engaged in transporting fuel and oil products to the Far Eastern freezing ports of the Chukotka, Koryakia, Kamchatka and Sakhalin regions.