The vessel, with a displacement of 70,000 tonnes, will carry oil from LUKoil's Varandey deposit to the oil storage facility at Belokamenka in the Murmansk Region. It was named after Timofei Guzhenko, a U.S.S.R. minister of merchant marine.

Mr Sechin said during the ceremony on the island of Koje: "The vessel will be accepted for use soon, and will start regular oil deliveries from Varandey to the port of Murmansk... We are fully satisfied with the cooperation."

He said the project costs $140 million. "Tankers of this type are built using unique technologies that allow them to effectively work in the Arctic seas all year round," Mr Sechin said. "This unique family of vessels will be used in Russia for the first time."