March 24 - Volga-Dnepr Airlines' AN-124 and IL-76 freighters were called into action to ensure the repair of a compressor at Russia's Sakhalin-2 natural gas liquefaction plant.
The two aircraft were used to move equipment from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Moscow to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on the Russian island of Sakhalin.
The IL-76TD-90VD flight from Moscow transported a heavy-duty trailer measuring 6 m x 3 m x 1 m that was used to deliver a new compressor to the project site.
30 tonnes of special repair equipment was carried from Kuala Lumpur on an AN-124 to repair the failed compressor.
"We had to organise this transportation and logistics solution quickly to ensure that the repair equipment needed to restore production was available at the Sakhalin-2 to minimise the plant's downtime," said Alexander Guzenko, ceo of TGK Logistics, which organised the flights with Volga-Dnepr.
Sakhalin-2 commenced operations in 2009 and has the capacity to produce around 10 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year. It is Russia's only natural gas liquefaction plant.
