Second Sanctioned LNG Tanker Docks At Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 In Two Months

Another liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker under U.S. sanctions has arrived at Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 terminal this week, indicating that LNG loadings from the sanctioned project may have resumed. This is the second such visit by a sanctioned vessel in two months.

The tanker, Voskhod, formerly known as North Mountain, docked at the Arctic LNG 2 plant on Wednesday, according to vessel-tracking data from LSEG and Kpler. The data showed the ship unloaded before arriving at the terminal.

This follows the arrival of another sanctioned tanker, Iris, at the same site on June 26. That vessel loaded a cargo at the plant, marking the ninth shipment from Arctic LNG 2 so far. After loading, Iris sailed near Kolguyev Island in western Russia, where it remains alongside other sanctioned LNG ships.

The Voskhod was among several vessels sanctioned by the U.S. Department of State in October 2023. It was then operating under the name North Mountain. While the ship’s registered owner is still LNG Beta Shipping, the commercial manager changed on May 23 to a company named Igarka OOO, which is registered in Moscow, according to shipping database Equasis.

Voskhod is Russia-flagged and, like Iris, has Arc4 ice-class capability, allowing it to travel through light to medium sea ice along Russia’s Northern Sea Route. The vessel left its usual operating area on July 14, moving south of Novaya Zemlya and heading into Ob Bay at a speed of around 13 knots. The Arctic LNG 2 terminal is located in this area.

For the last six months, Voskhod had been idling in the eastern Barents Sea, occasionally stopping in Murmansk, likely for resupply. The same pattern was seen with Iris and other LNG tankers that are part of Russia’s shadow fleet.

Unlike some vessels that went dark last year, by turning off their AIS tracking systems or avoiding permit registration, Voskhod and Iris both had valid Northern Sea Route permits this time and appeared in the daily logs of the official NSR administration website.

The Arctic LNG 2 project, located on the Gydan Peninsula and 60% owned by Russian energy company Novatek, was expected to become one of Russia’s largest LNG production sites with a planned capacity of 19.8 million metric tons per year. But U.S. and EU sanctions have made it difficult for the project to begin regular exports, with many potential buyers backing out.

Although the project loaded its first cargo a year ago, securing buyers has remained a major challenge. Two floating storage units, Saam and Koryak, and at least six carriers are currently holding more than a million cubic meters of unsold LNG. After loading LNG in late June, Iris returned to its waiting position near Kolguyev Island, joining several other sanctioned vessels.

Novatek had increased production in May, and reloading operations took place in June involving the two FSUs. Meanwhile, non-ice-class LNG carriers that were used by Russia last year, East Energy, Sputnik Energy, and Nova Energy, are currently being serviced in Chinese shipyards and are expected to resume operations in the coming weeks. Others, such as Arctic Metagaz and Zarya, remain on standby in the Barents Sea.

A sanctioned LNG tanker that loaded cargo from the Arctic in August 2023 spent four months sailing through northern Europe, the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal, the Indian Ocean, and along China’s east coast, before returning to Russia’s Far East, still without a customer.

Reference: Reuters

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