Western media are discussing satellite images from the Arctic LNG—2 sanctions project, where the first gas carrier was spotted. If the guesses turned out to be correct, then the export of sanctioned liquefied gas began according to the scheme of Russian oil, when unknown companies from India are engaged in transportation.
The first tanker to be loaded onto Arctic LNG — 2 was noticed on satellite images by gCaptain. Next, the news was picked up by world agencies — Bloomberg.
The first stage of the second Arctic project was launched in December last year. However, due to direct US sanctions, Arctic LNG—2 was idle. One of the problems is attracting ice—class tankers. Due to sanctions, the Zvezda shipyard does not have time to deliver gas carriers, and the South Korean shipyard cannot transfer already built vessels.
In July, navigation began on the Northern Sea Route, and ordinary tankers can already enter both Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG—2. They went to the factories. Some of them are gas carriers of the gray fleet, as they are called in the West. These are vessels that have little-known owners and at the same time hide their location by turning off the transponder.
TankerTrackers.com He reported that the Pioneer gas carrier was loaded onto Arctic LNG—2. With the help of AIS data of vessels and satellite images, this agency tracks mainly oil shipments, including sanctioned raw materials.
The Pioneer gas carrier is notable for the fact that on April 20 it changed ownership and came under the management of Nur Global Shipping from the UAE, and from June 20 — Ocean Speedstar Solutions from India. AIS data of the vessels indicate that the gas carrier has already left the LNG plant and is heading past the coast of Norway. At the time of loading and approach to the Arctic projects (Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG — 2 are nearby), the vessel turned off data transmission about its location.
Asya Energy, which also came under the control of an Indian company in June, continues to be located in the same area.
If TankerTrackers.com If they turn out to be right, then the transportation of sanctioned Russian LNG went the way of transporting Russian oil. In 2022, the unknown Indian Gatik Ship Management, also registered in Mumbai, made a splash in the tanker market. In less than a year, the company became the owner of fifty vessels worth $ 1.4 billion and transported mainly Russian oil to India.
During 2023, most of the Gatik Ship Management tankers lost registration and insurance in Western countries, but after changing the flag, the gas carriers passed to small unknown operators. But they continued to carry Russian oil to India.
Obviously, we will have to prepare for such schemes during the transportation of Russian LNG.
However, as experts noted to EADaily back in May, the transportation of liquefied gas is more complicated.
"The risks of creating a shadow fleet of gas carriers are noticeably higher compared, for example, with a similar oil fleet. This is due to the fact that there are many times fewer gas carriers than oil tankers. All of them are traditionally monitored, and disabling transponders raises additional questions," said energy expert Alexander Sobko. — In addition, LNG is a much more complex product in transshipment and storage compared to oil. It is also important to make sure that there are a sufficient number of LNG buyers from such tankers, since storage on water and a series of transshipment, as sometimes happens with oil, leads to additional losses."
The Financial Times reported, citing consulting company Windward, that since the second quarter of 2023, more than 50 LNG vessels have changed owners to companies located in the UAE, and tankers can be involved in the transportation of Russian gas. However, so far the databases speak only about nine tankers.
Arctic LNG—2 will become the second Russian Arctic gas liquefaction project with a capacity of 19.8 million tons per year. In November, he was directly sanctioned by the United States. In Washington, they said they wanted to kill the project. As a result, Novatek and the recipients of LNG from Arctic LNG — 2 declared force majeure. Nevertheless, the project continues. The second liquefaction line is being delivered to the Gydan Peninsula from near Murmansk.