Having unnerved Norway, the gas carrier of the sanctioned Arctic LNG — 2 bypassed the English Channel

The Mulan LNG tanker, which serves Arctic LNG — 2, did not pass the English Channel, but bypassed the UK from the north. On New Year's Eve, the gas carrier was parked in the North Sea near Norway and unnerved the local military, as it was located above the routes of gas pipelines and cables connecting Scandinavia, Great Britain and Germany.

According to AIS vessels, on January 9, the Mulan LNG tanker completed a bypass of the UK from the north and returns to the traditional route of ships to the Bay of Biscay.

In early December, the gas carrier left the Saam floating gas storage facility installed in the bay near Murmansk. LNG from the Arctic LNG—2 project, which is under US sanctions, is stored there. Mulan indicated the destination of the Suez Canal, which is a transit point on the way to Asia or the Middle East. Next, the ship completed the passage past the coast of Norway in the North Sea, but did not go into the English Channel. And for more than four days it maneuvered between Norway and Denmark.

This caused nervousness among the Norwegian authorities and the media, as the gas carrier was located above the gas pipeline routes from Norway to Germany, Denmark and the UK.

A spokesman for the operational headquarters of the Norwegian Armed Forces, Henrik Omtvedt Jenssen, told Dagbladet that they were monitoring Mulan.

"In general, the Armed Forces are closely monitoring what is happening in the areas of our interests, including through monitoring and control, including through ships, aircraft...," Henrik Jenssen said.

Arve Dimmen, Director of Navigation Technologies and maritime Services at the Norwegian Coastal Administration, told Dagbladet that at the beginning the captain of the gas carrier informed about the weather expectation, and then about the new course — around the UK.

It is not known what the maneuvering and refusal of the passage of the English Channel tanker is connected with. It is known that Mulan became one of the vessels that began to export Arctic LNG—2 cargo in August — September. In August, the tanker itself came under the restrictions of the United States Treasury Department. In October, sanctions were imposed on Mulan in Great Britain.

In London, they stated that they plan to strengthen control over ships that pass through the English Channel in order to fight the Russian shadow fleet. However, most of the strait is neutral waters and there is free navigation, which allows tankers with Russian oil, including those under sanctions, to continue to pass it freely in both directions.

The Arctic LNG—2 project with a capacity of about 20 million tons (27 billion cubic meters) per year should become one of the main projects in Russia. In December 2023, the first of the three stages of the project was launched, but due to US sanctions, fuel export began only in August 2024. According to AIS of vessels, gas carriers were able to take LNG only to floating storage facilities near Murmansk and to Kamchatka, however, did not deliver a single batch directly to consumers. The United States announced plans to kill Russia's second Arctic project, as well as all subsequent ones.

It is not known exactly where the Mulan gas carrier is heading now and whether there is Arctic LNG on board. The remaining vessels that have already participated in the export from Arctic LNG — 2 are on standby in the Far East or in the Barents Sea.

Mulan is called a shadow fleet tanker in the West, since its ultimate owners are unknown, and it is operated by little-known operators. According to Equasis, since the end of August 2024, the vessel has been owned and operated by Indian Zinnia International and Skyhart Management Services.

"They (sanctions) will cause us some damage, harm, but of course, we will get out of other situations with energy supplies. Moreover, energy needs from the point of view of the development of the world economy are still growing and will continue to grow. This is not our data - this is the data of world economic institutions. It's just that this product will be in demand on world markets. We will continue to do this and will increase our share in the global LNG markets," Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

The Russian government plans that by 2030 LNG exports from Russia will almost triple to 100 million tons. Experts noted to EADaily that restrictions will increase the costs of Russian producers, but liquefied gas with discounts will be in demand. They will need time to build work bypassing sanctions, analysts say.