The first Russian gas carrier reached the sanctioned LNG

The LNG tanker Alexey Kosygin reached the second Arctic project, Arctic LNG — 2, along the Northern Sea Route and got under loading. The vessel became the first gas carrier to be built in Russia — at the Far Eastern shipyard Zvezda.

According to the AIS of the vessels, the gas carrier Alexey Kosygin completed its passage along the Northern Sea Route and embarked on loading onto Arctic LNG —2, which is under US sanctions. The journey from the Far Eastern shipyard Zvezda took the tanker almost a month.

This was the first voyage of the vessel after its commissioning. "Alexey Kosygin" became the first gas carrier built in Russia. The arch7 ice-class tanker is capable of independently overcoming the Northern Sea Route during the navigation season, and now it has passed along the route accompanied by the Arctic icebreaker. He carried the gas carrier from the Bering Strait itself to Arctic LNG—2.

The tanker can receive up to 100 million cubic meters of gas in the form of LNG and will be a serious help to the sanctions project, which is experiencing a shortage of ice—class gas carriers, especially outside the season of navigation along the Northern Sea Route. Currently, only one arch7 vessel, Christophe de Margerie", which carries LNG to a floating storage facility near Murmansk, from where traditional gas carriers pick it up for delivery to China. Obviously, "Alexey Kosygin" will join this scheme, which uses out-of-season on the Northern Sea Route.

In the summer, from July to October, the vessels will follow the Arctic route, which is the shortest route to Asia. It cuts the path in half.

Arctic LNG—2 should have had a lot more ice-class gas carriers, but due to sanctions, it could not get tankers built at a South Korean shipyard, and work on Zvezda slowed down a lot.

As EADaily reported, Arctic LNG—2 began to be launched in December 2023, however, the US imposed sanctions on the eve and the project could not find end users until August of this year, when direct deliveries to China began.

According to Bloomberg, deliveries became possible after China created a system for regular purchases of LNG from a sub-sanctioned project. The Chinese authorities have identified a terminal in Beihai for receiving sanctioned cargo.

"By choosing a single port with a limited international presence, Beijing will be able to protect its gas sector from retaliatory measures," the agency reported.