Four LNGCs loaded with Russian Arctic LNG 2 cargoes were still at sea, according to data from ship-tracking agency, Kpler reported yesterday.
The agency said that the LNGCs were sailing without signalling a destination.
According to Kpler, the four LNGCs constituted 40% of the so-called ‘dark fleet’ of 10 Russian LNG carrying vessels identified by the agency, which have been sanctioned by the West.
The ‘dark fleet’, which Kpler and other ship-tracking agencies also refer to as a ‘shadow fleet’, consisted of vessels, which knowingly operate to circumvent Western sanctions.
They include the 138,000 cu m ‘Pioneer’, the 137,200 cu m ‘Asya Energy’, the 150,000 cu m ‘Nova Energy’ and the 138,028 cu m ‘Everest Energy’, according to Kpler.
Arctic LNG 2, which is 60% owned by Russia’s NOVATEK, is subject to Western sanctions over the Ukraine conflict. Earlier, NOVATEK had denied any involvement in establishing and managing a ‘shadow fleet’ for the project.
It was not clear where the four loaded tankers were headed. “’Pioneer’ is going full speed ahead, while ‘Asya Energy’ is in a holding pattern. It’s a wait-and-see situation if these cargoes are discharged to end-users,” said Ana Subasic, Kpler Insight market analyst for LNG and natural gas. “We believe certain players, like China, will be looking to make use of the heavily discounted spot volumes on offer.”
The project was due to become one of Russia’s largest LNG plants with an eventual output of 19.8 mill tonnes per year, but its prospects were dampened by the sanctions. It started to export LNG in August, but there was no information about the end users.
