The European Union remains a key customer of Yamal LNG
Russia passes counterattack «cancelling» Once again its plans West, for... financial suffocation, which - as it turns out - have returned buberang in the countries of European Union, who continue to fight high inflation as a result of the launch of energy costs.
In particular, Russia - under Vladimir Putin - quietly increases the so-called «a shadow fleet» LNG vessels, acquiring second-hand tankers and the first domestic LNG carriers, in view of the European Union's ban on imports of Russian LNG, which has been in full effect since 2027.
According to maritime data analysis company WindwardAt least eight used LNG Carriers sold in the last six months and then used for transport Russian cargo. Thus, the total «shadow fleet» Russia LNG now numbers 25 ships, including two new tankers built in Russian shipyards Zvezda.
The strengthening of this fleet is expected to allow Moscow to continue gas exports Even after the European sanctions have been tightened up, 2027, following the model of so-called «a shadow fleet» oil tankers, already used to circumvent Western sanctions. Europe has imposed successively stricter restrictions aimed at reducing revenue from fossil fuels financing Russia's war in Ukraine.
The Irina Mironova, Senior Researcher in New Energy Advancement Hub, notes that there were corresponding examples «Shadow Fleets» oil in Iran and Venezuela, however No other country had reached such a high level of technological development in LNG production before accepting sanctions. «This is a unique phenomenon.», notes features.
The EU remains a key customer of Yamal LNG
The Member States of the European Union, which absorbed almost all of the factory's production Yamal LNG in Siberia during the first half of the year, will completely ban imports of Russian LNG from 2027.
Some Russian LNG facilities have already been targeted by Western sanctions, such as project Arctic LNG 2 of Novatek.
At the same time, the EU announced last week that any sale of LNG carriers to Russian citizens should be notified to BrusselsBut without prohibiting the transfer of LNG to third countries with tankers of European interest, following intense pressure from Greece.
The new ships and the secret routes
While Russian «shadow fleet» oil now numbers over 1,000 ships, LNG Carriers are much more complex and expensive vessels.
According to data from Kpler, four of Russia's newly acquired ships have already carried cargoes from LNG terminals under western sanctions. Everything now carries Russian flag and have been renamed to Kosmos, Orion, Merkuriy and Luch.
At the same time, Russia completed the construction of the first two domestic LNG carriers in the shipyards Zvezda, in the Far East.
The first ship, Aleksey Kosygin, already carrying loads from Arctic LNG 2 since December, when he surrendered to Sovcomflot, while the second, Konstantin Posiet, officially named in a ceremony within the month.
Novatek dominates production
The private company Novatek remains the main player in the Russian LNG industry.
The factory Yamal LNG, together with Arctic LNG 2, produce more than 65% of total LNG production in the country, according to official Russian statistics.
The project Sakhalin-2, controlled by the Gazprom, contributes about another 30%.
An important part of exports from non-criminal installations are still carried by ships chartered by international companies, such as Greek Dynagas, the Japanese Mitsui OSK and Seapeak. However, Western sanctions have forced Moscow to seek alternatives.
Companies... windows
Most of his ships «a shadow fleet» belong to companies – windows related to Russia and located in areas such as Dubai, the Hong Kong and Singapore, while travelling with flags of convenience.
They follow the same practices as «dark fleet» oil, such as:
- interference with AIS tracking systems,
- Ship-to-ship transfers,
- concealing the actual origin of the consignments.
THE Septimus Knox S-RM notes that the tactics are similar to those of oil tankers, but their application is much more difficult due to the complexity of the LNG transport.
The major obstacles
LNG Carriers are among the most specialized ships worldwide.
Every new ship costs about $300 million and has special tank systems that keep natural gas at temperature - 162 degrees Celsius, to remain in liquid form.
The situation is even more complicated because Russia's most important production facilities are located in Arctic, which requires use icebreakers (ice-class LNG carriers) For much of the year.
Today, China is the only buyer of LNG from Arctic LNG 2, which is under sanctions.
According to estimates of Financial Times, eleven mid-age ships about ten years of age carry cargo from the facility, which are downloaded to floating storage stations before continuing their journey to China.
All these ships are already under US sanctions, while the Novatek has acquired or chartered almost all of them in the last two years.
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