Sanctioned Russian Arctic LNG Project May Have Resumed Loadings
A second sanctioned LNG vessel has arrived at Russia’s Arctic project in two months, suggesting that loadings of the super-chilled fuel from the sanctioned project may have resumed.
The LNG tanker Voskhod, previously called North Mountain, arrived on Wednesday at the Arctic LNG 2 site in Russia, vessel-tracking data showed.
Voskhod was sanctioned by the U.S. in October last year, when the U.S. Administration stepped up sanctions against the project and vessels servicing it.
The ship is Russia-flagged and has recently changed its commercial manager to a company with a registered address in Moscow, according to a Reuters review of shipping databases.
Voskhod is the second LNG tanker to arrive at Arctic LNG 2 in as many months.
Last month, another sanctioned LNG tanker, the Iris, appeared to be headed for the sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project in Russia, in what could be another attempt by Russia to load LNG and try to find buyers.
It was not immediately clear if the LNG vessel loaded any LNG from Arctic LNG 2. Yet, speculation has it that the first tanker movement in the area in months could suggest that Russia may attempt again to revive exports from the facility.
The U.S. and EU sanctions on Russia’s Arctic LNG 2, which was billed as Russia’s flagship LNG project, have effectively frozen the start-up of the export facility in the Gydan Peninsula.
The project has come under intensifying sanctions from the United States, which have put off any buyers that were previously considering buying cargoes from Arctic LNG 2.
In one piece of anecdotal evidence, a sanctioned LNG carrier, which had loaded liquefied natural gas in the Arctic in August, traveled for four months around northern Europe, the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal, the Indian Ocean, along China’s east coast, and north to Russia’s Far East, without finding a buyer for the cargo.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
