After developing a “shadow” fleet of tankers, the market analysts’ estimates that Russia is now building its own fleet of LNG carriers to counter Western sanctions are confirmed.
The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) recently imposed sanctions on seven LNG carriers that were found to be transporting cargo from Russian facilities in the Arctic.
One of the ships on the US list is the Palau-flagged “Pioneer” (built 2005).
Shipping and cargo data portal Kpler pointed out, about two weeks ago, that Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 export unit, managed by Novatek, exported its first LNG cargo via the vessel in question.
This was an important development, given that the unit had been facing delays due to existing Western sanctions and a lack of ice-class ships, Kpler pointed out.
Pioneer tied up with Arctic LNG 2 on August 1 and was the first indication of spoofing in the LNG market.
This, according to Kpler, is a tactic of manipulating a ship’s AIS signal in order to send false information about its position. This tactic was heavily used in the market for tankers carrying Russian oil.
“The Pioneer, part of the so-called shadow fleet, reflects Russia’s strategy of using older ships of dubious ownership to counter sanctions,” Kpler said.
