US Sanctions Seven ‘Dark Fleet’ Ships Linked to Russia LNG

(Bloomberg) -- The US has imposed sanctions on seven liquefied natural gas carriers linked to Russia, including vessels believed to have loaded at its newest export facility in the Arctic region.

LNG vessels included Pioneer and Asya Energy, which loaded the first two shipments from the Arctic LNG 2 project previously sanctioned by the US, according to a list published Friday by the US Department of the Treasury.

The latest move underscores how quickly the US is ready to act: Arctic LNG 2 loaded its first suspected cargo less than a month ago.

The sanctions are a fresh blow to Russia as it spent months developing what is believed to be a shadow fleet of tankers for LNG in a similar way it did for transporting crude oil and products. Such vessels have opaque ownership, unknown insurers and deploy practices such as hiding their location by switching off or manipulating their automatic identification systems.

The loadings of the two shipments at Arctic LNG 2 were registered by satellite images. The buyers of the cargoes on board the Pioneer and the Asya Energy, currently seen on ship-tracking tools as at sea, remain unclear. The Pioneer was shown positioned north of the Suez Canal on Friday in the Mediterranean, while the Asya Energy appeared offshore Norway. 

The US imposed sanctions on the Arctic LNG 2 plant late last year, snarling the start of exports. While the restrictions kept foreign companies away and stopped the delivery of ice-ready carriers, Russia likely managed to circumvent the curbs by using the shadow fleet.

Benjamin L. Schmitt, senior fellow at University of Pennsylvania’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, said that the US government under the Biden administration has been focused on Russia sanctions targeting LNG and Friday’s actions were further evidence toward suppressing commercial activity from Arctic LNG 2.

‘Massive First Step’

“This is a massive, massive first step to make sure this is taken care of,” Schmitt said. “We haven’t seen sanctions enacted this quickly before.” 

Schmitt said that it would be interesting to see whether the sanction activity would deter other entities from sending LNG vessels to the plant.

Other related shipping and technical companies were also included in Friday’s sanctions, including India-based owner Ocean Speedstar Solutions and White Fox Ship Management based in Dubai, which are both linked to the newly-sanctioned vessels.

The Treasury Department didn’t immediately comment further on Friday.

US, EU and UK authorities have imposed sanctions on dozens of tankers tied to the Russian oil trade since late last year. While the measures have had limited impact on freight markets, or on the flow of Russian petroleum, they have nevertheless seen dozens of vessels idled, complicating Moscow’s energy supply-chain logistics.

Everest Energy, part of a suspected “dark fleet” of vessels assembled by Moscow to take gas to willing buyers, now appears to be the third tanker approaching the plant. It has also been put in the fresh list of US sanctions. 

North Sky, North Mountain, North Air and North Way, which have been used to move cargoes loaded at another Russian LNG exporting plant, Yamal LNG, have also been sanctioned. These four vessels have stopped in Zeebrugge, Belgium, to pick up loads from specialized ice-class vessels, a transaction that will also be banned from next March in line with the European Union’s sanctions.

That operating plant is not under sanctions.

Novatek PJSC, the majority shareholder of both plants, has had its China-based unit also included in the list. Novatek didn’t immediately comment. 

“This is a big deal. It shows the United States isn’t messing around in its goal of squashing Russia’s LNG sector,” said Edward Fishman, senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. “The US isn’t just targeting facilities — it’s targeting shipments.” 

(Updates vessel locations)

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