A sanctioned LNG transhipment operation is emerging off Russia’s Kola Peninsula, with shadow vessels routing cargoes via the long-idle Saam FSU in Ura Bay.
The Russian-flagged, 400-meter-long, 60-meter-wide floating storage unit has been stationed in Ura Bay since June 2023 but has seen little activity until recently, according to the Barents Observer.
It also notes that the 2016-built 172,000-cbm LNG carrier Christophe de Margerie is now shuttling LNG between the Utrenny terminal and the Saam FSU, serving the sanctioned Arctic LNG 2, a mammoth project developed by Novatek, to ship LNG to Europe and Asia via Arctic shipping routes. This rare Arc7 ice-class shadow tanker is capable of operating independently in heavy Arctic ice.
This week, the 21-year-old, 138,000 cbm Arctic Pioneer, a ship previously linked to AIS manipulation, has arrived in the area and is most likely loading LNG at the Saam.
Earlier satellite imagery placed the elderly workhorse at the Arctic LNG 2 site, while its AIS signal showed it operating north of Norway, leading to it being sanctioned by Western authorities.
Other sanctioned LNG carriers of similar size and ice class have also been loading cargo in Ura Bay recently. These include the Voskhod (ex-SCF Yamal) and the 2023-built Buran. The latter recently failed to reach Utrenny due to heavy ice, despite assistance from a nuclear icebreaker.
Despite sanctions, Novatek has completed two of the three planned LNG production facilities at the Arctic LNG 2 project, despite restrictions that have blocked delivery of a raft of ice-class LNG carriers, forcing reliance on a growing shadow fleet.
