Four tankers loaded with Russian Arctic LNG 2 cargo are still out at sea, according to data from ship-tracking agency Kpler, highlighting the struggles of the US sanctioned project to sell the sea-borne gas.
The agency said on Monday the tankers were seen traversing the sea without signaling a destination as the market continues to anticipate a potential delivery to a buyer.
According to Kpler data, the tankers laden with liquefied natural gas (LNG) constitute 40 percent of a so-called “dark fleet” of 10 Russian LNG-ferrying vessels identified by the agency and which have been sanctioned by the West.
The dark fleet, which Kpler and other ship-tracking agencies also refer to as a shadow fleet, consists of tankers which knowingly operate to circumvent Western sanctions to ship goods.
They include the Pioneer with a capacity of 138,000 cubic meters, the Asya Energy (137,200 cubic meters), the Nova Energy (150,000 cubic meters) and the Everest Energy (138,028 cubic meters), according to Kpler.
The Arctic LNG 2 project, 60 percent owned by Russia’s Novatek is subject to Western sanctions over Russia’s conflict with Ukraine.
Novatek has denied involvement in establishing and managing a “shadow fleet” for the Arctic LNG 2 project.
It is not clear where the four loaded tankers are headed. “Pioneer is going full speed ahead while Asya Energy is in a holding pattern. It’s a wait-and-see situation if these cargoes are discharged to end-users,” said Ana Subasic, Kpler Insight market analyst for LNG and natural gas.
“We believe certain players, like China, will be looking to make use of the heavily discounted spot volumes on offer.”
The project had been set to become one of Russia’s largest LNG plants with eventual output of 19.8 million metric tons per year, but its prospects have been clouded by the sanctions. It started to export in August, but there is still no information about the end user.
