Russia likely working on shadow fleet of LNG tankers - Bloomberg

Russia is working to create a shadow fleet of liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers in response to new European Union sanctions banning the transshipment of russian LNG at European ports.

This was reported by the Bloomberg agency.

According to the global shipping database Equasis, at least 8 LNG carriers have been owned by small companies in Dubai (UAE) in the last three months.

These ships belong to the ice class (capable of being in the sea, the surface of which is covered with ice).

Four of them have already received russia's permission to sail in the country's Arctic waters this summer.

One such vessel is Asya Energy. It is 22 years old and flies under the flag of Palau. The ship got its current name last month.

Asya Energy is currently managed by Nur Global Shipping. The agency notes that this company is unknown in the industry and operates out of the luxury Meydan Hotel in the UAE's free trade zone. The vessel has no known insurer.

Four more vessels - North Air, North Mountain, North Sky, and North Way - were recently built. They were transferred to the ownership of White Fox Ship Management, also based in Dubai.

It is emphasized that russia has also issued permits for these vessels to sail in its Arctic waters.

White Fox Ship Management did not have an office at all. As the owner of the building where the company is registered told, it works at the same table with numerous firms.

Bloomberg noted that the agency was unable to directly link these vessels to major russian companies. However, the details are strikingly similar to maneuvers to create a shadow oil fleet, including the use of opaque companies and vessels so old they are usually decommissioned.

"The purchase of old carriers, the transfer of ice-class vessels to a Dubai company and a record number of permits to pass through the Northern Sea Route indicate that the pieces of the puzzle of the dark fleet are falling into place," the publication quotes the words of the founder of the American Arctic Institute Malte Humpert.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the 14th package of European Union sanctions against russia entered into force on June 24. Among other things, it prohibits transshipment of russian LNG in European ports.

It will be recalled that earlier it became known that the administration of the US President abandoned the ban on LNG exports in order to satisfy Congress, so that it would pass a bill on the restoration of aid to Ukraine.