FT: Russia is expanding its ‘shadow fleet’ of tankers to carry liquefied natural gas ahead of looming supply ban
Russia is expanding its “shadow fleet” of gas carriers, adding secondhand vessels along with its first domestically built tankers, the Financial Times reports, citing data from the maritime analytics firm Windward.
The “shadow fleet” used to transport liquefied natural gas (LNG) has grown to 25 vessels over the past six months, according to the analysts’ count. That total includes at least eight secondhand tankers and two new ones built at the Zvezda shipyard.
Most of the tankers belong to shell companies linked to Russia and registered in jurisdictions such as Dubai, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
Novatek holds the leading position in the Russian LNG market. Its Siberian Yamal LNG plant and the sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project together account for more than 65% of Russia’s total production, while another 30% comes from Gazprom’s Sakhalin-2 project in the Far East.
The Financial Times identifies China as the main buyer of LNG from the Arctic LNG 2 project. Eleven vessels with an average age of 10 years handle shipments from the project, according to estimates from the FT and the analytics firm Kpler. The cargo is then transferred at floating terminals onto conventional tankers, which carry it on to China.
Expanding the gas carrier fleet will let Moscow keep LNG shipments running once the EU’s ban on supplies takes effect on January 1, 2027, following the model of the “shadow fleet” already used to move oil, which now numbers more than a thousand vessels. Moscow has been slower to build up its shadow gas-carrier fleet, however, since these vessels are technically far more complex, the outlet says.
Novatek suspended production of liquefied natural gas at the Arctic LNG 2 project in April 2024, citing sanctions and a shortage of tankers, according to Reuters. At the time, the company had three specialized tankers from the shipyard, out of the 15 planned back in 2020.
A ban on transporting Russian LNG to third countries was expected to be included in the EU’s 21st sanctions package against Russia. Greece opposed it, however, acting in the interest of its shipping company Dynagas, and the proposal was ultimately left out of the latest sanctions package.
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