Bloomberg: Russia expands “shadow fleet” for LNG exports

Despite US and EU sanctions, Russia continues to expand its so-called “shadow fleet” used for transporting energy resources, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), Bloomberg reports.

According to the agency, four tankers — Kosmos, Luch, Orion, and Merkuriy— have changed their flags to Russian and are heading toward the Arctic. 

Some of the vessels are travelling through the North Atlantic, while one is en route to Murmansk, near the Saam floating gas storage facility used for exports from the Arctic LNG 2 project, which is under US sanctions.

Data from the Equasis ship database shows that the vessels changed registration and flag in March–April following ownership changes. Previously, they belonged to Oman Ship Management Co. or related entities.

Bloomberg analysis indicates that these vessels display characteristics of a “shadow fleet”: they are older than modern LNG carriers and have been transferred to little-known companies through opaque ownership structures and intermediaries. 

At least 16 tankers have already been used to transport LNG from sanctioned Russian projects. One of the vessels was previously damaged in March and taken out of service, the report added.

The Equasis database shows that in February, Kosmos and Luch were transferred to Hong Kong-based Mighty Ocean Shipping Ltd., while Orion and Merkuriy were transferred to Celtic Maritime & Trading SA.

By Jeyhun Aghazada