A new Dubai ship manager has emerged to run three former Sovcomflot (SCF Group) LNG carriers, two of which were sanctioned last month in the UK.
Data from the European Commission-backed Equasis website shows Matias Ship Management took over the 170,000-cbm Pskov and 170,500-cbm Velikiy Novgorod (both built 2014), and the 175,000-cbm La Perouse (built 2020), in early September.
The vessels are also under new ownership in the Seychelles and Dubai.
The trio was formerly part of Russian state-owned Sovcomflot, but, like many of the company’s ships, was transferred to Sun Ship Management in Dubai following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
A plethora of new ship managers and owners sprang up in the city that year as Russian-trading and owned vessels became part of a shadow fleet seeking to evade Western sanctions.
Most of these were set up to handle tankers, but the shadow LNG carrier fleet has been gaining more exposure in the media in recent months.
The opaque control of these vessels is key to Russia shipping gas from its new Arctic LNG 2 facility, which was sanctioned last year by the US.
Equasis lists the address for Matias as the Meydan Hotel, located in Dubai’s free trade zone.
The company could not be contacted. Sovcomflot has been contacted for comment.
The La Perouse is the former SCF La Perouse.
Sanctions followed management change
On 20 September, it was one of five ships and two companies sanctioned by the UK for their role in shipping Russian LNG, including from the country’s expanding Arctic projects.
The UK government said it was the first time it has used new powers to target individual LNG carriers. It has pursued 25 tankers since July.
The Velikiy Novgorod was then sanctioned by the UK on 17 October.
Bloomberg cited a United Arab Emirates business database as showing Matias was set up in August.
Two of the three LNG ships are listed as owned by companies with the same Dubai address as Matias.
The Pskov is owned and commercially managed by Nephrite Shipping of the Seychelles, with ISM management from Matias.
Matias is both the commercial and ISM manager of the other two units.
TradeWinds reported in 2023 that the Pskov and Velikiy Novgorod had been shuttling between Russia’s Portovaya LNG plant on the Baltic coast and Greece and Turkey.
Portovaya is not sanctioned.
The vessel trio is classed in India. Their insurers are not known.
S&P Global Intelligence found that 100 new companies set up in 2022 in the UAE were linked to Russia in some way through formerly Russia-owned or flagged vessels, ownership structures or by making port calls there since December 2022.
