Authorities in the US have sanctioned four LNG carrier shipowning entities, a heavylift vessel charterer and a Novatek subsidiary, as they continue efforts to block Russia’s development and export of its energy resources.
The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added to its sanctions list the registered shipowning companies controlling the 174,000-cbm sister ships North Air and North Mountain (both built 2023) and newbuildings North Sky (ex-North Star) and North Way (ex-North Wind).
It also included New Transshipment, a subsidiary of Russian gas producer Novatek, which Ofac identified as being involved in the procurement and leasing of the four vessels.
The four ice-strengthened LNG carriers were originally contracted by NYK and Sovcomflot for Russian business.
But the quartet were delivered to new and now also sanctioned owner White Fox Ship Management, a company listed as based in a business park in Dubai.
Ofac sanctioned White Fox in August 2024.
The four modern LNG shadow ships have been used over the summer to take on Russian transshipped volumes in Zeebrugge, Belgium, to terminals in China and India. The North Sky has also shipped a cargo through the Northern Sea Route to China.
But Kpler data currently shows all four vessels sitting in ballast off Russia’s northern Arctic coastline.
This week it emerged that Novatek’s new liquefaction plant, Arctic LNG 2, which started exporting cargoes this year and is also sanctioned by the US, has shut down its operations.
One of the planned three 6.6 mtpa gravity-based unit production trains had been operational and a second has been towed into place on the Gydan Peninsula.
On Wednesday, Ofac also sanctioned Smart Solutions, which it identified as the charterer of the heavylift vessels the 28,900-dwt Audax and 28,800-dwt Pugnax (both built 2016) that delivered liquefaction modules and kit for the Arctic LNG 2 plant.
While Arctic LNG 2 has stopped producing, some of the cargoes shipped from the new plant remain stranded on board sanctioned LNG shadow ships.
Three non-ice class vessels were apparently waiting in the Sea of Japan last week with cargoes on board.
But this week the trio — comprising the 137,231-cbm Asya Energy (ex-Trader IV, built 2002) and the 149,700-cbm Nova Energy (ex-New Energy, built 2007), both of which shipped their volumes through the NSR, and the 138,000-cbm Pioneer (ex-Pioneer Spirit, built 2005) — were lying off the Russian Far East coast.
The Pioneer loaded its shipment from Arctic LNG 2 on 1 August.
Two more sanctioned shadow LNG carriers, the 79,833-cbm newbuilding Mulan (ex-Mulan Spirit) and 138,000-cbm Everest Energy (ex-Metagas Everett, built 2003), remain off the north-west coast of Russia.
The Everest Energy is laden with an Arctic LNG 2 cargo that was loaded on 1 October.
Early ice build-up has physically closed the NSR to all but vessels with ice-breaking capability. Novatek’s 15 Arc7 LNG carriers are still using the route.
