EU ports help service Russian Arctic gas tankers – FT
www.pravda.com.ua
Tue, 14 Jan 2025 11:05:25 +0200
EU shipyards are repairing Russian iceclass tankers, allowing Moscow to continue transporting gas through the Arctic despite Western sanctions on the energy sector.
Source Financial Times Details Without the maintenance work carried out by the Damen shipyard in Brest France and Fayard A/S in Denmark, Russias Yamal LNG plant would struggle to supply gas to crucial markets in winter, when gas prices in the northern hemisphere are at their highest.
Satellite imagery and ship call tracking by analytics company Kpler show that these shipyards serviced 14 of the 15 specialised Arc7 tankers transporting gas from Russias Yamal LNG.
Some vessels visited the shipyards several times.
Quote from Malte Humpert, an Arctic shipping specialist at High North News who tracked the vessels movements If those two shipyards were offlimits, it would put the whole logistics operations in doubt.
They could get the service somewhere else but that would mean going well off their route.
Details Eight tankers have visited the Brest shipyard, and nine have undergone maintenance at the Danish shipyard since Russias fullscale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Energy and shipping companies, including Greeces Dynagas, own most of these vessels.
Damen confirmed that it had repaired several vessels involved in the transport of Russian LNG but stressed that this strictly adhered to European sanctions legislation and that it was not involved in the cargo choices made by the shipping companies operating these vessels. Quote from Damen No further repairs of these LNG ships are planned for the coming period.
More details Fayard did not respond to a request for comment.
Reducing Russian gas imports is a central policy goal for the European Commission.
However, the EUs plans to reduce the use of Russian fossil fuels to zero by 2027 are threatened by increased imports of Russian LNG, most of which comes from Yamal.
The activities of these vessels and shipyards are not subject to sanctions due to the energy transport exemption and the fact that they are not Russianflagged.
Specialised tankers would not be able to distribute cargo without the maintenance and expertise of European shipyards.
The only tanker that has not used either of these two shipyards is the Christophe de Margerie, owned by the sanctioned Russian shipping company Sovcomflot.
On 16 December, the EU imposed sanctions on the ship itself, the first time the bloc has restricted Yamals operations.
The US has already imposed several waves of sanctions on the Yamal project.
The inability of the Christophe de Margerie to access European shipyards put it out of service for six months, demonstrating the reliance of Arc7 tankers on European expertise and spare parts.
Background A group of ten European Union countries is calling for tougher sanctions against Russia, including new restrictions on natural gas and strengthening control over compliance with the oil price cap.
Support UP or become our patron
Latest news
more news