LNG Carrier Faking Location to Avoid Russia Sanctions

An LNG tanker docked at the sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 export plant has no know insurer, is managed by a little know Indian company, and is pretending to be from somewhere else, Bloomberg said.

• This highlights the extended efforts to continue operations despite western sanctions.
• The vessel is identified as the Pioneer, currently sending signals that it is 800m away.
• Satellite imagery showed a tanker at the Arctic LNG 2 facilities on Aug. 1, for the first time.
• The pioneer is part of a growing ‘dark fleet’ of LNG tankers that can move the Kremlin’s gas to willing buyers.
• While the shadow fleet for transporting Russian oil is well established, the LNG market had not followed, in large part due to the lack of direct sanctions.
• However, with Russia looking to finally get Arctic LNG 2 operations off the ground and revive the output it lost from curtailed pipeline flows to Europe, the LNG shadow fleet may see further growth.