A third liquefied natural gas tanker appears to be heading to the Arctic LNG 2 export plant in northern Russia that’s subject to US sanctions, with Moscow ramping up efforts to circumvent Western restrictions.
The Everest Energy, part of a suspected “dark fleet” of vessels assembled by Moscow to take gas to willing buyers, has halted in the Barents Sea northeast of Norway, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
The Everest Energy, as well as the two other vessels — Asya Energy and Pioneer — are all managed by Ocean Speedstar Solutions, according to Equasis, a global shipping database. The India-based company was incorporated in June and only manages these three ships, Equasis data shows.
The US imposed sanctions on the Arctic LNG 2 plant late last year to prevent the start of exports. While the restrictions kept foreign companies away and stopped the delivery of ice-ready carriers, Russia likely managed the circumvent the curbs by using the shadow fleet.