Russia Uses Mysterious Dubai Company To Expand Shadow LNG Fleet & Evade Western Sanctions

Russia is trying to evade Western sanctions on its LNG Tanker Fleet by transferring ownership of its three LNG tankers, earlier managed by Russian companies Gazprom and Sovcomflot, to a new company in Dubai’s free trade zone.

Some aspects of the management of tankers named Velikiy Novgorod, Pskov, and La Perouse were transferred to Matias Ship Management, a newly opened company in Dubai, per Bloomberg, which cited global shipping database Equasis.

The company’s address is at Meydan Hotel, Dubai, a free trade zone where companies suspected of having links with Russian shadow fleets comprising oil and LNG tankers are based, per Bloomberg.

The 3 LNG Tankers have been serving the Portovaya LNG export plant on Russia’s Baltic Sea, however, Portovaya LNG is not subjected to any sanctions or restrictions, though two tankers, Velikiy Novgorod and La Perouse, are under UK sanctions.

Velikiy Novgorod came under sanctions as the United Kingdom imposed the biggest round of sanctions to date against Russia’s shadow fleet, as it designated 18 oil tankers, and 4 LNG tankers to cut revenue for Moscow.

Russia has begun to amass a dark fleet of tankers for shipping its LNG in vessel ownership transfers like it started to form a shadow fleet after invading Ukraine, for exporting oil and other products amid sanctions.

A few tankers have left the sanctioned Arctic LNG-2 Terminal in northern Russia, showing Moscow’s continued efforts to evade sanctions.

A few months back, the U.S State Department made relentless efforts to prevent Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 exports after it targeted companies related to the project’s development and ships that loaded LNG from the facility.

Reference: Oil Price

Russia Uses Mysterious Dubai Company To Expand Shadow LNG Fleet & Evade Western Sanctions appeared first on Marine Insight – The Maritime Industry Guide

Source: Maritime Shipping News