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On Oct 15, 2026, four LNG carriers sailed through the Bering Strait and into the Sea of Okhotsk, all with freshly painted letters on their hulls, the 'Oneiroi' (IMO: 9958327), 'Melicertes' (IMO: 9958303), 'Neleus' (IMO: 9958315), and 'Aeolus' (IMO: 9958298). All ships had been renamed shortly before their Arctic voyage. Their previous names were 'North Valley', 'North Moon', 'North Ocean' and 'North Light'. The ships were all built at the Hanwha Ocean shipyard in Okpo, South Korea, in 2024 and 2025, and were until recently owned and operated by the Korean shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines. Along with the name change came a change of flag state and ownership. On Sep 1, the ships changed flag states from Singapore to Panama. Similarly, they all shared the same ISM manager. Most likely, all four tankers were connected with Novatek, the Russian natural gas company that owns and operates Russia’s two biggest LNG plants, Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG 2. Three of the ships, the 'North Moon', 'North Ocean' and 'North Light', were added to the EU sanctions list in May 2025, but were excluded from the list in September again, following a guarantee from the company not to participate in the transportation of LNG from Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG 2. Now the four ships might once again be liable for sanctions. On Oct 19, the tankers sailed into the Kara Sea, likely to proceed to the Gulf of Ob to load LNG at either Yamal LNG or Arctic LNG 2. The four tankers were probably part of the growing fleet of LNG tankers serving Novatek and its Arctic operations. Novatek now has a fleet of more than 18 tankers serving the Arctic LNG 2 project alone.

A male passenger of the 'Britannia' suffered a medical emergency on the afternoon of Oct 19, while the ship was sailing north of Madeira. The Port Captain of Funchal confirmed that he may have suffered a stroke. The Portuguese Air Force’s EH-101 Merlin helicopter was mobilised for a medical evacuation. After the rescue, the aircraft landed at the Madeira International Airport, where the passenger was met by a fire brigade, which ensured the transport to a hospital.

On Oct 15, 2026, four LNG carriers sailed through the Bering Strait and into the Sea of Okhotsk, all with freshly painted letters on their hulls, the 'Oneiroi' (IMO: 9958327), 'Melicertes' (IMO: 9958303), 'Neleus' (IMO: 9958315), and 'Aeolus' (IMO: 9958298). All ships had been renamed shortly before their Arctic voyage. Their previous names were 'North Valley', 'North Moon', 'North Ocean' and 'North Light'. The ships were all built at the Hanwha Ocean shipyard in Okpo, South Korea, in 2024 and 2025, and were until recently owned and operated by the Korean shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines. Along with the name change came a change of flag state and ownership. On Sep 1, the ships changed flag states from Singapore to Panama. Similarly, they all shared the same ISM manager. Most likely, all four tankers were connected with Novatek, the Russian natural gas company that owns and operates Russia’s two biggest LNG plants, Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG 2. Three of the ships, the 'North Moon', 'North Ocean' and 'North Light', were added to the EU sanctions list in May 2025, but were excluded from the list in September again, following a guarantee from the company not to participate in the transportation of LNG from Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG 2. Now the four ships might once again be liable for sanctions. On Oct 19, the tankers sailed into the Kara Sea, likely to proceed to the Gulf of Ob to load LNG at either Yamal LNG or Arctic LNG 2. The four tankers were probably part of the growing fleet of LNG tankers serving Novatek and its Arctic operations. Novatek now has a fleet of more than 18 tankers serving the Arctic LNG 2 project alone.

Norway has detained the heavy lift carrier 'Ya Qing Hai Yang' (IMO: 1021570), which was linked to Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project, Novatek’s liquefied natural gas project on the Gydan Peninsula in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, on Oct 14. In Oct 2024, the vessel helped transport power-generation modules from China to Russia’s Utrenny port, which serves the project. The ship was later placed under sanctions over that activity. On Oct 8, the ship was spotted several kilometers away from the Norwegian border, after having departed from Hong Kong, making several stops in the Russian Far East before sailing along the Northern Sea Route — the shipping corridor connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans via Russia’s Arctic coast. Because Guatemala does not maintain a public ship registry, the flag registration was regarded as potentially false. The 'Jian Yang Cheng He' was also stopped, though it was not under sanctions, and no connection to Russian projects was known. It had also left Hong Kong in mid-July and sailed along the Northern Sea Route. Both ships had sought shelter from a storm near Andøya island, where the Norwegian Coast Guard personnel inspected them.

On Oct 15, 2026, four LNG carriers sailed through the Bering Strait and into the Sea of Okhotsk, all with freshly painted letters on their hulls, the 'Oneiroi' (IMO: 9958327), 'Melicertes' (IMO: 9958303), 'Neleus' (IMO: 9958315), and 'Aeolus' (IMO: 9958298). All ships had been renamed shortly before their Arctic voyage. Their previous names were 'North Valley', 'North Moon', 'North Ocean' and 'North Light'. The ships were all built at the Hanwha Ocean shipyard in Okpo, South Korea, in 2024 and 2025, and were until recently owned and operated by the Korean shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines. Along with the name change came a change of flag state and ownership. On Sep 1, the ships changed flag states from Singapore to Panama. Similarly, they all shared the same ISM manager. Most likely, all four tankers were connected with Novatek, the Russian natural gas company that owns and operates Russia’s two biggest LNG plants, Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG 2. Three of the ships, the 'North Moon', 'North Ocean' and 'North Light', were added to the EU sanctions list in May 2025, but were excluded from the list in September again, following a guarantee from the company not to participate in the transportation of LNG from Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG 2. Now the four ships might once again be liable for sanctions. On Oct 19, the tankers sailed into the Kara Sea, likely to proceed to the Gulf of Ob to load LNG at either Yamal LNG or Arctic LNG 2. The four tankers were probably part of the growing fleet of LNG tankers serving Novatek and its Arctic operations. Novatek now has a fleet of more than 18 tankers serving the Arctic LNG 2 project alone. Once included in the fleet, the four carriers will rejoin their sister vessels—the Buran, Voskhod, Iris, and Zarya, which previously carried the names North Air, North Mountain, North Sky, and North Way. All of the latter are sanctioned by the EU, the USA, and many other countries.