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More tankers on EU sanctions list to stop Russian war
The EU’s 21st Package of Sanctions against Russia, which was announced on July 23, has blacklisted more Russian Arctic vessels, including the 'Aleksey Kosygin' (IMO: 9904546), an LNG tanker used on the Northern Sea Route. The vessel was operating for Novatek and its Arctic LNG 2 project. Together with the 'Christophe de Margerie' (IMO: 9737187), it was shuttling between Utrenneye in the Gulf of Ob and the Saam FSU in Ura Bay. On July 27, the tanker was located in the Bering Sea, possibly en route to the Koryak FSU in Bechevinskaya Bay, Kamchatka, with a cargo of LNG from Arctic LNG 2. The package also included more than 100 banks and crypto operators, several oil refineries, and more than 50 military- industrial entities, among them key actors involved in the production of Russia’s long-range drones. On the list were also more than 40 vessels in Russia’s shadow fleet, with several of these ships being frequent visitors to Arctic waters. Among the other ships added to the sanctions list was the LNG carrier 'Luch', a 20-year-old tanker which was until recently sailing under the flag of Sierra Leone and with an unknown ISM manager. In May 2026, the carrier paid a visit to the Kola Peninsula, where it might have loaded LNG at the sanctioned FSU 'Saam'. The owners of the 'Luch' have changed the ship’s name three times in 2026. In January, the ship was named 'Akit LNG'. Later the same month, the name was changed to 'Lake LNG', and in March 2026, it received its current name. On the sanctions list was also the 'Pioneer' (IMO: 9255282), a tanker that was frequently calling at Murmansk. Since July 2024, the ship has been owned by the Reliable Marine Solutions DMCC, a company registered in Dubai.
Four Russian shadow LNG tankers sanctioned by Britain
On June 16, 2026, Britain has imposed sanctions on the LNG tankers 'Orion', 'Merkuriy', 'Kosmos' and 'Luch', which were all linked to Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project, becoming the first G7 country to target the latest vessels acquired to expand exports from the sanctioned Arctic plant. The newly sanctioned vessels were part of a growing LNG “shadow fleet” assembled by the Russian gas producer Novatek to overcome severe shipping constraints that have hampered Arctic LNG 2 since Western sanctions were imposed. London determined there were reasonable grounds to suspect the vessels were involved in transporting Russian LNG to third countries. In the case of the 'Merkuriy', the government said that the vessel was involved in carrying liquefied natural gas that originated in Russia from a place in Russia to a third country, following a ship-to-ship transfer with the Saam FSU near Murmansk. The sanctions were announced as part of a broader package targeting Russia’s war economy, including banks, military procurement networks and more than 20 oil and gas vessels. Britain said it was the first G7 nation to sanction these newly acquired vessels linked to Arctic LNG 2. The four LNG carriers were purchased recently through a network of intermediaries and subsequently reflagged and renamed before entering service for Russia’s Arctic export chain. All four vessels were currently en route to China carrying LNG cargoes originating from Arctic LNG 2. The cargoes were transferred ship-to-ship in the Murmansk region after being transported from Arctic LNG 2 by Russia’s icebreaking LNG carriers, highlighting the increasingly complex logistics network Moscow has developed to keep exports moving despite sanctions.
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