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Russian shadow fleet LNG tankers sanctioned by Britain
On June 16, 2026, Britain has imposed sanctions on the LNG carriers 'Orion', 'Merkuriy', 'Kosmos' and 'Luch', 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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