Ice-class tankers exporting Russian liquefied natural gas from the Yamal LNG plant continue to be serviced in European ports. A ban on working with them would greatly complicate the logistics of exporting LNG from the Arctic, but for now the European Union is only increasing its purchases.

Technical maintenance of 14 out of 15 specialized Arc7 tankers delivering LNG from Yamal to Europe was carried out by two shipyards - Damen in Brest, France, and Fayard A/S in Denmark, the Financial Times writes, citing information from satellite images and port call tracking data provided by the analytical company Kpler. Without such repairs, Novatek would struggle to deliver fuel from the Yamal LNG project to key export markets in winter, when gas prices in the northern hemisphere peak. “If these two yards were banned, it would throw the entire logistics operation into question,” says Malte Humpert, an Arctic shipping specialist at High North News. “They [the LNG tankers] could get services elsewhere, but that would mean a detour.” The only vessel not to call at the yards is the Christophe de Margerie, which belongs to sanctioned Sovcomflot. The critical dependence of Arc7 LNG tankers on European services and spare parts is underscored by the fact that the Christophe de Margerie has been out of service for six months, Humpert says. Other tankers carrying Russian LNG are owned by foreign energy and shipping companies, including Greece’s Dynagas and Canada’s Teekay.

Damen has serviced eight vessels since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began. It confirmed to the FT that it had repaired “a number of vessels involved in the transport of Russian LNG”, but added that this was done “in strict compliance with European sanctions legislation” and that it “had no involvement in the cargo selection made by the shipping companies operating these vessels”. Fayard has serviced nine tankers.

“There are no plans for further repairs to these LNG vessels in the near future,” Damen said in a statement. This is because a ban on tankers carrying Russian LNG entering European ports will come into force in March. As a result, these ports will not be able to transship gas from ice-class tankers to conventional tankers heading to more remote regions. In 2023, about a quarter of the 20.9 billion cubic meters of LNG delivered to the EU was then re-exported to other countries, according to the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.

The EU wants to get rid of Russian gas completely by 2027. But while pipeline imports are declining, liquefied gas purchases are growing. According to Rystad Energy, tankers carrying 17.8 million tons of Russian LNG, or 24.2 billion cubic meters, will call at European ports in 2024.