russia increases shadow fleet and liquefied natural gas exports despite sanctions

This should increase exports despite sanctions.

This was reported by Bloomberg.

russian Minister of Industry and Trade Anton Alikhanov said on 11 February at a parliamentary session that they had completed the first Arc7-class vessel at the end of 2025 and planned to complete the construction of two more this year.

The first tanker of this class built in russia is the Alexey Kosygin. Last month, it began exporting fuel from Arctic LNG 2.

The additional vessels are expected to help increase gas production and supply. The project previously faced difficulties during the winter months, as conventional tankers cannot operate in ice-covered waters.

Arc7 class tankers are capable of breaking ice up to two metres thick and, under certain conditions, navigating parts of the Northern Sea Route without the assistance of icebreakers. Before the arrival of the Alexey Kosygin, Arctic LNG 2 had only one such vessel, the Christophe de Margerie.

The Arctic LNG 2 project, implemented by Novatek, is key to russia's plans to increase liquefied gas production to approximately 100 million tonnes per year. However, Western sanctions following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine have made access to equipment and technology difficult, so the implementation schedule has had to be postponed.

Source: Babel, Bloomberg