The U.S. government has imposed additional sanctions to hinder operations at Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 by further targeting a shadow fleet of tankers assembled to move cargoes from the facility.
The United States added the New Energy and Mulan vessels to a list of seven others that were sanctioned late last month. The State Department also sanctioned the vessels’ owner, Gotik Energy Shipping Co., and commercial manager Pilo Energy Cargo Shipping OPC PVT Ltd. Both companies are based in India.
The sanctions are part of a broader package first rolled out by U.S. officials last year against the 19.8 million metric tons/year Arctic LNG 2 facility.
The restrictions are aimed at curbing Russian revenue as its war with Ukraine continues. The sanctions have curbed output at Arctic LNG 2, which came online late last year when the first train started up. The sanctions have also created delays in completing the two remaining trains.
“The U.S. government will continue to answer attempts to operationalize the sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project or otherwise expand Russia’s energy capabilities with a swift response,” the State Department said.
State Department officials said they were working with allies and the Group of Seven, aka G7, and “will remain steadfast in countering Russia’s exploitation of its energy resources for political gain.” Including the United States, other G7 members are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK.
The latest sanctions further tighten restrictions on a shadow fleet assembled by Russia. Some of the vessels have manipulated their automatic identification systems to spoof their locations.
For example, the State Department said New Energy transferred LNG loaded at Arctic LNG 2 on Aug. 25 to the Pioneer vessel, which has also been sanctioned.
The sanctions effectively block the vessels and companies and prohibit U.S. entities from dealing with them.
