This year’s last voyage on Northern Sea Route goes to sanctioned LNG terminal
The Christophe de Margerie, a ‘shadow tanker,’ has made port call at the Utrenny terminal in the Gydan Peninsula after a 6,000-kilometre-long voyage across the ice-covered Arctic route.
On December 19, the 299-metre-long LNG carrier arrived in Utrenny, the terminal that serves the Arctic LNG 2 project. The tanker had sailed from Kamchatka on Russia’s Pacific coast and across the Northern Sea Route (NSR). Major parts of the voyage were made together with the sister vessel Boris Vilkitsky.
There is thick sea ice along the Russian Arctic coast, but the two tankers nevertheless sailed without escort of a nuclear-powered icebreaker.
The voyage marks this year’s last shipment on the NSR.
The Christophe de Margerie is Russia’s first tanker of the Yamalmax-class. It was originally built for the Yamal LNG project, but has in recent years primarily served the Arctic LNG 2.
The Arctic LNG 2 is sanctioned by the US, UK and several other countries. Also the Christophe de Margerie is heavily sanctioned by the international community and is operating as a so-called ‘shadow tanker.’
The tanker is one of the ‘shadow vessels’ that is shuttling between the Arctic LNG 2 and Chinese ports. Among the other tankers that are involved in the shipments of the sanctioned LNG are the Buran, the Iris, the Voskhod and the Zarya.
The Christophe de Margerie has ice classification Arc7, which enables it to break through sea ice up to two metre thick. The current ice situation in the Gulf of Ob is complicated and the Buran, an Arc4-class tanker, recently had to give up attempts to break through the sea ice on its way to the Utrenny terminal.
It is not clear where the Christophe de Margerie will deliver its latest shipment of LNG. Last winter, the tanker drifted aimlessly in the Pechora Sea and the Kara Sea for more than five months.
Related stories from around the North: :
Canada: Sanctions-evading Russian oil ships could pollute the Arctic, PM’s adviser warns, Eye on the Arctic
Denmark: Denmark, Greenland agree to build naval wharf in Nuuk amid growing Arctic focus, Eye on the Arctic
Finland: Finland pushes EU drone wall as northern countries’ security investments expand, Eye on the Arctic
Iceland: Europe’s Von der Leyen strengthens Arctic security ties with Iceland during visit, Eye on the Arctic
Russia: New UK sanctions target Putin’s main funder of war, The Independent Barents Observer
United States: U.S. Coast Guard monitors Chinese ships in Arctic waters…again, Eye on the Arctic
