Arctic tourist resort is becoming shadow tanker hub
Carriers involved in transportation of sanctioned LNG are increasingly using the waters off the coast of Teriberka, a settlement promoted as a top tourist attraction on the Kola Peninsula.
The remote settlement located on the coast of the Barents Sea used to be a vivid fishing village. But over the last decade, it is the tourist industry that has been the main driver for development in Teriberka.
A significant part of the about 500 local inhabitants are involved in serving visitors from all over Russia, and beyond. In the course of the past years, thousands of tourists have paid a visit to Teriberka where they have hunted for the northern light, gone on whale safari, or simply enjoyed the magnificent Arctic landscape of the place.
But lately, there is also another industry that is looking towards Teriberka. LNG tankers are now frequent guests in the waters off the coast of the resort.
On February 10, three LNG tankers could be seen drifting few kilometres from Teriberka. Among them were the Le Perouse and Seapeak Yamal. In the area was also offshore service vessel Izumrud.
The carriers are likely to do bunkering and get various supplies from land-based services in Teriberka.
Ship traffic data from February 9 compiled by the Barents Observer show at least seven LNG carriers crisscrossing in the waters near Teriberka and adjacent areas.
The traffic data also show that many of the tankers sailed into the Ura Bay where they reloaded LNG to or from the Saam FSU.
The data also show that the Christophe de Margerie, a 299-metre-long LNG carrier, made a rare visit to the western coast of the Rybachii Peninsula, only few kilometres from the border with Norway.
Most of the seven LNG carriers that were seen along the coast of the Kola Peninsula on February 9 are on international sanction lists. The Iris, the Christophe de Margerie and the Arctic Mulan are all on the sanction lists of the EU, USA and several more countries, while the La Perouse is sanctioned by the EU and several more countries.
The Seapeak Yamal, the Boris Vilkitsky and the LNG Phecda are not on sanction lists.
Russia has invested billions in the development of its LNG industry in the Arctic and major volumes of gas are now produced both at the Yamal LNG project and the Arctic LNG 2.
But the industry is under mounting pressure. The EU is phasing out all the Russian LNG from its market and imports are due to come to a full halt in 2027.
Stringent sanctions have already been introduced against large parts of the industry. All activities related to the Arctic LNG 2 project are subject to sanctions. That includes the Saam FSU in the Ura Bay. The 400-metre-long terminal ship was deployed in the bay in summer of 2023, but was not applied by its owner Novatek for a long time.
Only in 2025 did the company start active use of the Saam FSU, and in early 2026 the object has been frequently visited by the carrier Christophe de Margerie and several more tankers.
Also the brand new Aleksei Kosygin, Russia’s first domestically built Arc7 LNG carrier, has started to shuttle between the Saam FSU and the Arctic LNG 2 project.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: U.S. tariffs threatening Indigenous tourism rebound in North, Eye on the Arctic
Finland: Not-so snowy start to winter casts a gloomy shadow over Lapland tourisms, Yle News
Greenland: New Copenhagen-Kangerlussuaq flight aims to boost Greenland tourism, Eye on the Arctic
Iceland: Iceland moving ahead on better ways to manage tourism & safeguard protected areas, Eye on the Arctic
Norway: Arctic tourism in Norway: “People crash into trees and get broken bones”, The Independent Barents Observer
Sweden: Reindeer herding affected by increased tourism in Swedish mountains, Radio Sweden
