Shadow fleet gas carriers make port calls at sanctioned Arctic terminals
Several 'shadow fleet' tankers are loading liquefied natural gas at the Arctic LNG 2 terminal in Gydan and at the Saam FSU near Murmansk.
Satellite images from August 9 show a carrier loading LNG at one of the two gas production units in Utrenneye, the terminal in the Gulf of Ob.
In the nearby waters are another two tankers.
The Utrenneye terminal is part of Russia's Arctic LNG 2 project. It is located on the far northern shores of the Ob Bay.
Arctic LNG 2 was to become Russia's biggest LNG project. But then came the full-scale war of aggression and the subsequent wave of international sanctions against Russia and its industry.
The Arctic LNG 2 is sanctioned by both the EU and USA.
Project operator Novatek was forced to abandon parts of the project and several subsidiary units and carriers involved in shipments to the marked were put on sanctions lists.
Nonetheless, there appears to a buzzing activity level at the far northern plant.
Satellite images show that there has been gas flaring on site for several weeks. According to Bloomberg, the plant in late June increased its daily production to 14 million cubic meters of natural gas.
The carriers that now appear to be loading LNG at the Utrenneye terminal are part of Novatek's efforts to circumnavigate the international restrictions.
The carriers are likely to be part of the fleet that was put on EU's sanctions list in December 2024.
Like hundreds of other ships that serve the Russian regime, they sail as 'shadow tankers.'
The original names of the four tankers were North Air, North Mountain, North Sky and North Way. In spring 2025, they changed names to Buran, Voskhod, Iris and Zarya respectively.
According to Norvald Kjerstad, a professor in nautical science, the Voskhod and Zarya are two of the carriers involved in the operations. The ships have been in the Gulf of Ob since the late July, he explains to the Barents Observer.
The ships are built in 2023 and 2024 and all have ice class category Arc4, which allows them to sail independently through light sea ice conditions. Since early 2025, they have all sailed under Russian flag.
The ships were lying idle in the Pechora Sea through most of the winter. As soon as the sea-ice vanishes on the Northern Sea Route, they might start to shuttle across the far northern waters to Asian-Pacific markets.
The shadow vessels appear to be protected by Russia's Northern Sea Route Administration. The state body that manages shipments on the remote Arctic route normally tracks all ships on the route in its online surveys.
But none of the four tankers, nor other sanctioned ships, are included in the ship traffic registry.
A fifth vessel of the class - the North Valley - in May this year for several days drifted in the waters north of the Kildin island in the Barents Sea.
In addition to the shipments from the Arctic LNG 2, there has also been a transshipment operation at the Saam FSU, the 400 meter long terminal ship based in Ura Bay, near Murmansk.
Satellite images show a tanker moored side-by-side with the huge FSU. Most likely, the tanker is the Arctic Metagaz. It is most likely the second transshipment operation at the Saam since it arrived in Ura Bay in June 2023.
The Saam is under sanctions by both the EU and US. Also the Arctic Metagaz is sanctioned.
The ship was originally named Berge Everest. For many years, it sailed under Norwegian flag and was owned and operated by the Norwegian company Bergesen. Since 2023, it has changed name four times. According to ship information system Equasis, it got the name Arctic Metagas in April 2025.
In 2024, the carrier was involved in the shipment of LNG from the sanctioned Russian project Arctic LNG 2.
Over the last 2 years, the Arctic Metagas has sailed under seven different flag states. Since April 2025, it has sailed under Russian flag.
