Russia has expanded its shadow fleet of gas carriers to 25 vessels
Russia continues to expand its so-called “shadow” fleet of LNG carriers, despite attempts at international oversight. Secondhand vessels and the first domestically produced tankers have been added to the fleet, which now numbers 25 ships.
According to Windward, a company that collects data on maritime transport, at least eight used LNG tankers have been sold to Russia over the past six months, which were subsequently used to transport Russian cargo.
As a result, the fleet has grown to 25 vessels, including two new ships built at the Russian shipyard “Zvezda.”
This comes as the ban on imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) into European Union countries draws nearer—it will take effect on January 1, 2027.
A larger fleet will allow Moscow to continue selling gas after these restrictions are imposed—similar to how Russia has used a “shadow” fleet of oil tankers to circumvent Western sanctions.
Russia’s “shadow” oil fleet consists of more than 1,000 tankers operating without Western insurance or documentation. Moscow is expanding its fleet of gas carriers more slowly, as these are much more complex vessels.
Four of the gas carriers recently acquired by Russia have already transported cargoes from sanctioned LNG hubs. All of them sail under the Russian flag and have been given similar new names: “Kosmos,” “Orion,” “Mercury,” and “Luch.”
The first two LNG carriers built by Russia itself are the “Aleksey Kosygin” and the “Konstantin Posyet.” The first has been transporting cargo from the “Arctic LNG-2” plant since it was transferred to the state-owned shipping giant “Sovcomflot” in December, while the second is not yet in service.
In addition, four more vessels are under construction at Zvezda.
“Shadow” LNG tankers are predominantly owned by Russian-linked shell companies in Dubai, Hong Kong, and Singapore, and fly the corresponding flags.
They employ the same practices as the “shadow” oil fleet—frequently jamming signals and transshipping cargo from ship to ship to conceal its origin. At the same time, these operations are significantly more complex due to the nature of LNG transportation.
This is reported by the Financial Times.
Despite sanctions, Russia’s shadow fleet is passing unhindered through British waters, according to the BBC.
Earlier, Zelenskyy thanked Britain for sanctions against drone manufacturers and recruiters.
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