Denmark's Shipyard Accused of Supporting Putin's Arctic LNG Trade
Denmark's shipyard Fayard has been servicing tankers carrying liquefied natural gas from Russia's Arctic, despite concerns over security and ties to Russian intelligence services. The warning by Denmark's security service in September highlights an 'uncomfortable contradiction' at the shipyard. The Arc7 tankers are essential to Russia's energy industry in the Arctic.
Between maintenance visits at Fayard, one tanker carried 50 Yamal LNG cargoes containing 3.65 million tonnes of gas, worth approximately €1.91 billion. The EU has already adopted restrictions addressing this trade, but maintenance completed before a deadline could help these ships operate beyond it. Fayard's chief executive, Thomas Andersen, is urged to stop servicing the Arc7 fleet.
Vladimir Slivyak, co-founder and co-chair of Ecodefense, argues that continuing to maintain these tankers supports Russia's fossil-fuel exports while it attacks Ukraine and threatens European security. Slivyak has spent decades campaigning against fossil-fuel projects in Russia and now lives in exile.
Fayard has defended its work by pointing out that the tankers are not Russian-owned, but this does not change where they load their gas or which project depends on them. The connection to Russia's Arctic energy industry is clear.