Russia Doubles Shadow Fleet for Sanctioned Arctic Gas Project

Russia has doubled its fleet of tankers transporting liquefied natural gas from the Arctic LNG 2 project in less than a year, despite Western restrictions.

The country now has at least 20 tankers serving the Arctic LNG 2 complex and related infrastructure, with most having opaque ownership structures typical of the so-called shadow fleet.

Russia's expansion of its shadow fleet is part of its strategy to continue shipping gas eastward, particularly to China, which is currently the only buyer of sanctioned LNG from the project.