Four tankers still at sea with unsold cargoes with Russia's Arctic LNG 2, Kpler says
Oct 14 (Reuters) - Four tankers loaded with Russian Arctic LNG 2 cargo are still out at sea, according to data from ship-tracking agency Kpler, highlighting the struggles of the U.S.-sanctioned project to sell the sea-borne gas.
The agency said on Monday the tankers were seen traversing the sea without signalling a destination as the market continues to anticipate a potential delivery to a buyer.
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According to Kpler data, the tankers laden with liquefied natural gas (LNG) constitute 40% of a so-called "dark fleet" of 10 Russian LNG-ferrying vessels identified by the agency and which have been sanctioned by the West.
The dark fleet, which Kpler and other ship-tracking agencies also refer to as a shadow fleet, consists of tankers which knowingly operate to circumvent Western sanctions to ship goods.
They include the Pioneer with a capacity of 138,000 cubic metres, the Asya Energy (137,200 cubic metres), the Nova Energy (150,000 cubic metres) and the Everest Energy (138,028 cubic metres), according to Kpler.
The Arctic LNG 2 project, 60% owned by Russia's Novatek, is subject to Western sanctions over Russia's conflict with Ukraine.
Novatek has denied involvement in establishing and managing a "shadow fleet" for the Arctic LNG 2 project.
It is not clear where the four loaded tankers are headed. "Pioneer is going full speed ahead while Asya Energy is in a holding pattern. It's a wait-and-see situation if these cargoes are discharged to end-users," said Ana Subasic, Kpler Insight market analyst for LNG and natural gas.
"We believe certain players, like China, will be looking to make use of the heavily discounted spot volumes on offer."
The project had been set to become one of Russia's largest LNG plants with eventual output of 19.8 million metric tons per year, but its prospects have been clouded by the sanctions. It started to export in August, but there is still no information about the end user.
Nevertheless, ship-tracking data has recently shown several cargoes being picked up from the project.
Some of the vessels have discharged at two storage facilities, near the Arctic port of Murmansk and in Russia's Pacific peninsular of Kamchatka.
Kpler also said four more tankers were seen congregating offshore the Kolguyev Island in the Barents Sea.
These include the North Air, the La Perouse, the North Sky and North Way which each has a capacity of 174,000 cubic metres.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)