Satellite images reveal that two LNG tankers docked at the Arctic LNG 2 port in August. This mega Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) production project is sanctioned by the United States. The vessels have been implicated in transmitting false GPS coordinates and have connections with opaque companies allegedly based in Dubai. They may be part of a developing « phantom fleet » aimed at exporting LNG and evading sanctions. On August 23, the United States added the two tankers to their sanctions list.
One particular vessel stands out: in a satellite image from August 1, an LNG tanker—an ship transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG)—can be seen docked at the Arctic LNG 2 project port. This massive LNG liquefaction facility is located on the Gydan Peninsula in Western Siberia, Russia. This is the first time an LNG tanker has been spotted at the port of this plant, which is set to begin its exports in 2024.
LNG is natural gas cooled to -160°C, a process that transforms it into a liquid form for easier transportation. The Arctic LNG 2 plant, operated by Russia’s largest producer, Novatek, is expected to produce 19.8 million tons of LNG annually. It is crucial for Russia, which currently produces 8% of the world’s LNG and aims to reach 20% by 2035, partly to finance the war in Ukraine. The stakes are even higher for Moscow as imports of Russian gas and oil by the European Union are declining.
According to Novatek, Arctic LNG 2 began production in December 2023. However, its initial exports—originally scheduled for the first quarter of 2024—have been delayed. This is primarily due to U.S. sanctions imposed in November 2023, which prohibit the purchase of LNG produced by the project. These sanctions have also led to foreign shareholders suspending their participation in the project and have complicated the delivery of tankers capable of exporting the production.
The presence of this LNG tanker docked at the Arctic LNG 2 project port seems to confirm industry analysts’ suspicions: a « phantom fleet » of LNG tankers may be in development to circumvent sanctions affecting the LNG sector. While such a fleet already exists in the oil sector for evasion purposes, establishing a similar network with LNG tankers is significantly more complex. This complexity arises because LNG carriers, due to the highly combustible nature of liquefied gas, can only dock at ports equipped with LNG liquefaction and regasification terminals.
Several analysts have attempted to identify the LNG tanker docked at Arctic LNG 2 in early August, especially since public vessel tracking data shows no ships in the vicinity on those dates.
“We reviewed all the possibilities, meaning the seven or eight ships that were between Norway and the port at that time. We identified them all, and the only one left was the tanker Pioneer,” explains Kjell Eikland, CEO of Eikland Energy, a consulting firm in the energy sector.
A Ship Missing in Action
The Pioneer is an LNG tanker built in 2005, registered under the Palauan flag, with a capacity of 138,000 cubic meters of gas, according to public data. These data also indicate its dimensions as 277 meters in length and 43 meters in width, which matches the tanker visible in the early August satellite images.
This vessel is supposed to use an AIS transponder (Automatic Identification System) to send position information. However, the data it transmitted between July 23 and August 6, as shown on maritime tracking sites, suggest it remained over 1,200 kilometers from the Arctic LNG 2 project, in the Barents Sea north of Norway, making elliptical loops of about 60 kilometers in open water.
These transmitted data are suspicious because the Pioneer is untraceable at the provided positions. For instance, MarineTraffic data indicated it was supposedly at coordinates 74.06675, 36.6977 on July 24 at 10:29 AM. However, a satellite image from Sentinel Hub taken ten minutes earlier shows an empty sea within several kilometers of this position. The same discrepancy appears when comparing purported coordinates from July 26 with Sentinel images from that day.
“This behavior is unprecedented for any vessel,” asserts Kjell Eikland regarding the Pioneer’s supposed elliptical trajectory in the Barents Sea. He suspects it is the result of an “algorithmic fake.” It is possible that the Pioneer transmitted false signals to obscure its actual activities.
Misleading Coordinates
The practice of sending false coordinates is known as « spoofing » and is typical of « phantom fleets, » and it is “very easy” to execute, according to Kjell Eikland. “The system is manual: one just needs to log in and enter the desired position. Some say that on Alibaba [the major Chinese online marketplace], you can find devices for $25 that can be connected to the AIS transponder to send false locations.”
A First LNG Load?
It is impossible to confirm from satellite images alone that the Pioneer was loaded with LNG. The loading information transmitted is manually reported by the crew and could thus be intentionally incorrect.
However, several analysts consulted by France 24’s Observers agree that such a route to this mega-project leaves little doubt about the tanker’s mission.
Additionally, satellite images show flames rising from the plant, indicating gas flaring. This “suggests a start-up of production,” according to Malte Humpert, an investigative journalist for the specialized publication gCaptain.
The visible flame in this Planet satellite image from August 1, 2024, indicates that the Arctic LNG 2 plant was operational when the Pioneer docked at its port.
The time spent at the Arctic LNG 2 port also aligns with a loading operation. “Typically, 12 to 24 hours are sufficient for a full load,” explains Malte Humpert.
Based on the duration of the stopover, Kpler, a company specializing in commodity data analysis, estimated that the vessel was fully loaded and published it as such in their database.
LNG Tanker’s Unknown Destination
What about the destination of the Pioneer’s cargo? Who might purchase this LNG subject to American sanctions?
“We don’t know if the cargo was sold and who the buyer is,” notes Laura Page, an LNG specialist at Kpler. The Pioneer’s destination is not indicated on vessel tracking sites.
However, its AIS data from August 6 show the ship in the Barents Sea, heading south, along the coasts of Norway, the UK, France, and Spain, before passing through the Strait of Gibraltar and continuing through the Mediterranean Sea. By August 26, it was about 90 km north of the Suez Canal entrance.
How did the Pioneer reappear on maritime tracking sites? Kjell Eikland explains: “It is up to states to enforce the requirement for position reporting. It’s clear that, in Russian waters, authorities may not do so. But in Norwegian waters, for example, traffic is much more controlled.”
Secondary Sanctions
Although the European Union has not banned the import of LNG from the Arctic LNG 2 project, only prohibiting the transfer of Russian LNG from one ship to another in its ports starting March 2025, it is highly unlikely that this product will be sold in Europe due to secondary sanctions, according to Kjell Eikland:
“If you import to Europe, the identity of the importing company will be known… and immediately sanctioned, because U.S. sanctions target the Arctic LNG 2 project as well as companies trading with it. Anyone directly or indirectly facilitating [the project’s development] is at risk of U.S. sanctions.”
Indeed, while U.S. sanctions apply directly only to U.S.-based companies, Washington often takes punitive measures against non-U.S. companies that violate sanctions, such as prohibiting U.S. banks from opening accounts for them.
“Many buyers are willing to purchase LNG at discounted prices”
One hypothesis is that Russia is seeking to trade with companies less exposed to the U.S. dollar, possibly in India or China. This “phantom fleet” could also enable trading with more cautious actors, according to Ross McCracken, editor at Natural Gas World. “A phantom fleet obscures the origin of the LNG, making it easier to sell to these buyers. There are many clients willing to buy if the LNG is sold at a reduced price,” he says.
Kjell Eikland also hypothesizes about mid-sea transshipments of LNG between two ships positioned side by side:
“This would completely hide the cargo’s origin by providing false documents about its provenance. The importing company could then claim, ‘Oh, we didn’t know, we were given legitimate documents indicating the LNG came from Yamal, for example [another Russian Arctic LNG project not subject to sanctions].’”
A Complex “Phantom Fleet” for LNG
Since 2022, a “phantom fleet” of around 1,400 tankers has already formed in the oil sector to clandestinely transport Russian crude and circumvent sanctions. However, replicating this scheme with gas is significantly more challenging, according to an anonymous analyst from Natural Gas World:
“There are many more places to load and unload oil compared to LNG. LNG tankers only go to ports with LNG liquefaction and regasification terminals. Also, there are over 8,000 oil tankers globally compared to only 700 LNG tankers. The latter are much easier to track.”
Mid-sea ship-to-ship transfers, commonly used by “phantom fleets” to obscure their tracks, are also more difficult for LNG, says Ross McCracken:
“LNG is highly combustible. The risks are higher [than for oil]. The situation is worrying because, in a ‘phantom fleet,’ very old LNG tankers might attempt transfers. If something goes wrong, there’s a risk of environmental damage, and the health and safety of people. Moreover, a ‘phantom fleet’ may not be properly insured, so there might be no way to claim insurance.”
Another LNG Tanker at Arctic LNG 2 Port
The case of the Pioneer might be the first in a series. On August 11, another LNG tanker appeared docked at the Arctic LNG 2 port in Sentinel images.
Analysts identified it as the Asya Energy, a spherical LNG tanker managed by the same company as the Pioneer.
Its dimensions and appearance—particularly its four spherical tanks—match what is visible in the satellite images.
The shape of the LNG tanker visible in this August 11, 2024 image (left) aligns with photos of the Asya Energy available on MarineTraffic taken in 2023.
A similar pattern is observed: from August 4 to 15, its AIS coordinates place it in the Barents Sea, near where the Pioneer’s coordinates stopped.
If it also used “spoofing,” it likely employed a different method, potentially harder to detect. “The Pioneer used circular spoofing, while the Asya Energy used slow roll steaming,” explains Malte Humpert. This technique involves the vessel “imitating another ship’s movement but at abnormally slow speeds.”
Comparison of the AIS tracks of the Pioneer (left) and the Asya Energy (right).
According to vessel tracking data, the Asya Energy then resumed its route, moving south along the Norwegian coast. After a few days of ceasing position transmission, it headed back to the Barents Sea, where it was located on August 26.
On August 23, a third tanker, the Everest Energy, was spotted in the Barents Sea, also performing typical “spoofing” maneuvers. However, recent cloudy conditions around the Arctic LNG 2 project prevent confirmation of whether it also docked at the port recently.
The United States has also imposed sanctions on Ocean Speedstar Solutions, the company that acquired these three vessels, and White Fox Ship Management, as well as the vessels North Way, North Air, North Mountain, and North Sky.
The State Department accuses Russia of being behind these companies: « In an attempt to circumvent U.S. sanctions and revive the Russian Arctic LNG 2 project, Russian entities have sought to procure second-hand LNG carriers, primarily through shell companies established in third countries, in order to address the critical shortage of available carriers for the Arctic LNG 2 project. »
Source: observers.france24
