Cch-Gas

The 'CCH Gas', carrying sanctioned Russian gas, has reappeared near Hainan Island on Nov 9, three weeks after a dark STS transfer. It was likely bound for the nearby Beihai terminal. The vessel had received its cargo from the Oman regisitered LNG tanker 'Perle' (IMO: 9630028) in the first-ever ship-to-ship transfer of sanctioned Russian gas on Oct 18. Both vessels had attempted to hide their activity by spoofing their AIS signals. Satellite imagery showed the vessels side to side around 50 nautical miles off Malaysia’s coast. While the 'CCH Gas' had continued to send out a false AIS signal, the 'Perle' has since reengaged its transponder and made its way to Salalah. Following the transfer the vessels escaped further scrutiny due to cloudy weather and limited satellite coverage. The 'CCH Gas' is carrying supercooled gas from Russia’s sanctioned Baltic Portovaya plant. A successful delivery by the vessel would be a sign of China’s willingness to expand imports at Beihai beyond the Arctic LNG 2 project. The U.S. sanctioned the Portovaya facility on Jan 10. China is receiving up to 40 % discounts on Arctic LNG 2 deliveries. The landed cost of Arctic cargoes at Beihai was said to be around $7.00/MMBtu, substantially below existing spot rates. Due to a shortage of ice-class LNG carriers, Russian gas company Novatek will likely be forced to partially mothball the Arctic project for the next 6-8 months. Conventional gas tankers can no longer use the Arctic shortcut and are being routed via the Suez Canal.

The 'CCH Gas', which appears to be assisting a Russian export project and circumventing US sanctions, is still faking its location, according to satellite images. The tanker, which has a registered owner with an address in Hong Kong, is signaling that it has been idling off the eastern coast of Malaysia for the last week. However, satellite images taken by Copernicus Sentinel-2 between Oct 28 and Nov 2 were showing that the ship was not in that location. Satellite images from earlier in October had showed the 'CCH Gas' alongside the tanker 'Perle', a vessel carrying LNG fuel from Russia’s Portovaya plant, which was blacklisted by the US in January. The position was typical of a ship-to-ship transfer, and suggested that the 'CCH Gas' was in the process of receiving sanctioned LNG cargo. It was unclear where the 'CCH Gas' is currently located or where it was heading. seeking to avoid detection by western authorities.

On Oct 18, 2025, Russia has carried out its first ship-to-shiptransfer of LNG, using the shadow fleet tankers 'Perle' (IMO: 9630028) and 'CCH Gas', marking a new phase in Russia’s efforts to move energy exports outside Western oversight and sanctions. The 'Perle' was carrying cargo from Gazprom’s Portovaya LNG plant in the Baltic Sea. The U.S. sanctioned the facility in Jan 2025, and Gazprom has since then been unable to find any foreign buyers for its supercooled gas. The transfer took place around 50 nautical miles off Malaysia’s eastern coast in the hopes of obscuring its origin in an attempt to shield the buyer from sanctions. Report with photo: https://gcaptain.com/china-joins-russias-dark-fleet-with-first-ever-lng-ship-to-ship-transfer/