Chris.-De-Margerie

On Dec 19, the ' Christophe de Margerie', an Arc7 ice-class LNG carrier, has completed the first-ever winter pickup of LNG from Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 plant, a milestone for the project as its majority owner Novatek may seek to keep limited production running through the Arctic winter, and marking the first winter shipment from Arctic LNG 2 since the sanctioned project opened itrang 2024. The vessel then set sail rierbound toward the Barents Sea, where it is expected to either transfer its cargo to a conventional LNG carrier at the Kildin reloading anchorage or unload it into the Saam FSU, both near Murmansk. The 'Christophe de Margerie' has returned to the Russian Arctic from the Koryak FSU via the Northern Sea Route before loading at Arctic LNG 2. Based on experience from similar shuttle operations at the nearby Yamal LNG plant, the vessel could potentially maintain a twice-monthly shuttle through winter, moving roughly 150,000 metric tons of LNG per month. Last winter Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 halted production in October as the project lacked access to high ice-class LNG carriers capable of operating safely during winter sea ice conditions. The latest pickup highlighted modest progress this season, as Novatek now has access to a single Arc7 vessel.

Russia’s LNG shadow fleet wais struggling to keep the momentum going with winter approaching. LNG carriers made 13 deliveries to China’s Beihai terminal since the end of August, shipments now appeared to slow down. In the North Atlantic, the 'Zarya'Ä made a u-turn just off the coast of the Faroe Islands on Nov 6, seemingly now heading for Murmansk. The vessel had loaded cargo at Arctic LNG 2 a week earlier. The pickup on Oc 31 was the 12th and last loading so far at the plant in 2025. The 'Voskhod' and 'Buran' had struggled through the ice-covered Arctic following behind nuclear icebreakers. Their journeys were likely be the last for Arc4 ice-class vessels via the waters of the Northern Sea Route until mid-summer of 2026. The 'Iris' offloaded cargo at China’s Beihai terminal on Oct 2, but returned to the facility just two weeks later after turning around off China’s eastern coast. Analysts were perplexed by the action, wondering if Iris’ cargo may have been initially rejected due to being off spec. The 'Arctic Pioneer' arrived at the Koryak FSU in Kamchatka on Oct 30 to load cargo. After holding outside Bechevinskaya Bay for a week, the vessel returned to Koryak again on Nov 8. The 'Christophe de Margerie', the only high ice-class LNG carrier available for transport of sanctioned gas, arrived outside Koryak nearly two weeks ago. and finally called at the FSU on Nov 5. The ship has remained at anchor outside the bay since then. For much of the past three months the vessel has been shuttling LNG from Arctic LNG 2 to Koryak at a steady clip, completing four trips in two months at times exceeding 20 knots along the Northern Sea Route – close to its maximum speed in open water. With its Arc7 ice classification, the 'Christophe de Margerie' is the sole LNG carrier in service of the project still capable of transiting the icy Northern Sea Route. The vessel’s recent inactivity suggested the start of reduced production at Arctic LNG 2 until northern shipping lanes open up again in July 2026.

The LNG tanker 'Arctic Vostok' (IMO: 9216298), carrying a cargo from Russia’s sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project, has berthed at the Beihai terminal on Sep 30. If the tanker discharges its cargo, it would be the 7th load that the Chinese terminal has received from the Arctic LNG 2 project, which is under sanctions because of Russia’s war against Ukraine. The LNG tanker picked up LNG from a storage facility in Kamchatka since Aug 30. The tanker is managed by the SMP Techmanagement while the registered owner was Lule One Services. Despite sanctions, the Arctic LNG 2, which is 60 % owned by Russia’s Novatek, has been sending out LNG since 2024, with cargoes being delivered to two storage facilities in Russia and the Beihai LNG terminal. The last two cargoes loaded from the Arctic LNG 2 facility in Gydan were taken aboard the 'Christophe De Margerie' and the 'Voskhod' (IMO: 9953511). Another sanctioned tanker, the 'La Perouse' (IMO: 9849887), which also loaded 150,000 cubic meters of LNG from the project, was heading toward the Bay of Bengal. One more sanctioned tanker, the 'Arctic Metagaz' (IMO: 9243148), which is also carrying a cargo from Arctic LNG 2, is currently near the Beihai LNG terminal too. It picked up a cargo from a floating storage facility in Murmansk on July 17, which has also only received cargoes from the Arctic LNG 2 project.

The European Union has adopted its newest sanctions package on Dec 16, 2024, at the Foreign Affairs Council meeting, adding 52 new vessels, among them the 'Christophe de Margerie', to the sanctions list that have been deemed by the EU to be supporting Russia’s war machine. The vessels that have been sanctioned are primarily involved in circumventing the oil price cap mechanism implemented by the West, in arms deliveries, and in the transportation of stolen grain. This latest package has brought the total number of vessels sanctioned by the EU to 79. The majority of the vessels are involved in the transport of Russian oil and in transporting arms for the Russian military. The sanctions package also targets a total of 54 individuals and 30 entities that are deemed to be bolstering Russia’s war effort. Among them, there are also entities and individuals in China and North Korea who have been deemed to be supplying Russia with dual-use materials to support Russia’s military efforts. Two senior North Korean officials and seven Chinese individuals and companies have been targeted in the latest sanctions. The purpose of the sanctions has been defined to increase the operational costs for Russia by banning them from ports in the EU and hindering them from receiving maritime services.

The 'Christophe de Margerie' is approaching the Bering Strait on a risky voyage across the icy waters of the Russian Arctic shipping route.On Feb 3 it was located off the coast of Kamchatka. The ship has a northbound course and was due to arrive in Sabetta, the LNG terminal in Yamal on Feb 17. The tanker set out from the port of Yangkou on Jan 27. At the same time, the nuclear-powered icebreaker '50 Let Pobedy' on Feb 2 was sailing eastwards towards the East Siberian Sea. The two ships might meet near the Bering Strait, and the tanker subsequently escorted westwards through the thick sea-ice. The whole Northern Sea Route is now covered by ice. The straits between the mainland and archipelagos Severnaya Zemlya and New Siberian Islands are covered by thick fast ice, while the remaining part of the area has one-year old sea-ice that is between 30-200 cm thick.

Novatek has sent two LNG ice-class tankers, the 'Christophe de Margerie' and the 'Nikolay Yevgenov', to China through the Norhern Sea Route without ice-breaker support as the current conditions in the eastern Arctic were mild. The 'Christophe de Margerie' crossed the Arctic and reached Cape Dezhnyov, located between the Chukchi Sea and the Bering Strait, late on Jan 16, 2020, sailing 2,474 nautical miles in almost 11 days, enropute from Sabetta to Jiangsu, ETA Jan 26. However, the tankers, scheduled to deliver the super-chilled cargoes to China in late January, will use an ice-breaker on their return to Russia across the passage in February, according to the industry officials. Until now, a cargo ship has never made a February voyage in the eastern Arctic. The planned February return voyage is part of “the systemic efforts to gradually extend transit navigation in the eastern sector of the Arctic,” according to Sovcomflot. The 'Nikolay Yegenov' suffered azipod damage on Jan 16 and will have to be drydocked for repairs.