Home / Shipping News / International Shipping News / Yamal LNG tanker JV ‘no longer’ under US sanctions: Novatek

Yamal LNG tanker JV ‘no longer’ under US sanctions: Novatek

The joint venture that owns a number of specialized Arc7 icebreaker vessels serving the Novatek-operated Yamal LNG plant in northern Russia is no longer subject to US sanctions, Novatek said.

The JV — a 50-50 partnership between China LNG Shipping (Holdings) Limited (CLNG) and US company Teekay LNG — was designated as a “blocked person” under US sanctions imposed in late September against subsidiaries of Chinese shipping company COSCO.

The US government imposed the measures on two subsidiaries of COSCO — COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Co. and COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Seaman & Ship Management Co. — for allegedly trading oil with Iran.

“Yamal LNG has received notification from the joint venture owning the Arc7 ice-class tankers that the JV is no longer considered a ‘Blocked Person’ under the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control rules,” Novatek said in a short statement.

The tankers, Novatek said, were conducting LNG shipments for the company’s flagship 16.5 million mt/year Yamal LNG project “in the normal course of business.”

Teekay could not be reached for immediate comment Tuesday.

NORMAL OPERATIONS

Novatek CFO Mark Gyetvay said earlier this month the four LNG tankers indirectly affected by the US sanctions were nonetheless operating normally.

The tankers are among a fleet of 13 specialized icebreakers which are key to shipping LNG from Yamal LNG.

The CLNG/Teekay LNG joint venture also owns two LNG icebreakers that have yet to join the Yamal LNG fleet — the Georgiy Ushakov and Yakov Gakkel.

S&P Global Platts trade flow software cFlow showed the four operational vessels as all in transit Tuesday.

The Eduard Toll and Rudolf Samoylovich were both headed west toward Europe having picked up cargoes from Yamal LNG in the past week.

The Nikolay Yevgenov is headed back to Sabetta after dropping cargo in China, while the Vladimir Voronin is currently in port in China.

Ships can move Yamal LNG via the Northern Sea Route to Asia directly, with the window for journeys expected to close mid-November as the route becomes iced over.

Vessels can though continue to supply LNG to Europe, or to Asia via transshipment via southern routes.
Source: Platts

Recent Videos

Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and International Shipping