Second sanctioned Russian LNG ship departs Chinese port: CAS

A second sanctioned Russian LNG carrier departed the Tieshan terminal in the Port of Beihai, southern China, on Sept. 7, sailing east from the southwest of Hainan island, S&P Global Commodities at Sea data showed, with indications that its cargo had been discharged.

As of 0755 GMT on Sept. 8, the Voskhod -- formerly called the North Mountain -- was located southeast of Hainan in the South China Sea, having departed the Tieshan terminal at 0634 GMT on Sept. 7, according to CAS data.

The indicated draft of the Voskhod -- seen near the Arctic LNG 2 facility on July 19 -- fell to 9.6 meters from 11.6 meters as of Sept. 5.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, reported earlier that a second sanctioned Russian LNG carrier appeared to be heading to the Port of Beihai, sailing northwest from the south of Hainan on Sept. 5.

The Voskhod's departure follows the Arctic Mulan, a sanctioned Russian LNG carrier that arrived at the Tieshan terminal on Aug. 28 and departed on Aug. 29, CAS data showed, with shipping sources saying the ship discharged its cargo.

This was followed by the Zarya -- formerly known as the North Way -- which entered the Gulf of Tonkin after passing Hainan island as of 0804 GMT on Sept. 8, according to CAS data.

Both the Voskhod and the Zarya are under US and EU sanctions.

"If the two vessels Voskhod and Zarya arrive at the PipeChina Beihai LNG terminal and unload their cargo from Arctic LNG 2, it would be an indication that the project is now able to find an outlet for its LNG exports despite prevailing restrictions," Eric Yep, principal analyst for First Take Gas at Commodity Insights, said.

"The first vessel, Arctic Mulan, was a 78,000-cu-m vessel, but the Voskhod and the Zarya are full-sized LNG carriers with a capacity of more than 170,000 cu m each. And more are on the way," Yep added.

Market views

Located in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southwestern China, the Beihai LNG terminal has a receiving capacity of 6 million metric tons/year.

It features a dedicated berth capable of accommodating LNG carriers ranging from 80,000 to 266,000 cu m, along with four LNG storage tanks, each with a capacity of 160,000 cu m.

The terminal is currently operated by China's national energy infrastructure company, the National Oil and Gas Pipeline Network Group (PipeChina).

According to public business registration information, PipeChina is jointly owned by several state-owned enterprises and organizations, including PetroChina (29.9%), Sinopec (14%) and CNOOC (2.9%).

Commenting on the series of sanctioned Russian LNG carriers arriving at Beihai, a South China buyer said that the Beihai terminal's domestic price of Yuan 4,000/mt saw robust sales, with 100 LNG trucks sold per day due to its competitive pricing.

"Don't think the cargoes arriving at Beihai are from equity lifting, as that would require early scheduling," a Chinese market source said. "The companies may be hesitant to initiate equity lifting at this stage, likely opting to test the waters with a few spot cargoes first."

"Additionally, China currently has no pressing need to import cargoes, so the cargoes are less likely to be from equity lifting," the source added. "The market is still in a monitoring phase, with many details yet to be finalized."

Litmus test

Analysts said the LNG market is now closely watching for any hardline response from US President Donald Trump's administration.

"The current movement of Russian LNG exports to China, amid Western sanctions on Russian LNG with the premise of expansion to third countries, will likely serve as a litmus test to determine whether the Trump administration will adopt a hardline response," said Daisuke Harada, director general of the Department of Research and Analysis at Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security.

Yep echoed the uncertainty over the US response.

"There continues to be uncertainty around the US response and whether the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control will take a hard stance on the sanctions violation, assuming they choose to take any action at all," Yep said. "Any OFAC action (or lack of it) will determine whether Arctic LNG 2 volumes continue to find new markets in other countries."

The US Treasury declined to comment on Aug. 29 regarding the reported discharge from the Arctic Mulan.

"While Treasury does not comment on specific allegations, we take allegations of sanctionable conduct extremely seriously," a spokesperson for the US Treasury told Platts.

In June, following the commissioning of the second train, it emerged that loadings from the Arctic LNG 2 project had resumed, with the Iris -- formerly called the North Sky -- arriving at the site on June 26, CAS data showed.

The Iris was sailing southwest offshore northeast of Okinawa at 0807 GMT on Sept. 8, followed by the Buran -- formerly known as North Air -- which was navigating south offshore northwest of Okinawa at 0859 GMT, according to CAS data.

The Buran -- formerly known as North Air -- is laden with Arctic LNG 2 cargo, with half the cargo from the Murmansk transshipment terminal and the remaining half from the LNG facility, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Moving west

Another sanctioned tanker -- La Perouse -- called at Arctic LNG 2 on Aug. 27, CAS data showed, and is the first of the recently loaded ships to have traveled west, rather than east, along the Northern Sea Route.

As of 0905 GMT on Sept. 8, La Perouse was headed south after passing the western coast of Ireland.

La Perouse -- formerly called the SCF La Perouse -- was sanctioned by the UK in September 2024.

The North Sky and several other LNG ships linked to the Arctic LNG 2 project were sanctioned by the US in August 2024 as part of Washington's crackdown on Russian energy exports.

Novatek holds a 60% stake in Arctic LNG 2, alongside France's TotalEnergies, China's CNPC and CNOOC and Japan Arctic LNG, all of which hold 10% stakes.

Japan Arctic LNG BV is a Dutch corporation that is 75% owned by JOGMEC and 25% owned by Mitsui.