Sanctioned Russian LNG ship departs Chinese port after Kamchatka call: CAS

The Arctic Mulan -- a sanctioned Russian LNG carrier -- departed from a Tieshan terminal in the Port of Beihai in southern China on Aug. 29, after arriving on Aug. 28, S&P Global Commodities at Sea data showed, with shipping sources saying the ship had discharged a cargo.

As of 0605 GMT on Aug. 29, the Arctic Mulan's indicated draft had fallen to 8.7 meters from 9.8 meters earlier in the day, according to CAS data.

Shipping brokers in Asia told Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, that the Arctic Mulan discharged its LNG cargo at Beihai.

The Aug. 28 arrival followed a late-May call at Kamchatka in Russia's Far East -- which is used for the shipment of Arctic LNG 2 cargoes -- at the eastern Russian port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Kamchatka is also home to the 360,000-cu-m Koryak floating storage unit, which serves as an LNG transshipment hub.

The US imposed sanctions on the Arctic Mulan in September 2024, when the ship was formerly known as the Mulan, according to the Office of Foreign Assets Control. The 2024-built, Palau-flagged ship was subsequently reflagged to Russia.

Arctic Transshipment -- a subsidiary of Russia's Novatek -- developed the Koryak and Saam FSUs to enable LNG transfer from ice-class tankers to conventional ones for onward shipment.

The US imposed sanctions on Arctic Transshipment in September 2023, with Washington saying that the company's two FSUs could create "strategic Northern Sea Route transshipment points for Russia's Arctic LNG 2 project."

The US Treasury declined to comment on the reported discharge from the sanctioned vessel.

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

Market views

"The Arctic Mulan instance doesn't change things much for now, unless we start seeing more consistent deliveries to China," a Singapore-based trader said. "But in any case, China doesn't have fresh demand. If sustained, it could have a bearish effect."

A China-based trader said the Arctic LNG 2 project's supply growth could be slow, limited by ship availability.

"Now that [icebreaking] vessels can't use the European route, the cargoes can only be shipped to China during the summer," the China-based trader said.

Considering the shipping restrictions, the Arctic LNG 2 project will likely ship five to eight cargoes a month for the time being, market sources in China and Singapore said.

The Arctic LNG 2 facility is designed to have three trains, each with a capacity of 6.6 million mt/year, giving it a total capacity of 19.8 million mt/year.

The third train is not expected to come online before 2028.

Other carriers

Another sanctioned Russian LNG carrier -- the Christophe de Margerie -- started moving earlier in the day from near the Koryak FSU in Russia's Far East, CAS data showed on Aug. 29.

As of 0443 GMT on Aug. 29, the ship had almost returned to near the Koryak FSU, CAS data showed.

The Christophe de Margerie, which had been anchored near the Koryak FSU since Aug. 22, is one of a growing number of LNG carriers seen at the Arctic LNG 2 facility before heading east along the Northern Sea Route.

The ship, sanctioned by the EU in December 2024, was the first LNG tanker to load a cargo from the Yamal LNG plant in December 2017 and was regularly used to transport LNG from the facility.

Some of the first cargoes loaded at Arctic LNG 2 in August 2024 ended up at Koryak or the Saam FSU in Murmansk.

Arctic LNG 2 was originally seen as a flagship of Russia's LNG sector and has been heavily sanctioned by both the US and the EU due to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Offshore southeast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Zarya and the Voskhod -- both previously seen at the Arctic LNG 2 facility before heading east along the Northern Sea Route -- were heading southwest, followed by the Iris, which was sailing offshore south of Beringovsky, according to CAS data.

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, according to CAS data.

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

Since June, three additional sanctioned LNG tankers have been observed near the Arctic LNG 2 project and reported to have loaded cargoes.

The Voskhod -- formerly called the North Mountain -- arrived near the facility on July 19, followed by the Zarya -- formerly known as the North Way -- on July 29, CAS data showed. Both ships are under US and EU sanctions.

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

Japan Arctic LNG BV is a Dutch corporation that is 75% owned by Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security and 25% owned by Mitsui.