EU de-lists three LNG tankers from sanctions on commitment to avoid Russian projects

The EU has removed three LNG tankers from its sanctions designation list following "firm commitments" that the tankers would no longer serve Russia's Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG 2 projects.

The three tankers -- the North Moon, North Ocean and North Light -- were included in the EU's 17th package of sanctions announced on May 20.

In its latest 18th sanctions package announcement on July 18, the European Commission said it had de-listed the three tankers.

"For the first time, the EU has accepted to remove three vessels from its list of sanctioned vessels following firm commitments that these LNG tankers will no longer engage in the transport of Russian energy," the EC said, citing the Yamal and Arctic LNG 2 projects in northern Russia "for which they had originally been commissioned".

"This action demonstrates the impact of EU vessels designations, and that vessels can be returned to service following firm commitments," it said.

Murmansk transshipment

In March, an EU ban on the transshipment of Russian LNG at EU ports took effect, meaning cargoes from Yamal LNG are instead regularly transshipped at a facility at Murmansk in Russia.

The three LNG tankers -- the North Moon, North Ocean and North Light -- called at Murmansk in early 2025.

In its original sanctions designation, the EU said the three vessels were operated in such a way as to "contribute or support actions or policies for the exploitation, development or expansion of the energy sector in Russia, including energy infrastructure."

Cargoes from Yamal LNG are regularly transshipped for onward supply to non-European markets, particularly in Asia, while the Northern Sea Route is closed, typically from November to May.

Cargoes can be delivered directly from Yamal LNG to Asian markets when the route is open through the summer months.

Arctic LNG 2

Russia had lofty ambitions for its LNG sector, but has been impacted by sanctions against new developments.

The Arctic LNG 2 facility in particular has been hit by international sanctions.

The heavily sanctioned project began loading cargoes from its first train in August last year but struggled to find buyers amid international sanctions.

Instead, the first cargoes were offloaded into Russian storage facilities -- the Saam floating storage unit in Murmansk and the Koryak FSU in Russia's Far East.

In a signal that loadings from the project could be set to resume, an LNG vessel arrived at the Arctic LNG 2 export facility in late June,

The Iris LNG vessel -- formerly called the North Sky -- reached Arctic LNG 2 on June 26, according to S&P Global Energy shipping data.

The North Sky was sanctioned by the US in August 2024 along with a number of other LNG vessels linked to the Arctic LNG 2 project as part of a crackdown by Washington against Russian energy exports.

The Arctic LNG 2 facility -- originally seen as a flagship of Russia's LNG sector -- 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.

As well as Yamal LNG, Russia is also home to the Gazprom-operated Sakhalin LNG plant, which supplied 10 million mt of LNG in 2024 to Japan, China and South Korea, Energy data showed.

Yamal LNG has been operating above its nameplate capacity of 17.4 million mt/year, with deliveries last year reaching 20.9 million mt, the data showed.

Russia also has two other smaller LNG production facilities -- Portovaya LNG and Vysotsk LNG -- but US sanctions were imposed against the two projects with effect from February.

The latest sanctions come as spot LNG prices remain relatively high. The Platts JKM benchmark price for spot deliveries to northeast Asia was assessed on July 21 at $12.15/MMBtu.