NOVA ENERGY

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Russia's LNG tankers with problems to find buyers for their cargoes

The 'Nova Energy', which appeared to be heading to one of the Russia's floating storage unit Koryak FSU to discharge its cargo, and had left Nakhodka Bay where it had been idling for weeks, initially heading to the FSU off Kamchatka, has since turned back south. It was estimated that the 'Nova Energy' was about 70% loaded. Actually it is anchored in pos. 42° 45' N 132° 56' E. The Koryak FSU has also taken on cargoes from the 'Pioneer', which is anchored in pos. 42° 45' N 132° 55' E in the Sea of Japan, and the 'Metagas Everest' recently, and may now be holding 250,000-cbm of LNG. The 'Pioneer', the 'Nova Energy' and the 'East Energy' have been idling off Russia’s Far East coast for months, laden with LNG from Novatek’s US-sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 liquefaction plant. The sanctioned ships have not been able to offload their shipments to buyers. The 'Nova Energy' and 'East Energy' transported their cargoes through the Northern Sea Route, and the 'Pioneer' transited the Suez Canal southbound. The 'Mulan' has left the North Sea in ballast at the start of Jan 2025, and initally headed northwards into the Atlantic before turning south, now with an ETA at Port Said as of Jan 16. The 'Metagas Energy', which loaded a cargo at Arctic LNG 2 in Oct 2024, and had been idling to the north of Russia, has followed the 'Mulan' into the Atlantic. The 'North Air', 'North Mountain', 'North Sky' and 'North Way' have been drifting in the Barents Sea, before the 'North Air' has started moving west, but is actually NUC in the Barents Sea.

Sanctioned tanker entered Irish EEZ

The 'New Energy', which has been named in a list of US State Department sanctions, being accused of breaching international sanctions against Russia, has been spotted off the Galway coast. The vessel entered the Irish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) on the night of Sep 18, having sailed up the coast of Portugal and across the Bay of Biscay. On Sep 5, the tanker was added to the list of sanctioned vessels and companies. It was also claimed in a US State Department statement that the 'New Energy' conducted a secret mission to transfer Russian gas: “The Department of State is targeting two entities and two vessels connected to attempts to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the U.S. sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project. The Department is sanctioning Gotik Energy Shipping Co (Gotik) and Plio Energy Cargo Shipping OPC PVT LTD (Plio Energy). Gotik and Plio Energy are the registered owner and commercial manager, respectively, of the LNG carrier (LNG/C) New Energy.” The US further claimed that the 'New Energy' used deceptive shipping practices, including shutting off its AIS to load cargo from another sanctioned vessel in late August. In the same release they also identified another ship LNG carrier 'Mulan', which is another ship owned by the company Plio Energy. The 'New Energy' has turned on its AIS tracker system off Portugal.

Tanker receiving LNG from sanctioned vessel

The sanctioned LNG tanker 'Pioneer' appeared to be transferring its Russian cargo to another ship in the Mediterranean Sea, a sign of the lengths to which Moscow is going to circumvent US actions. The tanker was sanctioned by the US on Aug 23, 2024, and was anchored next to another vessel about 19 nautical miles northeast of Port Said. That was s an indication that it’s executing an open water ship-to-ship transfer, which is rare for natural gas. The recipient vessel is the 'New Energy', which isn’t subject to restrictions. The cargo is the first to load from Arctic LNG 2, Russia’s newest gas export plant, which was sanctioned by the US in 2023r. In response to the US actions, Moscow is developing a shadow fleet of LNG tankers in a similar way it did for transporting crude oil and products. The US upped the ante last week by imposing restrictions on seven LNG carriers linked to Russia, including the 'Pioneer' and Ocean Speedstar Solutions, the India-based manager of the ship. The New Energy has been managed by Plio Energy Cargo Shipping since June and was previously suspected to be part of the shadow fleet due to its opaque ownership. The India-based Plio Energy was incorporated on June 20. Once the transfer is finished, the 'New Energy' may head through the Suez Canal to Asia, where there could be willing buyers of the Russian gas. It’s common practice for vessels carrying sanctioned energy to hide their location by switching off or manipulating their AIS. The 'Everest Energy', another vessel sanctioned by the US on Aug 23, was moving away from the Arctic LNG 2 facility, indicating that the vessel picked up a shipment. The ship was faking its location in the Barents Sea until Aug 26. Report with photo: https://financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/tanker-carrying-sanctioned-russian-lng-attempting-ship-transfer