NORTH AIR

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Process of cancelling registration underway

The Panamanian authorities announced on Nov 6 to have initiated the process of canceling the registration of the 'North Way', 'North Sky', 'North Mountain' and 'North Air', which have been sanctioned by the US for illicit activities. Their registrations, along with other navigation documents provided by Panama, were to be revoked. All tankers are owned by the New Transshipment FZE, which is a subsidiary of Nthe ovatek, and were alleged by the US to have been part of the Russian dark fleet and having carried shipments from the Russian Yamal and Arctic LNG 2 projects. On Oct 18, the, incumbent president José Raúl Molino had issued a decree to establish a framework for swiftly canceling registrations and licenses for vessels that appeared on the sanctions list of the US, EU, or UK. Along with the cancellation of registration and all navigation documents issued by Panama, any other organizations that are recognized by Panama are also barred from providing classification or certification to these vessels.

Russia’s LNG shadow fleet grinds to halt following suspension of flag

A week after the Republic of Palau temporarily suspended the flag of three LNG carriers, Russia’s shadow fleet has ground to a halt, for now. Palau’s International Ship Registry pulled the registration of the 'Pioneer', 'Asya Energy', and 'Everest Energy' pending an investigation into their practice of deactivating or spoofing AIS signals while sailing to the sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project. All shadow fleet vessels have remained idle in Russian or international waters for much of the past week. The 'Pioneer' had loaded cargo in the Russian Arctic on Aug 3 with potential losses approaching 7.5% of cargo a month later. The vessel transferred its cargo during a ship-to-ship to the 'New Energy' north of the Suez Canal. Both vessels have remained idle off the coast of Port Said since the STS. Following its flag being suspended, the 'Asya Energy' turned around in Norwegian waters and sailed for Kola Bay near Murmansk where she has remained since Au 27. Its Moss-type storage system limits losses to 0.15% a day, but they may still be approaching 3-4% more than three weeks after calling at Arctic LNG 2. The 'Everest Energy' headed for the thus far unused world’s largest floating storage barge 'Saam FSU' in the Ura Guba Bay. Transferring its cargo to the modern storage unit could help reduce boil-off rates. The 'North Sky' began offloading its cargo at the Yangkou LNG terminal over the weekend. The vessel loaded cargo from thus-far unsanctioned 'Yamal LNG' nearly four weeks ago but had remained idle off the coast of Yangkou, China for several days. The 'North Sky', together with three other newbuilds from the same order, the 'North Mountain', 'North Air' and 'North Way', was included in sanctions announced last week. While the vessels have not carried product from sanctioned Arctic LNG 2, they were originally intended for use with the project. Potential buyers receiving cargo from the 'North Sky' will likely face the risk of secondary sanctions.