‘Phantom fleet’ suspected of transporting Russian liquefied natural gas from the Arctic

A satellite image taken by Planet on August 1, 2024 (right) shows a tanker at the port of Arctic LNG 2, a Russian liquefied natural gas project sanctioned by the United States. Industry analysts identified the ship as the Pioneer, an LNG tanker that reported its presence that day 1200km to the west, in the Barents Sea. © Ariel Ogrocki, MarineTraffic / Planet

Satellite images from August show two liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers docked at the port of Arctic LNG 2, a Russian LNG production mega-project sanctioned by the United States. Because they transmit false GPS coordinates and have links with opaque companies supposedly based in Dubai, these ships could be part of a "dark fleet" being developed to export LNG and get around existing US sanctions. On August 23, the United States added the two LNG tankers to its list of sanctions.  

It's a ship that catches the eye: a satellite image taken on August 1 shows an LNG tanker – a cargo ship carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) – moored at the port of the Arctic LNG 2 project, a gigantic natural gas liquefaction plant on the Gydan Peninsula in western Siberia, Russia. This is the first time that an LNG tanker has been seen in the port of the plant, which had been due to start exporting in 2024.