UK sanctions five LNG carriers

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said in a statement on Thursday that this is the first time the UK is using its new ship specification power to target LNG vessels directly.

Earlier this year, the UK sanctioned the Novatek-operated Arctic LNG 2 project, alongside its allies in the US and EU.

“Since then, the project has been forced to slash production. Today’s action builds on this by targeting ships and entities involved in the Russian LNG sector, which engage with projects important to Russia’s future energy production,” the statement said.

The UK government said it has sanctioned 15 vessels and entities involved in the Russian LNG sector.

Ocean Speedstar, White Fox

According to the statement, the government is sanctioning Ocean Speedstar Solutions, the owner and operator of LNG carriers Pioneer and Asya Energy.

The 2005-built and 2002-built LNG carriers have a capacity of about 138,000 cbm.

The UK is also sanctioning White Fox Ship Management, the owner and operator of LNG carrier North Sky, the statement said.

This 2024-built LNG carrier has a capacity of 174,000 cbm.

Moreover, the sanctioned vessels include Pioneer, Asya Energy, North Sky, and the 2007-built 150,000-cbm, New Energy, and the 2020-built 174,000-cbm, SCF La Perouse, now renamed to La Perouse.

US sanctions

This move follows vessel sanctions by the US government.

The US government first sanctioned seven LNG carriers and then added two more vessels.

The vessels include Asya Energy, Everest Energy, Pioneer, North Air, North Mountain, North Sky, North Way, New Energy, and Mulan.

Russian LNG producer Novatek recently denied it is establishing a “shadow fleet” of LNG carriers to transport LNG from its Arctic LNG 2 project.

“The allegations made in the media, namely that the company is involved in the establishment and management of a shadow fleet, as well as in loading products from the Arctic LNG 2 project, are untrue and do not stand up to facts,” the company said.