Palau Suspends Flags of LNG Tankers Amid AIS Signals Tampering

The Republic of Palau recently suspended the flags of three LNG tankers belonging to Russia’s emerging shadow fleet, leading to a temporary halt in their operations. Palau’s International Shipping Registry has withdrawn the registration of these vessels for an investigation into their practice of disabling or tampering with AIS signals while en route to the Arctic LNG 2 project. The Russian shadow fleet, consisting of older steam turbine ships, has been inactive in Russian and international waters, posing challenges such as gas burn-off issues of up to 0.25% per day.

The vessels in question, including the pioneer and Asia Energy, showed potential losses of cargo reaching nearly 7.5% a month after loading cargo in the Russian Arctic. The investigation has caused disruptions as the ships have remained stationary off the coast of Port Said after transferring cargo to another vessel. Another vessel, Everest Energy, aims to become the world’s largest floating storage unit but has not been utilized yet, impacting operations at the neighboring bay of Ura Guba.

The delays in operations have presented challenges to Novatek, the company in charge of the sanctioned cargo, especially given the recent sanctions imposed by the U.S. on its Chinese sales arm. The delays have affected marketing efforts and finding buyers for the sanctioned cargo, further complicating the situation. Other vessels involved in the sanctions had not transported products from the approved Arctic LNG 2 project but were intended for such purposes, highlighting the complexities and restrictions in the LNG shipping industry.

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