Russia plans to implement ship-to-ship transfers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and gas condensate in the Barents and Bering Seas to alleviate the demand on its limited fleet of ice-class tankers, according to a draft project document seen by Reuters.
These transfers are intended to support Novatek, Russia’s largest LNG producer, which has been advancing its Arctic LNG 2 project despite Western sanctions that restrict access to necessary tankers for shipping LNG along the Northern Sea Route to Asian markets. Reuters reports that from March 2025, Russian LNG loadings will be banned in EU ports, intensifying the need for alternative transport solutions.
As Reuters highlights, the first ship-to-ship transfer area will be established near Chosha Bay in the Barents Sea for Novatek subsidiary Obsky Ammiak, followed by a second facility in Kresta Bay in the Bering Sea.
These transfers will only take place when ice conditions allow, with the capacity to load 4.1 million cubic meters of LNG and 1.4 million cubic meters of gas condensate annually at each site. Novatek, which already operates similar transfers off the coast of Murmansk, did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
