The sanctioned Russian plant Arctic LNG 2 may receive two more Russian-made icebreaking tankers to transport liquefied natural gas in 2026. This should increase exports, despite sanctions.
This is reported by Bloomberg.
Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Anton Alikhanov stated on February 11 at a parliamentary meeting that the lead Arc7-class vessel for the project was delivered last year, and the construction of two more is planned to be completed this year.
The first Russian-built tanker of this class — the Alexei Kosygin — was completed in late 2025. Last month, it began exporting fuel from Arctic LNG 2.
The additional vessels are expected to help increase gas production and supply. The project previously struggled during the winter months, as conventional tankers cannot operate in ice-covered waters.
Arc7-class tankers are capable of breaking ice up to two meters thick and, under certain conditions, passing certain sections of the Northern Sea Route without icebreaker escort. Before the appearance of the Alexei Kosygin, Arctic LNG 2 actually had only one such vessel — the Christophe de Margerie.
The Arctic LNG 2 project, implemented by Novatek, is key to Russiaʼs plans to increase liquefied gas production to around 100 million tonnes per year. However, Western sanctions following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine have made access to equipment and technology difficult, so the implementation timeline has had to be postponed.
- The European Union paid Russia about €7.2 billion for liquefied natural gas in 2025, despite a promise to completely ban imports of Russian LNG by 2027.
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