Russia’s First Domestically Built Ice-Class Tanker Nears Sanctioned Arctic Plant

(Bloomberg) -- Russia’s first domestically built ice-class tanker is closing in on the US-sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 plant, expanding the facility’s fleet of vessels able to transport the fuel in winter. 

The Alexey Kosygin tanker has completed its monthlong maiden journey across the eastern part of the Northern Sea Route and is preparing to dock at the Novatek PJSC-led plant, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

Once the vessel docks at Arctic LNG 2, it will be only the second ice-class tanker to do so. It is rated Arc-7, the highest ice-class ranking, which means the ship can service the plant in winter. Until now, the only such vessel traveling to the facility has been the Christophe de Margerie.

Designed to be Russia’s largest liquefied natural gas plant, Arctic LNG 2 is central to the country’s ambition to triple LNG output to 100 million tons a year and capture a 20% share of the global market. The addition of another ice-class tanker will support LNG production and exports during the winter, when thick ice covers Arctic waters.

Novatek, the project’s largest shareholder, didn’t respond to Bloomberg requests for comment on the vessel’s current or future operations. The plant’s operator also didn’t respond.

Western Sanctions

With a design capacity of almost 20 million tons a year, Arctic LNG 2 began producing the super-chilled fuel at the end of 2023, but only started exports the following summer after Western sanctions delayed shipments.

During the winter, when ice thickens along the Northern Sea Route, only tankers with reinforced hulls can load cargoes at Arctic LNG 2. Most vessels servicing the facility aren’t designed to operate in such conditions, and Western restrictions have made it difficult to procure additional ice-class ships.

Domestic construction of ice-class tankers has also taken longer than expected due to limited expertise in Russia. The Alexey Kosygin, built at the Zvezda shipyard in the country’s Far East, was originally scheduled for delivery in March 2023.

A shortage of ice-class vessels prevented Arctic LNG 2 from loading during the winter of 2023–24, and gas production at fields supplying the plant slumped to about 1 million cubic meters a day in November and December 2024.

By contrast, those fields pumped an average of 9.3 million cubic meters a day last month, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The increase may indicate that Arctic LNG 2 was preparing to resume more active loadings with the arrival of the Alexey Kosygin.

While Russia still aims to triple LNG output from current levels, Western restrictions have pushed those plans back by several years, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in December.

(Updates with zoomed-out route map.)

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