U.S. sanctions companies, vessels linked to Russia's Arctic LNG 2 project

U.S. sanctions companies, vessels linked to Russia's Arctic LNG 2 project
by Darryl Coote
Washington DC (UPI) Sep 6, 2024

The United States on Thursday sanctioned entities and vessels accused of shipping liquefied natural gas from Russia's blacklisted LNG project, as the Biden administration seeks to tighten its financial vises on the Kremlin over its war in Ukraine.

The punitive measures targeted two shipping companies and two vessels connected to the export of LNG from the Arctic LNG 2 project, located in Russia's Murmansk region.

The project, and its main operator Novatek, are under U.S. sanctions and the Biden administration has been trying to cut it and other energy exports off as a revenue source for the Kremlin and its war on Ukraine.

The State Department on Thursday sanctioned Gotik Energy Shipping Co. and Plio Energy Cargo Shipping OPC PVT LTD, which are the respective registered owner and commercial manager of New Energy, an LNG carrier.

The Biden officials accused the New Energy ship of loading cargo from Arctic LNG2 via a ship-to-ship transfer on Aug. 25 with LNG vessel Pioneer, a vessel that was blocked by the United States just two days prior.

The department said New Energy had "used deceptive shipping practices" including shutting off its automatic identification system, to load the resource from the sanctioned project.

Along with New Energy, carrier Mulan was sanctioned Thursday for being property Plio Energy has interests with, it said.

"The U.S. government will continue to answer attempts to operationalize the sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project or otherwise expand Russia's energy capabilities with a swift response," the State Department said in a statement.

"Working alongside our G7 partners and other allies, we will remain steadfast in countering Russia's exploitation of its energy resources for political gain."

Though Russian energy exports had been a target of U.S. sanctions for years to deter it using the resource as a coercive tool, it became a primary target for punitive measures not only of the United States but its democratic allies following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine as a way to restrict its access to an important revenue source and isolate it on the world stage.

U.S. sanctions have also targeted Russia over its malicious cyber activities and election interference actions.

On Wednesday, the Biden administration unleashed sweeping efforts that included sanctions and indictments over a Russian effort to meddle in November's general election.