Russia sails second domestic ice-class LNG carrier to bypass sanctions
The departure of the Konstantin Posyet marks a critical step in Moscow's efforts to sustain sanctioned Arctic liquefied natural gas exports using domestically built vessels.
The Konstantin Posyet, Russia’s second domestically constructed Arc-7 ice-class liquefied natural gas tanker, has begun transiting the Northern Sea Route. Tracking data from the London Stock Exchange Group indicates the vessel departed Bolshoy Kamen Bay in Primorsky Krai and is scheduled to reach an undisclosed destination by August 30.
The sanctioned state-owned shipping firm Sovcomflot took delivery of the tanker in late June. It was built at the Zvezda shipyard, following the Aleksey Kosygin, which entered service in December.
Domestic production of these specialized vessels is central to Moscow’s strategy for sustaining energy exports under Western trade restrictions. According to a Renaissance Capital analysis, every new ice-class ship added to the Sovcomflot fleet could boost the company's revenue and EBITDA by 3% to 5% by 2027.
These specialized carriers are strictly required to sustain output from Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 project, which has faced severe export bottlenecks since its inception. The United States sanctioned the northwestern Siberian facility in September 2023, effectively blocking its international commercial operations before it even began producing super-cooled gas.
Western penalties have prevented foreign operators like Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K. Lines from supplying the necessary Arc-7 carriers to the project. This logistical blockade has severely constrained the terminal's output, limiting it to just 23 cargoes totaling roughly 1.3 million tonnes of LNG throughout 2025.
This volume represents a fraction of the facility's planned 19.8 million tonnes per year capacity. At full production, the project was designed to surpass the neighboring Yamal LNG plant, which processes 16.5 million tonnes annually and currently operates without Western sanctions.
To resolve this critical supply shortfall, Russia is actively constructing 15 Arc-7 LNG tankers at the Zvezda shipyard exclusively for the Arctic LNG 2 facility. The successful deployment of the Konstantin Posyet marks a tangible step in replacing foreign-built tonnage with domestic alternatives.
