The Yamal LNG project may lose the ability to use more than a third of its ice fleet - six Arc7 tankers - due to the fact that they are owned by the joint venture Cosco and Teekay, which fell under US sanctions, TASS reports citing Kommersant newspaper.
Also at risk are five more tankers that Dynagas is supposed to supply in partnership with CLNG and Chinese Sinotrans & CSC, and three tankers of the joint company Japanese MOL and Shanghai LNG (Cosco structure). These companies do not directly fall under US sanctions, but experts believe that the very fact of sanctions against Cosco poses certain risks, Kommersant writes.
In general, it turns out that due to the sanctions, the work of 14 out of 15 tankers for the Yamal LNG project is at risk.
And although these vessels could be used on coastal routes inside Russia, according to Kommersant’s interlocutors, if insurance coverage is withdrawn, the vessels will have to be joked indefinitely until the sanctions are lifted.
NOVATEK, as previously reported by TASS, assured that in spite of the inclusion of Cosco tanker operators in the US sanctions list, the Yamal LNG project will fulfill the contractual obligations for the supply of LNG in full within the agreed schedules.