Russian gas tankers are still being repaired in EU, FT reports
Why the EU increased Russian gas purchases and where Russian tankers are repaired (photo: Russian media)
A Danish shipyard continues to repair Russian gas tankers despite objections from the country's prime minister and an upcoming European Union ban, the Financial Times reports.
The only shipyard in the EU
Danish shipyard Fayard is the only facility in the European Union that still services Arc7-class vessels. These are icebreaking tankers that transport liquefied natural gas from Russia's Yamal complex in Siberia to ports in northwestern Europe.
These vessels depend on European shipyards because of their technical expertise and convenient locations near major shipping routes.
According to an analysis by non-governmental organization Urgewald, six of the 15 Arc7 tankers are scheduled to undergo maintenance at Fayard this summer.
The rush is driven by the fact that the European Union will ban servicing sanctioned Russian vessels starting in 2027. In addition, the bloc will completely phase out imports of Russian gas beginning next year.
Last year, Fayard serviced five tankers arriving from Yamal. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, the shipyard has serviced a total of 15 vessels.
The government opposes it, but cannot stop it
After the first reports emerged about the shipyard's work for the Yamal fleet, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said it was "completely incomprehensible" and that the shipyard simply had to stop that.
However, servicing such vessels is not illegal, meaning the authorities have no legal means to force it to stop.
Dutch company Damen, which also serviced the Arc7 fleet at its French shipyard in Brest, announced in August last year that it would cease this work. The company said the decision was based on Dutch foreign policy, which does not support assisting in the export of Russian gas.
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, Damen has serviced eight Arc7 vessels.
Damen is also the subject of a criminal investigation in the Netherlands over suspected violations of European Union sanctions against Russia.
Meanwhile, the British government last week announced its own ban on providing maritime services to vessels operating in Russia as part of a broader effort to limit the Kremlin's energy revenues.
Three Russian shadow fleet tankers were attacked off the coast of Türkiye in late May. According to Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Ukraine's presidential commissioner for sanctions policy, those vessels had been on Ukraine's radar for years because of repeated sanctions violations.
On June 1, the French Navy boarded the sanctioned oil tanker Tagor in the Atlantic Ocean. French President Emmanuel Macron said shadow fleet vessels help finance Russia's war against Ukraine and violate international maritime law.
