The US has sanctioned two more vessels along with two related shipping companies in its latest effort to block Russian liquefied natural gas exports from the Arctic.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Thursday added vessels Mulan and New Energy to its sanctioned list, following seven vessels first placed under sanctions in late August. India-based companies Gotik Shipping Co. and Plio Energy Cargo Shipping Opc were also sanctioned, according to the Treasury Department’s statement Thursday.
The sanctions are in relation to Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project, which was previously sanctioned by the US. The latest move is a yet another blow to Russia as it spent months developing what is believed to be a shadow fleet of tankers for natural gas in a similar way it did for transporting crude oil and products. Such vessels have opaque ownership, unknown insurers and deploy practices such as hiding their location by switching off or manipulating their automatic identification systems.
“The US 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 ,” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller 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.”
