The shipments are sensitive and controversial. From the outset, the actual destination was the LNG Construction Centre in Belokamenka, a sanctioned company. On board the ships were modules for the heavily sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project. One of the heavy-load carriers, the Bright Ocean (IMO 9830769), is itself on sanctions lists. The vessel was previously named Hunter Star and delivered similar cargo to Belokamenka twice in 2024. On the latter occasion, the ship, which is not designed for sailing in sea ice, made it through the remote and icy Northern Sea Route.
The modules on board the 160-metre-long carriers will allow Novatek, a Russian natural gas company, to resume construction of a so-called gravity-based production structure. Läs artikel