‼️ Arctic LNG-2's first Northern Sea Route shipment of 2026 clears the ice
➡️ The Christophe de Margerie - one of two ice-class, Arc7 LNG tanker in ALG2’s “shadow fleet” - began an early eastward journey on Russia’s Northern Sea Route on May 27. About 12 hours ago it cleared the final floes of ice and is now in the Bering Sea, headed towards the Koryak FSU at Kamchatka at over 20kts.
➡️ The CdM averaged around 10kts on the 12-day run along the NSR, we estimate, but on sections of heavy ice was making as little as 1-2kts despite having an ice-breaker escort. We would expect that average speed to tick up to 12kts on the subsequent eastward run in a few weeks, as ice conditions are improving daily.
➡️ The Arctic Mulan, a conventional LNG tanker in ALG2’s fleet, is currently in the Sea of Japan, headed north at 16kts, presumably to offload the LNG that the Christophe de Margerie will soon transfer to the Koryak.
➡️ As we’ve pointed out a number of times, Arctic LNG-2’s “shadow fleet” is far too small for the project to run at full capacity. However, the arrival of summer and the improved ice conditions will allow the project’s two Arc7 tankers to begin making direct deliveries to Asia along the NSR, while its 5 Arc4 tankers will likely soon begin taking direct deliveries from the project rather than via transfers via FSUs, allowing a significant uptick in deliveries between now and November. The eventual delivery of a third Arc7 tanker later this year - the Konstantin Posyet is currently in sea trials off of Vladivostok - will boost the fleet noticeably.
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