Dynagas owner says UK sanctions on LNG trio ’100% a mistake’
- George Prokopiou: ‘We hope it can be sorted out quite quickly’
- Latest UK sanctions targeted mainly Russian-owned and shadow fleet* tonnage
- Sanctions appear to focus on Arctic LNG 2 project across the Gulf of Ob from Yamal
Russian exports from Yamal terminal are legitimate, underlines Greek operator
INCLUSION of three Dynagas-managed liquefied natural gas carriers in the latest UK round of sanctions targeting Russia is a matter of “clear error,” shipowner George Prokopiou has said.
The Greece-based company is seeking clarifications from the British government and by Thursday morning had already discussed the issue with foreign office officials.
The trio of 2014-built LNG carriers has been owned by China Development Bank Financial Leasing after a sale-and-leaseback deal with Dynagas back in 2017.
They continue to be managed as part of the extensive Dynagas fleet of LNG carriers and are on 15-year charters to Yamal Trade in Singapore, a marketing and chartering arm for Russia’s Yamal Arctic gas project.
About half of Yamal’s exports have been serving European markets and the vessels have been exclusively serving that project, said Prokopiou.
“It’s a mistake because the Yamal terminal is not sanctioned, the cargo is not sanctioned, the charterers are not sanctioned, so I don’t know what the reason could be.
“This is 100% a mistake, a clear error,” he added. “It is an annoyance but I hope that it can be sorted out quite quickly.”
The list of new Russian sanctions announced by the UK on Wednesday included oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil and other energy-related companies, a number of defence and financial entities, and 51 ships, mostly designated as belonging to the dark or shadow fleet*.
Of the targeted vessels, many of which were already subject to US and European sanctions, 44 are tankers and seven LNG carriers.
According to Wednesday’s announcement by the UK government, “the Kremlin is scrambling to expand its LNG industry” to plug losses from oil revenues.
As well as targeting the seven LNG carriers, four of which are Russian-owned, the new sanction targets included the Beihai LNG terminal in China.
The government said that Beihai has been importing LNG from Arctic LNG2 — the severely disrupted flagship Russian LNG project that was sanctioned by the UK in 2024.
The Dynagas trio, however, stood out as being non-Russian-owned and being operated by a respected and mainstream shipping company rather than belonging to the shadow fleet.
Dynagas has built a series of large new LNG carriers over the last two years that are engaged heavily in US LNG exports. The Prokopiou family also backs Nasdaq-listed Dynagas LNG Partners that also has vessels serving the Yamal terminal.
The three vessels are among the many Dynagas LNG carriers that have been constructed to a high ice-class, although Prokopiou has said that this was a matter of flexibility rather than any intention from the design stage to dedicate the ships to Russian Arctic trade.
According to Lloyd’s List Intelligence data, the Dynagas vessels have been regularly calling at Sabetta, the northern Russian port serving Yamal exports.
Novatek’s heavily sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project is located on the other side of the Gulf of Ob.
* Lloyd’s List defines a tanker as being part of the Shadow Fleet if it engages in one or more deceptive shipping practices indicating that it is involved in the facilitation of sanctioned oil cargoes from Iran, Russia or Venezuela. Or it is sanctioned for participation in sanctioned oil trades or is sanctioned for links to a company that is sanctioned for facilitating the export of sanctioned oil.
