Russia has significantly expanded its “shadow” fleet.

Despite Western sanctions, Russia continues to expand its shadow fleet for liquefied natural gas exports. It currently includes 21 vessels.

Bloomberg reports this.

According to the agency, the Arctic Express, a 19-year-old tanker that reflagged to Russia in May, joined the fleet. Following this, it loaded liquefied natural gas for the first time at the Saam floating storage facility in Murmansk, which serves the sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project.

It is noted that both the Saam floating storage facility and the Arctic LNG 2 project are subject to US sanctions.

The tanker was previously managed by a Greek company, but in mid-May it was transferred to the ownership of Smp Techmanagement LLC, a St. Petersburg-registered company. It already controls three other gas carriers that are part of Russia’s “shadow” fleet.

According to Bloomberg, Arctic LNG 2 exported over 400,000 tons of liquefied natural gas in May. This was a record for the project, which began commercial shipments in 2024.

It’s worth noting thatRussia continues to expand its shadow fleet for transporting liquefied natural gas , which is subject to US sanctions. Four more tankers, previously owned by Oman, have joined the operation.

As a reminder, in January, China increased its imports of Russian oil due to tankers from the so-called shadow fleet , while India significantly reduced its purchases.