U.S. Sanctions Module Builder Wison Offshore for Working on Arctic LNG 2

 

Among other measures targeting Russia's energy sector, the Biden administration has sanctioned Zhoushan Wison Offshore for its role in supplying Novatek's Arctic LNG 2 plant with power modules - key equipment for bringing the blacklisted project online. 

According to the U.S. State Department, Wison supplied power generation modules for Arctic LNG 2's barge-based liquefaction trains, which (until recently) were under construction near Murmansk. After the modules were completed at Wison's plant, the company allowed them to be shipped to the Arctic LNG 2 construction site via a series of complex transfers. The modules were transshipped multiple times between different module carriers, including the U.S.-sanctioned ships Hunter Star and Nan Feng Zhi Xing, which have also been blacklisted for involvement in Russian energy projects. Some of these ships took steps to conceal their identity and location, the department noted. 

Wison is a leading offshore shipyard and module fabricator, and its blacklisting has implications for other customers. Among other projects, Wison is building the Nguya LNG floating liquefaction plant for Eni, a key part of the Italian supermajor's phase two development plans for new fields off Pointe-Noir. Nguya was just launched in November, and was 80 percent complete at that point; the effects of Wison's blacklisting are uncertain, but U.S. blocking sanctions typically complicate the process of making payments, since they prohibit the use of the U.S. banking system.

The State Department also sanctioned HongKong Yaqing Shipping Co. Ltd. for its role in transporting the modules from Wison, along with the company's heavy lift ship Ocean 28. It also designated two more LNG carrier operators, Skyhart Management and Avision Shipping, for managing two ships that took on blacklisted cargo from Arctic LNG 2. The department identified their vessels as the Mulan, Pravasi and Onyx. 

Also sanctioned were Rosatom Chief Executive Officer Alexey Likhachev and members of Rosatom’s board, including Vyacheslav Ruksha, head of the Northern Sea Route Directorate. In addition to its role in Russia's nuclear program, Rosatom is the operator of Russia's nuclear-powered icebreaker fleet and the manager of the Northern Sea Route - the long icebound stretch of coastal water north of Siberia. Ruksha, as head of the Northern Sea Route directorate, is Russia's lead manager for Arctic navigation between the Barents Sea and the Bering Strait.