Russia is quietly expanding its shadow fleet of LNG-carrying ships to prepare for an EU ban on Russian liquefied natural gas imports taking effect in 2027. At least eight second-hand LNG tankers have been used to carry Russian cargoes in the past six months, bringing the fleet to 25 ships, including two new vessels built at Russia's Zvezda shipyard. The strategy mirrors Russia's use of a "dark fleet" of oil tankers to evade western sanctions.

Shadow LNG tankers are mainly owned by Russia-linked shell companies in Dubai, Hong Kong, and Singapore, and use flags of convenience, resorting to signal jamming and ship-to-ship transfers to disguise cargo origins. Four recently acquired gas ships now fly the Russian flag under names like Kosmos, Orion, Merkuriy, and Luch. Russia's Novatek dominates LNG production, with its Yamal and Arctic LNG 2 plants producing over 65 per cent of the country's output.

China is the only buyer of sanctions-hit Arctic LNG 2 production. Experts say building a gas shadow fleet is far harder than for oil, given the global fleet's small size, high costs of around $300mn per vessel, and reliance on specialised containment systems.