Russia-linked LNG tankers transferred to new UAE firm amid sanctions pressure
The three vessels — Velikiy Novgorod, Pskov and La Perouse — were transferred in September to a new Dubai-based company called Matias Ship Management, according to shipping data website Equasis.
A new shipping company in Dubai has taken over three liquified natural gas tankers that were previously managed by Russia in what appears to be Moscow’s latest effort to circumvent Western sanctions imposed over the Ukraine war.
The three vessels — Velikiy Novgorod, Pskov and La Perouse — were transferred in September to new Dubai-based company Matias Ship Management, according to the shipping data website Equasis. The UAE business database says the company was established in August.
The three ships are sailing under the Barbados flag and have been serving the Portovaya LNG export facility on Russia’s Baltic coast, which has not been hit by Western sanctions. However, Britain sanctioned Velikiy Novgorod earlier this week and La Perouse in September.
According to Equasis, Matias Ship Management is located in Dubai in a shared office space in the Meydan Hotel, where UAE-based Nur Global Shipping — which has been reported by multiple outlets, including Insurance Journal, to be helping Russia acquire shadow fleet ships — is also based. Matias Ship Management has no website, registered email or phone number.
