Russia replenishes the fleet of LNG tankers through a front company in Dubai

The newly established company in Dubai acquired three LNG tankers that were previously under Russian management.

In September, the ships “Veliky Novgorod”, “Pskov” and “Laperuz” were purchased by Matias Ship Management, writes Bloomberg.

Previously, these tankers were under the management of Russian Gazprom and Sovcomflot. Two of the vessels are now owned by companies with the same address as Matias Ship Management, which, according to the UAE Business Database, was established in August.

“Pskov” belongs to Nephrite Shipping. Her Seychelles address is often used for shell companies.

In turn, the legal address of Matias Ship Management is a shared office space in the Meydan Hotel. Another Dubai firm, Nur Global Shipping, is located at the same address and is suspected of helping Russia collect ships of the so-called “shadow fleet”. The hotel is located in a free trade zone that has previously been criticized by the US and some local officials for lack of transparency.

At the same time, Matias Ship Management does not have a website, registered email or phone number.

It should be noted that all three vessels served the Portovaya liquefied natural gas export plant on the Baltic coast of Russia, which was not subject to Western restrictions. However, Great Britain imposed sanctions against Veliky Novgorod earlier this week and Laperuz last month.

Previously, USM wrote that Russia is creating a fleet to export gas to the Arctic LNG 2 project. A company registered in Mumbai, India was involved in this.