Russian Pipe-laying Vessel Moors at Nord Stream 2 Hub in Germany
A Russian pipe-laying vessel Academic Cherskiy which Moscow can use to finish laying pipes for the Nord Stream 2 gas project, has moored near the German logistics hub in Mukran, Refinitiv Eikon tracking data showed on Monday.Led by the state gas company Gazprom, Nord Stream 2 had to suspend pipelaying works late last year, hit by fresh U.S. sanctions. The project is aimed at doubling existing undersea flows to Germany to 110 billion cubic meters per year.Cherskiy, bought by Gazprom in 2016, has sailed from the Russian Pacific port of Nakhodka where it was docked in December when the U.S. sanctions put the plan to finish the remaining 160-km stretch near the Danish island of Bornholm on hold…
Tax Quirk Sees Russia Buy Diesel From China and S.Korea
Rare cargoes of diesel from China and South Korea have started to arrive in Russia due to a quirk in Russia's tax system which is making fuel shipments from abroad more profitable, data from traders and Refinitiv Eikon showed on Thursday.Because of a local tax scheme, Russian oil firms are due to make higher payments to the government despite a slump in oil prices due to excess supplies and the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.That means the companies have little incentive to cut domestic retail prices for gasoline and diesel.But with prices lower on the global market…
New LNG Carrier Bunkers in Russia
Gazprom Marketing & Trading’s (GM&T) says that its newly delivered LNG carrier “Pskov” has received bunkers (Heavy Fuel Oil and Marine Gas Oil) at the port of Nakhodka in the Primorskiy Region of Russia. This marks the first time a GM&T time-chartered LNG vessel bunkered in a Russian port. Bunkers were provided by another Gazprom subsidiary – GazpromNeft Marine Bunker. Upon completion of the bunkering operation, “Pskov” proceeded to the port of Prigorodnoye where the LNG terminal of the Gazprom-majority owned “Sakhalin-2” project is located. After completing the gassing up and cooling down of her cargo tanks and loading LNG, the vessel will deliver her maiden cargo to a GM&T customer in Asia.
Ship Distressed in Sea of Japan
Reports indicate that Motor ship Diana that sent distress signals from the Sea of Japan has about 4,000 tons of cargo aboard. The ship, which flies the Cambodian flag and has an 18-strong Russian crew, has scrap metal in the holds and timber on the deck. The piles of timber have shifted and are partly hanging overboard, said Konstantin Sviridov, the chief of Maritime Salvage and Coordination Center in Vladivostok. The Diana called out of the port of Vanino in Khabarovsk territory Sunday and headed for Japan, but in the small hours of Wednesday it sent a distress signal and turned towards the major Russian commercial port of Nakhodka, not far from Vladivostok.
