NSR Foreign flagged shipping - no ban but business as usual
There is information on social media that says that a ban will come into force next force for foreign flagged shipping in using the NSR.
What future blanket ban on the NSR? It seems there is some great deal of confusion on the details of this issue.
It would be akin to shooting oneself in the foot. You either want to the business to flow or cut down an increasingly growing market. I’m sure that the Chinese would have something to say too. But oddly, everyone is carrying on as normal.
A blanket ban would be in my opinion hilarious bad news because it would conflict with the UNCLOS rules on navigation and impact on all of the Yamal LNG carriers that are all foreign flagged!
One of the reasons for these ships being flagged elsewhere is to facilitate the LNG shipments, in an environment that is greatly affected by sanctions! Absurdly as it seems, but reflagging the LNG tankers has helped greatly in boosting the LNG cargo throughput to a staggering 1.26 million of LNG in the first 4 months of 2017. This will substantially increase the figures up from a total 7.5 million tonnes (all cargoes) in 2016.
Last year, President Putin had proposed that ships under the Russian flag are given the exclusive right to transport oil and gas along the NSR. This was widely reported in industry media. Ironically, not long after this announcement, the Christophe de Margerie actually reflagged to the Cypriot register.
The proposed bill was considered by the Duma and a law drafted a month later. It entered into force on 1 February 2018. This could have serious repercussions to future shipping due to the implementation of Western sanctions. But it won’t affect those foreign-flagged ships currently in operation since the law has a loophole specially for Yamal LNG operations. The exception is for Novatek and the fleet of 15 LNG tankers.
It would contradict what President Putin said in a speech last March, where the goal of the NSR is to be a ‘truly global, competitive transport artery.”
The carriage of oil and gas represents a significant proportion of the shipping along part of the NSR.
More information later in the day, once I’ve pulled more elements together.
What future blanket ban on the NSR? It seems there is some great deal of confusion on the details of this issue.
It would be akin to shooting oneself in the foot. You either want to the business to flow or cut down an increasingly growing market. I’m sure that the Chinese would have something to say too. But oddly, everyone is carrying on as normal.
A blanket ban would be in my opinion hilarious bad news because it would conflict with the UNCLOS rules on navigation and impact on all of the Yamal LNG carriers that are all foreign flagged!
One of the reasons for these ships being flagged elsewhere is to facilitate the LNG shipments, in an environment that is greatly affected by sanctions! Absurdly as it seems, but reflagging the LNG tankers has helped greatly in boosting the LNG cargo throughput to a staggering 1.26 million of LNG in the first 4 months of 2017. This will substantially increase the figures up from a total 7.5 million tonnes (all cargoes) in 2016.
Last year, President Putin had proposed that ships under the Russian flag are given the exclusive right to transport oil and gas along the NSR. This was widely reported in industry media. Ironically, not long after this announcement, the Christophe de Margerie actually reflagged to the Cypriot register.
The proposed bill was considered by the Duma and a law drafted a month later. It entered into force on 1 February 2018. This could have serious repercussions to future shipping due to the implementation of Western sanctions. But it won’t affect those foreign-flagged ships currently in operation since the law has a loophole specially for Yamal LNG operations. The exception is for Novatek and the fleet of 15 LNG tankers.
It would contradict what President Putin said in a speech last March, where the goal of the NSR is to be a ‘truly global, competitive transport artery.”
The carriage of oil and gas represents a significant proportion of the shipping along part of the NSR.
More information later in the day, once I’ve pulled more elements together.