Novatek in talks on LNG transhipment after U.S. sanctions China COSCO tankers
Sanctions? China? Those are arctic classed vessels. They are a good deal more expensive to buy and run than any other LNG vessel. This means that every mile with one of those will cost a pretty penny. This means that you want to use them for transport only when you have too. How much does it cost? Well, transshipment is not exactly a cheap process. Right now you pump LNG from one vessel to the other on high seas. Once the transshipment points are ready you will pump LNG from the arctic class vessel into an onshore thank and then another regular LNGC comes and picks up cargo from those tanks. I will be damned if this process costs much less than 1 USD. This means that open sea transshipment is more expensive, and using the arctic vessels is more expensive still. How is such LNG to compete with LNG from the USGC?
Reuters 
