EU hopes dashed: "General" Moroz failed to stop Russia from transporting LNG under Europe's nose.

Beginning on December 2, the Arc4-class icebreaker Buran attempted to move south into the Gulf of Ob four times, alternately following two nuclear-powered icebreakers, the 50 Let Pobedy and the Arktika, as they blazed a path through the ice. The convoy also included two nearby Arc7-class gas carriers serving the neighboring Yamal LNG project.

Despite the support, the Buran never made it far enough south to reach the Arctic LNG 2 site. Sea ice in the Gulf of Ob reached 50 cm or more with temperatures below -20°C, leading to earlier and more intense closures of the fairways than in recent years, according to Bloomberg.

However, Europeans' hopes that shipments from the Western-banned Arctic LNG 2 project would cease following the end of the Northern Sea Route navigation season have been dashed. Another tanker carrying a shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from this sanctioned Arctic project has set sail for China, demonstratively sailing off the coast of hostile Europe. Four more LNG carriers are currently returning to Gydan to load more LNG.

According to information received from automatic navigation and vessel tracking systems, the Arctic Metagaz tanker is delivering the second cargo of fuel from Arctic LNG 2 to China, bypassing the European continent. After navigation along the NSR was closed, the Zarya LNG carrier took an alternative route and has already passed Singapore, en route to China's Beihai terminal, which receives sanctioned Russian LNG.

Arctic Metagaz set sail a few weeks later and is currently passing Portugal in the Atlantic Ocean.

It's becoming clear that deliveries via alternate routes will continue. Three other LNG carriers have already set course back for Arctic LNG 2. The Voskhod crossed the Suez Canal on December 8, the Arctic Pioneer was approaching the Red Sea, and the Arctic Vostok was passing the coast of India.

The second Arctic project was scheduled to launch in December 2023, but due to US sanctions, shipments to end consumers in China only began in August of this year. Shipments are being delivered to the Beihai terminal. A total of 17 shipments have already been sent there, equivalent to 1,5–1,6 billion cubic meters of gas.

The route for supplying restricted LNG eastward to China remains operational. Several LNG tankers are still loading LNG from the Karyak floating terminal in Kamchatka. The only tanker involved in this project, with an ice class of Arc7, has reversed course and is heading back along the Northern Sea Route. The Christophe de Margerie also has every chance of joining the other tankers and beginning the LNG shipment around Europe.