BERLIN, September 22, 2026
TOPLINES
- Seapeak-linked Nikolay Yevgenov could become the fourth Arc7 tanker serviced at Fayard since June, with four visits potentially supporting around a decade of combined operation.
- The yard has a DKK 1.71 million contract to repair the Danish frigate Esbern Snare, which is currently docked at Fayard, despite concerns over Yamal LNG’s links to Russia’s FSB security service.
- Fayard has continued servicing the fleet despite appeals from 105 parliamentarians and new US sanctions powers.
The Russia-linked LNG tanker Nikolay Yevgenov is expected at Denmark’s Fayard shipyard, where it could become the fourth Arc7 vessel serviced since June.
It comes days after President Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, covering vessels transporting Russian LNG.
It follows Rudolf Samoylovich on 30 June, Georgiy Brusilov on 23 July and Boris Davydov in August.
The ships need maintenance roughly every 30 months. After leaving Fayard in September 2023, Boris Davydov carried 50 Yamal LNG cargoes totalling 3.65 million tonnes, with an indicative gross value of €1.91 billion.
A growing security contradiction
Denmark’s defence procurement agency awarded Fayard DKK 1,713,837 on 3 September for emergency dry-docking and repairs to Esbern Snare. The award was published on 8 September. The vessel is currently moored in the dock.
Fayard is maintaining vessels central to Russia’s Arctic exports while trusted with naval repairs. High North News has reported extensive FSB involvement in the Yamal LNG shipping system, including the alleged presence of FSB personnel aboard Arc7 vessels.
On 14 September, a Russian frigate fired two flares towards a Danish military helicopter during a surveillance flight in international waters.
Four maintenance visits could support a decade of combined operation
The maintenance cycle is approximately 30 months. Across four tankers, that amounts to about 120 vessel-months—around a decade of combined service before comparable maintenance is likely to be required again.
Because Yamal relies on a small specialised fleet, extending several vessels’ availability helps preserve the resilience of the export system through Arctic winter conditions, when ordinary LNG carriers cannot replace them at the Russian terminal.
Arc7 vessels navigate the ice around Russia’s Yamal Peninsula and enable year-round exports. Urgewald, B4Ukraine and Razom We Stand identified Fayard in June as the last known EU yard routinely maintaining the fleet.
This is effectively the fleet’s final European repair window before EU service restrictions take effect on 1 January 2027, but work completed now could keep vessels operating for years.
New US sanctions pressure
In July, 105 parliamentarians from 17 countries urged Fayard to refuse Arc7 maintenance. Denmark’s prime minister and Ukraine’s sanctions chief also criticised the work.
The new US law requires an initial review by 18 October and covers foreign vessels determined to knowingly transport Russian-origin LNG, although designations are not automatic and national-interest waivers are permitted.
It also targets the owner or operator of a foreign port that allows a US-sanctioned vessel supporting Russia to call or receive services.
Odense Havn leases Fayard four docks and other facilities under a 30-year agreement. If an Arc7 tanker were designated, a future visit could therefore bring Odense Havn itself within Washington’s sanctions reach.
Alexander Kirk, Sanctions Campaigner at Urgewald, said:
“Four major repairs in one summer could support a decade of combined operation across ships keeping Putin’s flagship Arctic gas project alive. Fayard is not carrying out four isolated jobs. It is maintaining the specialised fleet that makes Russia’s year-round LNG exports from the High North possible.
“The security contradiction is impossible to ignore. Denmark is strengthening its defences around Greenland and the High North and entrusting Fayard with a naval frigate, while the same yard services vessels central to Russia’s Arctic energy ambitions.
“By continuing to service the Arc7 fleet, Fayard’s Odense shipyard is taking a sanctions gamble that could put it—and potentially Odense Havn—on a collision course with Washington. It should turn Nikolay Yevgenov away, and the United States should designate all 14 internationally owned Arc7 carriers in its first sanctions review.”
Hannah Neumann MEP said:
“Every company has a choice: contribute to the pressure on Russia, or undermine it for commercial gain. For four and a half years, Russia has waged a relentless and brutal war against Ukraine. We all have a responsibility to increase the pressure on Russia to end it.
“That only works if politics, business and society pull in the same direction. Fayard cannot simply carry on with business as usual. By putting commercial interests ahead of our collective responsibility to isolate Russia, Fayard is undermining the pressure we are trying to build.”
Swedish MEP Jonas Sjöstedt said:
“Another Arc7 tanker is being repaired at Fayard in Denmark. These vessels are a critical component in Russia’s arctic LNG export, transporting billions of Euros worth of Russian LNG. This must stop. European companies must not be allowed to keep Russia’s fossil-fuel lifeline running. Every repair helps sustain Putin’s illegal war against Ukraine.”
Oras Tynkkynen MP, Member of the Parliament of Finland and Co-Chair of the Ukraine Friendship Group, said:
“Companies cannot hide behind the backs of politicians. What is clearly immoral cannot continue, even if it is still legal. Fayard and its owners need to bear their moral responsibility and stop servicing tankers with ties to Russian fuel exports.”
Alex Sobel MP, the UK’s Trade Envoy to Ukraine, said:
“The sanctions regime only works if it chokes off Russia’s ability to transport fossil fuels. Servicing Russian-linked vessels allows the Russian war machine to continue. Our Danish friends do so much to help Ukraine and fully understand the Russian threat, so they need to close their shipyards to vessels whose primary purpose is transporting Russian fossil fuels.”
The Rt Hon Sir John Whittingdale MP, Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said:
“By continuing to service Russian-linked tankers, Fayard are helping to sustain Russia’s export income. In doing so, they undermine sanctions and help fund Russia’s war machine, which is daily killing civilians in Ukraine. They need to stop now, or governments must act to stop them.”
Notes to editors
- Nikolay Yevgenov (IMO 9750725) is Bahamas-flagged. Seapeak records a 50% ownership interest. “Russia-linked” refers to its Yamal LNG service; the ship is not described as Russian-owned or part of a shadow fleet.
- The Boris Davydov calculation uses Kpler volumes and monthly Dutch TTF prices. It is indicative gross cargo value, not revenue, profit or Russian state receipts.
- EU restrictions on relevant maintenance and other services take effect on 1 January 2027.
- Fayard says its work is legal under current EU rules and notes that the vessels are internationally owned.
- No operational link is alleged between the Arc7 fleet and the Russian frigate incident.
About Urgewald
Urgewald is a Germany-based environmental and human rights organisation. Its sanctions work investigates the companies, vessels, financiers and service providers enabling Russian fossil-fuel exports and campaigns to close loopholes, restrict essential services and cut the revenues sustaining Russia’s war against Ukraine.
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