How Russia’s Security Service FSB Gained Control Over the Yamal LNG Fleet Reportedly Setting Up Covert Cargo Operations

It was March 2022 at the Sabetta terminal in the Russian Arctic.¹ Officers from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) had come aboard one of the Arc7 ice-class LNG carriers. An icy Siberian wind whirled over the dock at the Yamal LNG facility as three armed guards led away one of the vessel’s senior Western officers for a nine-hour interrogation. 

Interactions between the crews and the FSB, the main successor of the Soviet KGB, had become routine since the Yamal facility began operations in December 2017. But following the invasion of Ukraine, Western officers were increasingly targeted for questioning, intimidation, and ultimately removal from the Arc7 vessels.

The FSB action was designed to replace Western officers with Russian personnel, thus establishing full control over the vessels’ operations, and to possibly facilitate a covert cargo flow between European terminals and Sabetta. 

The importance of the fleet of fifteen custom built ice-capable LNG carriers is hard to overstate. For much of the year they provide the sole lifeline for Russia’s exports of liquefied natural gas to Europe and Asia. 

This investigation by HNN relies on extensive interviews with former senior officers, copies of FSB protocols, and vessel documentation, to describe the systematic removal of Western crews, the creation of an informant network of Russian officers on board, and the probable use of the Arc7 LNG carriers to transport general cargo and supplies outside established customs norms. 

The Interrogation

“ When I was taken by the FSB ashore and spent nine hours there, I can tell you only the picture of Stalin was missing.”²

The rear doors of the FSB truck slammed shut. While it was technically spring, the air in Sabetta high in the Russian Arctic remained frigid. As the vehicle started rolling the windows quickly started fogging up under the breaths of the three armed FSB guards and the senior officer from the LNG carrier they were escorting. 

The officer had been marched along the frozen dock and through the massive LNG terminal to a waiting vehicle. After a 20 minute-drive through the barren Arctic landscape the four men arrived at a row of barracks, home to the regional FSB offices. Unlike the modern Yamal LNG terminal, constructed in record-time, the FSB facilities were in poor condition, with ventilation and heating not working, broken concrete floors, and spartan furnishings. 

“ When they take you ashore, they're using an FSB car, which is not a normal car. It's a truck with barred windows. And you are under supervision of three armed guards. So, they took you ashore to have a ‘discussion’ with three armed guards.”

Three FSB officers took turns questioning the vessel’s officer. A Russian crew member from the same ship was brought in to help translate. Questions turned to the Ukraine war, the officer’s military service background, and his family. The FSB gained access to this phone discovering jokes about President Putin. An equal amount of memes on the device about President Trump and UK Prime Minister Johnson helped appease the upset FSB guards. 

As the questioning dragged on it became clear that a Russian crew member had reported the senior officer to the FSB. A copy of the interrogation protocol confirms these circumstances. According to one former Western officer, all Russian crew members sign an agreement with the FSB to report on developments onboard the vessels. The information is then used as a pretense to interrogate and ultimately remove non-Russian crew members. 

Following a nine-hour “discussion” the officer was allowed to return to the ship prior to its departure. It would be his final trip to Sabetta or, for that matter, Russia. 

The FSB

“It's more free on a military base around Europe, than what you see at Sabetta. Everything is controlled by the FSB. The FSB is coming on board to do a face check and inspect the vessels. They decide, it's very simple.”

From the very beginning of the Yamal LNG project the border guard division of the FSB kept a close eye on the Arc7 vessels arriving at Sabetta. The FSB established a base in Sabetta in August 2016. 

When Russia’s largest LNG plant began operation in 2017 the gas carriers, owned by major Western operators, including Seapeak and Dynagas, could not approach the terminal without prior inspection. The FSB would come aboard to check over the vessel and crew before docking. Authorities quickly discontinued this cumbersome process when it delayed the loading of the supercooled gas Novatek, the plant’s operator, was eager to export to Europe.

For several years the vessels’ crews and the FSB followed an established and familiar routine of searches and interviews. New crew members were coached on how to deal with the FSB border guards and their intimidation techniques. Sometimes the FSB would “forget” to issue stamps so they could give crew members a hard time during the next go around. Captains pushed back where they could and ensured interviews were conducted on board. None of the Western crews had Russian visas and were thus not permitted to enter Russian soil.

With the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 established norms quickly fell apart. In December 2022 President Putin instructed the border guards to “step up their work.” The FSB was given even greater authority in a 10-kilometer area around Sabetta in 2023. Inspections escalated to include the trashing of crew quarters, intimidation under the threat of violence, and interviews being conducted on shore at the regional FSB barracks. 

“ You can imagine the situation was not that easy because we don't have a Russian visa. They were taking us into Russian territory and it would have been easy for them to say ‘Look, I caught him there’.”

“ Because you just stay on the ship usually, when you get to Sabetta, you stay on the ship, right?” - HNN

“ Absolutely. Yes, 100%. Absolutely.”

The FSB also established a network of informants among Russian officers. Their job was to relay information about Western crews to the security services. During subsequent FSB interrogation Western officers found themselves confronted with “evidence” about jokes they made about President Putin or comments they made about the Ukraine War.

The interrogations could last hours, often stretching beyond the vessel’s planned departure time, leaving crew members in uncertainty if they would be allowed to re-board the ships.

Within months an increasing number of Western crew members had departed. Two British junior officers, during their first tour aboard an Arc7 LNG carrier, were taken ashore by the FSB for lengthy questioning against the wishes of the captain. The British crewmembers were told in no uncertain terms that they would be arrested if they returned to Russia. They disembarked from the vessel at the next European port, with two Russian officers waiting dock-side to take their place.

“It became clear that the FSB action was designed to pull out as many international officers as possible from the crew and try to force the vessel’s owner to replace the British, Romanian, Polish, Croatian officers with the Russian officers.”

The ultimate goal was to push Western officers out from the fifteen Arc7 vessels. Today almost all the Westerners are gone, several former crew members confirmed. By some estimates around 85 percent of the vessels now have Russian captains, chief officers, or chief engineers. Neither Seapeak nor Dynagas responded to inquiries for comment by HNN.

“The charterer (Yamal LNG) and Russian authorities were pushing to have as many Russian captains and as many Russians on board as possible to have control of their ships, including close connections between Russian officers and the FSB.” 

Russian officers would relay information about the crews, the vessels, and their owners via Telegram, de facto circumventing the authority of non-Russian captains. This alternative “chain of command” as one former officer described it, existed on several Arc7 vessels going as far back as at least 2022. This type of arrangement is highly unusual and not accepted standard, maritime experts HNN spoke to confirmed. 

“So practically they now control the ships. Because Russian officers will obey any order from the charterer and Russian officials. They can control these officers as they are afraid of the consequences of non-compliance when they are going home.”

The Ships

“These ships were designed to have special compartments to transport items from Europe to Sabetta. Because in Sabetta it’s very hard to get anything.”

The Yamal LNG project and its Sabetta terminal are thousands of kilometers from any major population center. The local airport is often unreachable for days or weeks during winter. Thus, the Arc7 fleet is instrumental to carrying supplies, spare parts, and Western equipment between European ports and Sabetta. 

From the start the Arc7 LNG carriers were designed with the intention to deliver general cargo and supplies, in addition to their primary purpose of transporting 78,000 tons of liquefied gas. The vessels’ blueprints show a designated cargo area capable of holding dozens of pallets of cargo. 

The charter contract between the vessels’ owners and Yamal LNG highlights this particular arrangement. It specifies that different areas of the vessel are available to the charterer to carry equipment for Yamal LNG, not to exceed three hundred tonnes at any point in time during the charter period.

“This is highly unusual and doesn’t exist with other charter agreements. These agreements are present in the charterparty for Yamal LNG vessels and continue to this day to my knowledge.” 

With the mounting sanctions regime since February 2022 the fleet’s ability to carry supplies between Europe and Russia has gained further importance. The Arc7 vessels call at a number of European LNG terminals. Key destinations include Zeebrugge in Belgium and Montoir in France. Together the two facilities account for around 50 percent of all Yamal LNG deliveries to Europe. 

Legitimate supplies are routinely loaded at these European facilities through terminal agents leaving a detailed paper trail. It is also not unusual for crew members to order personal items to be delivered to the ship during port calls. If a crewmember wants to place an order they discuss it with the captain who relays requests to the agent. Everything that comes on board has papers attached to it and the whole process is very visible, former crew members confirmed.

However, a more covert cargo operation may have been established employing the Russian crews. 

The Ports

“This ‘black business’ is happening, connecting Russia and Europe. They are supplying things now.”

A former senior officer provided detailed accounts of supplies reaching his vessel outside of established customs norms. The officer recalled several instances when packages were taken directly to the cabin of the Russian chief officer and days later handed over to an FSB guard or terminal agent in Sabetta. All occurring without official documentation and with any inquiries by Western officers brushed off. 

“This is not normal, nothing is coming on board without paper from customs. I have to sign. The captain has to sign. There are two sets of paper all the time. These packages just arrived on board. They take it in the cabin. They don't leave it in some storage because the package doesn't have papers. I’m sure you can imagine it put everybody on board in a difficult position.”

This type of “alternative” cargo flow would be considered highly irregular anywhere in the world, experienced mariners confirmed to HNN. Especially taking into consideration the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code, which came into effect post-9/11. 

According to the former Western officer, this alleged covert cargo operation involves vessels with Russian captains, chief officers or chief engineers who facilitate the handoff. It also likely involves contacts at the terminals and those delivering the packages to the ship. The size of the packages would range from just a few kilograms to up to 75 pounds or more, sometimes requiring two crewmembers to move them.

“In Montoir for example was a point where they have Russian expats and it was very easy to activate them and they would come ‘Ah, look, uh, I have something for my friend’. And you don’t know what’s inside because it’s not passing through customs. It's not ordered officially by anybody. I don't know how they manage to get this one in the terminals.”

The former officer also listed Zeebrugge as a terminal where packages were dropped off in this manner, but was unable to provide more details as he did not observe the exchange personally. Non-Russian captains and officers expressed their dismay over this unusual activity but were repeatedly told that it was “private business” by the Russian chief officer handling the packages. 

“ And you can observe that when the ship is arriving in Sabetta, the FSB or the terminal agents are coming to take it.”

Western officers started departing the vessels within months of the Ukraine War thus unable to further observe the process or intervene. It is important to note that the account could not be independently verified and a former Western captain reached by HNN said he did not observe such deliveries during his time on board. The operators of the terminals in Montoir and Zeebrugge did not respond to requests for comment. 

The Fjords

“ In Honningsvåg there it is very, very good and also easy to get food, to get spare parts, exchange crews.” 

In addition to port calls at European LNG terminals the Arc7 fleet also takes on provisions and conducts crew changes outside Norwegian harbors near Honningsvåg and Kirkenes. Every few months an Arc7 vessel – either en route to Europe or during the return leg to Sabetta – detours through one of the fjords nearby. The side trips usually don’t last more than a few hours, enough time to exchange crews and take on provisions. The Norwegian Coast Guard confirmed that these operations take place.

A former officer recalled disembarking in Honningsvåg taking a tender to shore and flying out from Alta shortly thereafter. Similar operations also previously took place near Kirkenes close to the Russian border. Even before sanctions against Russia, Murmansk was not a preferred port for provisioning and crew changes due to bureaucracy and challenging visa procedures for crew members.

“In Murmansk it’s almost impossible now because of sanctions. The Norwegians are very happy to have some traffic and, you know, the agents to have some business, but it's very easy to get anything on board.”

The port of Honningsvåg referred inquiries about the activity to the agent, GAC Norway. The company stated that it “operates strictly within applicable regulations and industry standards, including ISPS and customs requirements,” but was unable to further discuss client arrangements or disclose specifics about vessel operations.

The frequency of the alleged off-the-books cargo deliveries and the packages’ contents remain unknown. However, their seeming occurrence, in combination with the FSB’s actions to remove Western officers from the vessels, raises serious questions about the Arc7 fleet’s continued operation in European ports and waters.

“ This flow of LNG needs to be stopped and these kind of ships need to be kept away from Europe.”

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Notes:
¹ Date changed to protect identity of the source.
² Direct quotes in this article are based on extensive interviews conducted with former senior officers who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect themselves and their families from repercussions. Some details, such as specific dates, were kept vague or modified for that purpose.