As the summer maintenance season begins, the first Arc7 ice-class gas carriers serving the Yamal LNG project have arrived at the Fayard A/S shipyard in Odense, Denmark.
Operated by Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd and chartered to Novatek’s Yamal LNG project, the Nikolay Urvantsev reached the dry dock on June 26 and departed about a week later. The vessel regularly calls at this facility as well as the Damen Shiprepair shipyard in Brest, France. Records show the ship underwent dry-dock maintenance in 2022 and 2024 and now again in 2025.
A second Arc7 LNG carrier, the Fedor Litke, operated by Dynagas, proceeded to the Fayard A/S shipyard on July 17 after delivery in Dunkerque. As of July 23, the vessel remains in dry dock. The ship previously visited the Odense shipyard in September 2022.
Since 2017, Danish and French shipyards have accommodated all 15 Yamal LNG vessels at their facilities. The central location of Damen and Fayard facilities along key trade routes to Europe is crucial for the efficient operation of the specially designed Arc7 ice-class fleet.
Repair and maintenance schedules for Arctic LNG carriers have intensified significantly due to Russia’s harsh operating conditions along the Northern Sea Route. The Damen ship repair company focuses on hull maintenance, which LNG carriers regularly require to break through thick Arctic sea ice.
Currently, no Arc7 LNG carriers are present at the Damen Shiprepair shipyard in Brest, France, but historically, most shipyard work for the Yamal fleet has been conducted in autumn. This suggests additional vessels may arrive. The shipyard serviced at least eight Yamal LNG carriers between 2022 and 2024.
In previous statements, Damen Shiprepair noted it could not discuss client-related activities and that the company complies with all international sanctions legislation against Russia.
Since the vessels are not directly sanctioned by the U.S. or EU, the shipyards’ operations do not violate international law. Industry sources say spare parts procurement is becoming increasingly difficult, though suppliers of gas chromatographs and flow meters used on LNG carriers have imposed end-user restrictions and no longer deliver parts to ships in the Yamal fleet.
A source close to the industry confirmed, “Everything is about sanctions. Critical parts are unavailable. Suppliers refuse to deliver parts to the ships due to fear of sanctions.”
A number of sanctioned LNG carriers, including Arc7 and several Arc4 ice-class vessels, have recently begun undergoing maintenance at Chinese shipyards. The Arc7 LNG carrier Christophe de Margerie spent months at a shipyard on Zhoushan Island east of Shanghai in the summer of 2024. Currently, two sanctioned Russian gas carriers, Sputnik Energy and Nova Energy, remain at Chinese shipyards.
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