Environmental activists from Greenpeace Nordic have blocked LNG tanker Coral Energy (IMO 9617698) from offloading its Russian-sourced cargo at an LNG terminal in Nynäshamn, south of Stockholm. They demanded that the Swedish government stop imports of Russian fossil fuels during the war in Ukraine.
Greenpeace Nordic said that climbers occupied the cranes used to unload the gas. At the same time, Greenpeace sailing vessel SY Witness and activists in kayaks were in the water to prevent the ship from docking.
Greenpeace said that Sweden had received around 100.000 m/3 of LNG from Vysotsk in Russia since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February this year. Greenpeace Nordic claimed that Sweden has a clear mandate from the Swedish people and an announcement from the Parliament telling it to Vygotsky stop importing Russian energy, but that the administration was continuing its imports, financing the Russian military as a result.
Karolina Carlsson, campaign leader at Greenpeace Nordic, said that the Swedish parliament had “given the Swedish government a clear mandate to stop all imports of Russian energy to Sweden and it is Prime minister Magdalena Andersson’s obligation to act on this.”
Greenpeace estimated that SEK 1.7bn ($161m) worth of gas had been imported, noting that Finnish state-owned Gasum – which supplies Swedish gas stations, ferries and petroleum companies – had regularly imported gas from Gazprom and Novatek in Russian Vysotsk to Sweden and Finland.
In an update on Friday Greenpeace claimed that its activists had managed to get the gas tanker Coral Energy to turn around and set course for the Baltic Sea.
However, at 05:30 on Friday morning local time Swedish police took over the vessel and moved it out of the way. The environmental group underlined that it now “hands over the task of stopping the Swedish imports of Russian gas fuelling Putin’s invasion of Ukraine to the Swedish government.”
2013-built, Netherlands-flagged, 13,501 gt Coral Energy is owned by Coral Energy Shipping BV care of manager Gasum AS of Tananger, Norway. ISM manager is Anthony Veder Rederij BV of Rotterdam, Netherlands. It is entered with UK Club on behalf of Coral Energy Shipping BV. As of September 9th the vessel remained moored at Nynashamn.
