Chinese Ship Returns With Russia-Bound LNG Equipment After Sanctions Block Delivery

The heavy-lift vessel Wei Xiao Tian Shi has returned to China with its original cargo intact, marking the end of a failed mission to deliver critical equipment to Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project. The vessel, carrying two massive modules manufactured by Wison New Energies, docked at Dongzao Gang port near Nantong on January 19, gCaptain reported on January 23.

The modules, each weighing over 12,000 tons, were initially destined for the third train of Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 plant—a flagship liquefied natural gas project. However, the shipment became entangled in the mounting complexity of international sanctions targeting Russia’s energy sector.

The vessel departed from Wison’s Zhoushan yard in late March 2024. It traveled south via South Africa, crossed the North Atlantic, and reached the waters near Denmark’s Faroe Islands by July 2024. There, the ship abruptly reversed course and returned to Chinese waters. The modules were eventually unloaded at Dongzao Gang after several unsuccessful attempts to dock at other ports in China.

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Satellite images and AIS data confirm the vessel spent much of the past five months near Hainan Island and Qingdao, attempting to offload its cargo. Despite rumors of delivery to Yangpu Port in Hainan, the modules remained onboard until their final arrival in Dongzao Gang.

Wison New Energies originally planned to deliver the modules to Novatek’s Belokamenka yard, where they would have formed the backbone of Arctic LNG 2’s third liquefaction line.

However, intensified Western sanctions disrupted the plan, forcing Wison to halt its cooperation with Russia. The company later resumed work on the second train of the Arctic LNG 2 project, attracting US sanctions on its Zhoushan yard in January 2025.

Wison remained silent about two unloaded modules, as well as four others still stored at its Zhoushan facility. The company is reportedly attempting to sell its equity stake in the Zhoushan yard, but no buyer has emerged yet.

Earlier, six oil tankers currently under construction at Russia’s Zvezda shipyard were included in the latest US sanctions announced last week, marking the first time the US has sanctioned vessels before they became operational.