Damen Shipyard Serviced LNG Carrier Tied to Russia’s Yamal Export Chain

Dutch shipbuilding and repair group Damen acknowledged that one of its yards carried out emergency repairs on an LNG carrier linked to Russia’s Yamal LNG export chain months after the company announced it would stop servicing vessels associated with Russian LNG exports.

This highlights the difficulties European firms face in disentangling themselves from Moscow’s energy trade.

The admission follows Damen’s early 2025 decision to cease repair work for vessels supporting Russian liquefied natural gas exports, a move the company said was aligned with Dutch government policy discouraging support for the sector.

Russian network

However, vessel tracking data reviewed by High North News shows the conventional LNG carrier Wen Cheng entered Damen Shiprepair Rotterdam’s Botlek repair area in August 2025 after participating in Russia’s Arctic LNG transport network.

The case underscores a broader challenge facing European governments and companies as the European Union moves toward a complete phase-out of Russian gas imports by Jan. 1, 2027.

While Brussels has pledged to end decades of dependence on Russian energy, Russian LNG exports continue to move through European waters, ports and maritime service networks, supported by a web of commercial relationships that has proven difficult to unwind.

European yards play key role

For years, specialized shipyards in France and Denmark played a critical role in maintaining the fleet serving Russia’s Yamal LNG project, operated by Novatek. The project relies on a fleet of Arc7 icebreaking LNG carriers capable of navigating Arctic waters and delivering cargoes from the Yamal Peninsula.

In early 2025, Damen Shiprepair became the latest European yard to withdraw from servicing the fleet, leaving Denmark’s Fayard shipyard in Odense as the only known European yard continuing to provide regular maintenance to the Arc7 vessels.

At the time, Damen said it would no longer undertake such work even though previous repairs had remained legal under European sanctions.

“Although the previous repairs were permitted under European sanctions legislation, we decided to refrain from further work on this type of ship,” the company said at the time.

Also read:

French Shipyard Halts Service for Russian LNG Fleet, Leaving Danish Yard as Sole Western Provider

“The company made this (own) decision in line with Dutch foreign policy, discouraging Dutch companies from undertaking this type of work supporting Russian LNG export.”

The Wen Cheng is not an Arc7 icebreaking carrier and is not part of the dedicated Yamal LNG fleet. However, shipping records indicate the vessel has repeatedly transported Russian LNG cargoes received through ship-to-ship transfer operations linked to Yamal LNG.

Received Yamal cargoes

According to vessel tracking data, the Wen Cheng participated in at least three such transfer operations in 2024 and 2025 in the Murmansk transfer area, where cargoes are routinely moved from icebreaking Arc7 vessels to conventional LNG carriers for onward delivery to international markets.

The vessel was involved in one such operation only weeks before arriving at the Rotterdam repair yard. AIS tracking data show the vessel entered the Botlek repair area on Aug. 18 and remained there until Aug. 26 after arriving in Rotterdam earlier that month.

Asked whether its policy applied only to Arc7 vessels or more broadly to LNG carriers involved in Russian LNG exports, Damen provided a detailed explanation of the incident.

“Damen decided early 2025 to cease all repair activities for LNG-tankers associated with Russian LNG exports, in line with Dutch foreign policy that discourages support for such operations,” the company said in a written statement to HNN.

“Despite that, Damen can confirm that the Wen Cheng was shortly present in the Botlek repair area in August 2025. The work carried out was strictly limited to a necessary mechanical repair to an overboard pipe. This type of emergency repair is essential to ensure the vessel’s safety and to prevent risks to the marine environment, in accordance with international maritime laws.”

Will prevent future repairs

The company said it had investigated the vessel before accepting the repair work.

“A thorough investigation was made in advance to find out if this ship was part of the Yamal LNG / Arc7 fleet,” Damen said.

“The investigation concluded that the vessel was not part of this fleet, that its owner is not subject to any sanctions, and that the owner was granted permission and assistance by the Dutch authorities to enter the Port of Rotterdam.”

Not suppose to happen

But the company acknowledged that the repair ultimately conflicted with its own policy.

“In hindsight, we can conclude that this repair was not supposed to have happened under our own Damen policy,” the statement said.

“Damen will investigate the decision-making process within the lower management levels that led to this emergency repair and take further steps to prevent any future repairs on LNG tankers associated with Russian LNG exports.”

The admission appears to mark the first publicly acknowledged case in which a European shipyard that voluntarily exited the Russian LNG servicing business subsequently carried out work on a vessel connected to that trade.

Maritime analysts note that Wen Cheng’s involvement in Russian LNG transshipment operations was visible through publicly available vessel-tracking records.

Deeply entrenched in Europe

The episode illustrates how deeply Russian LNG exports remain embedded in European commercial networks even as governments prepare for a formal phase-out.

Although sanctions have increasingly targeted Russian energy projects, Yamal LNG has continued exporting cargoes to global markets throughout the war in Ukraine. European companies remain involved across parts of the supply chain, including shipping, insurance, port services, engineering support, and vessel maintenance.

With less than six months remaining before the EU’s planned end date for Russian gas imports, industry observers say the challenge extends beyond stopping purchases of fuel.

European authorities and companies must also identify and close the numerous commercial channels that continue to support Russian energy exports, whether intentionally or inadvertently.

The Wen Cheng case suggests that even companies that have publicly committed to disengagement can struggle to consistently enforce those policies in practice, reflecting the lingering complexity of Europe’s decades-long relationship with Russian gas.