The vessel had been under intense scrutiny by industry analysts. On Monday, December 8, the Valera, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier, arrived at the Beihai terminal in southeastern China.

This arrival was visible on public ship-tracking data and was confirmed by global real-time data and analytics provider Kpler. The LNG carrier was also observed in a satellite image provided by Planet Labs PBC, taken approximately one hour before its port arrival. It can then be seen heading toward the terminal, about 6 kilometres away.

The reason this LNG tanker was being closely tracked is that it was carrying LNG from Portovaya, a Russian LNG plant on the Baltic Sea operated by Russian energy giant Gazprom.

This is the first shipment exported by the plant to a foreign country since January 2025, when the Biden administration imposed sanctions on it. The Valera – which is sanctioned by both the United States and the European Union – unloaded nearly 160,000 tonnes of LNG, according to Kpler.

LNG, natural gas cooled to -160° to render it liquid for easier transport, is an integral part of Russia’s gas export strategy. The country, which produced 8 percent of the world’s LNG in 2022, plans to triple its output by 2030. However, as revenue from its sale – like that from oil and pipeline gas – helps fund the war in Ukraine, Western powers have sanctioned several of the facilities producing the gas and the vessels used to transport it.

Faced with sanctions, Russia attempted in 2024 to develop a “dark fleet” to export LNG, mirroring the tactic it employs for oil.

Specifically, it sought to export LNG from Arctic LNG 2, a plant in the Russian Arctic sanctioned by the US in late 2023. The facility, operated by one of Russia’s biggest producers, Novatek, is a key pillar of the country’s energy strategy and is expected to eventually produce 19.8 million tonnes of LNG annually.

In August 2024, the FRANCE 24 Observers team exposed how vessels were loading LNG from this plant while concealing their presence.

These LNG tankers were identified as falsifying their Automatic Identification System (AIS) data, which is intended to permanently report their location – a deceptive practice known as “spoofing”. Moreover, these ships were often linked to opaque companies registered in countries known for their lack of transparency, or were sailing under flags of convenience – practices frequently used by “dark fleets” to mask their true owners.

However, while several LNG tankers were loaded in 2024, none of them were able to sell their LNG at the time, according to online publication gCaptain. The cargoes remained in floating storage units or on LNG tankers immobilised at sea.

However, the situation changed in August 2025. As US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Alaska for a summit dedicated to the war in Ukraine, several of these LNG tankers were spotted by analysts raising anchor or changing course. Thirteen days later, one of them discharged its cargo at China’s Beihai terminal.

In total, at least 18 LNG cargos from Arctic LNG 2 were delivered to the terminal in just over three months, between August 28 and December 9. Nine LNG carriers, all of which are subject to US or EU sanctions, were used for transport, allowing more than one million tons of the sanctioned LNG to reach China, according to Kpler.